#symbolic meaning of monstera deliciosa

[interiorsbyquornesha]

Feng Shui: Monstera Deliciosa Symbolic Meaning

The Monstera Deliciosa symbolism and meaning: Against all odds, to be drawn to this plant is symbolic of keeping the faith regardless of the trials and tribulations one has faced. It is a testament that you’re not what wounded you. You’re not the things you’ve been through. But because of the adversities, you’ve mastered yourself and have learned to cope/deal with the challenges of life with grace. This plant is symbolic of ancestral roots in many directions and cultures. It can be an attestation to what you’ve overcome. The Monstera Deliciosa is a symbol that you may have wisdom in various topics/subjects. And you’re able to lead others in various ways. This plant is a tribute to one’s generous nature and still being able to feel full. The owner of a monstera Deliciosa is usually family oriented but their lessons have taught them not to spread themselves too thin.

Feng Shui tip: The Monstera Deliciosa is beneficial in attracting helpful energies from the world around you. Front door: Place here if you’re wanting to ward your home of people taking more than they give, for balance. In office: Place here if you’re wanting to attract ideal clients who are generous. Patio: Place here to attract fame in your philanthropy or work.

Gardening: The Monstera Deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant) Does well in 50% humidity and prefers indirect ro bright sunlight.

In Summary The Monstero Deliciosa (Swiss Cheese Plant) is symbolic of:

Generosity

Abundance

Purpose

An overflow of energy

client magnet

Decoration wise: Monstero Deliciosa can be placed in a black, gold or white pot to add elegance. To Ground the space, it will be beneficial to place it in earth toned pots.

If you need help to stage or style a space, consider us for your next project. We work with homeowners, realtors, investors and televison networks.

You can utilize affirmations so that your plants emit that frequency into the space. Plants/flowers are living organisms that produce energy into any room they’re in. Some samples to use with the , are below.

"I attract people and clients who reciprocate for the energy that I give. I am no longer allowing others to debit more than they deposit into me. "  -- Quornesha's Affirmations For Sacred Space "I welcome good energy and close off old thoughts, memories, habits and chains that keep me ruminating on negative things. "  -- Quornesha's Affirmations for SaQred Spaces "All who enter this home, only leave good and positive things when they exit. I am receptive to the blessings of life. "  -- Quornesha's Affirmations for Sacred Space

[kodzuken]

congratulations again!! <3

💫 + the prompt: 2) “It reminded me of you.”

also 🍄 if that's okay 😊

there ain't language for the things i feel buck/eddie | getting together | 1 800 words

Eddie wants to make it perfectly, spectacularly clear that he isn’t one of the weird farmer’s market people. He’s normal. He’s sane. He doesn’t line up at ass-crack-of-dawn in the morning in order to get his hands on the special lavender honey, he doesn’t wander for hours touching every goddamn vegetable, he doesn’t ask poor vendors if they have any bags for their cactus fruits. Eddie brings his own bags, thank you very much.

His point is—he’s normal about the farmer’s market. He isn’t, however, very normal about Buck.

“Are you looking for something in particular?” The vendor asks. He’s a big, buff guy with two full sleeves, a neck tattoo in the shape of the Spider-man symbol, and there’s script across his chest, beneath his collarbones, spelling out Diana in sprawling black letters. Eddie is at once attracted and terrified of him. There’s a nametag pinned to his black tanktop, naming him as Carter, he/him , and Eddie thinks he definitely looks more like someone who would be named Fang or something, but he lets it slide, just for today.

“Uh, I don’t know,” Eddie says, turning back to the display in front of him. “I don’t usually stop for anything other than vegetables.”

“Ah,” Carter says. He taps the side of his nose and points at Eddie. “You’re one of those shoppers.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“You think you’re too good for Whole Foods and the farmer’s market, so you come for vegetables and fruit and maybe to sample some of the sausages over at Nadine’s booth, and then you go on your way pretending the asparagus in your crisper just magically appeared there, because God forbid someone know you have reusable mesh bags and a scheduled visit to Spring Street every weekend.”

Eddie blinks at Carter. Carter blinks at Eddie.

“Was I close?” Carter asks.

“Everyone is too good for Whole Foods,” Eddie says, because somehow, it feels like he just got his palms read, or something. “Whole Foods sucks ass.”

“You got me there.” They stare at each other for another few moments, assessing, and then Carter seems to deem him fit for service because he smiles, wide and bright; he has a gold canine tooth, because of course he does. “So, are you?”

“Am I what?” Eddie says.

“Looking for anything in particular.”

“Oh,” Eddie murmurs, and he glances back down at the display. “I think I want to buy something.”

“Yes,” Carter says, “I did suspect that. But what do you want to buy?”

Eddie looks up at the sign that says Botanical Garden & Home. “A plant?”

He thinks he hears Carter mutter, “Oh boy,” beneath his breath.

“I’m not good with them,” Eddie says, waving a hand toward a chalkboard that says Monstera deliciosa , whatever the fuck that means. “I have a cactus in the backyard, but that’s kind of it.”

“Now we’re getting somewhere,” Carter says, clapping his hands together. One of the tattoos on his sleeve is of a king cobra, and Eddie tries not to be intimidated by its beady little eyes. “Are you going to be caring for the plant alone?”

“No,” Eddie says, glancing at another chalkboard. It says Platycerium bifurcatum , and like, are they making this shit up? “My son will help, and uh, my—Buck. My best friend.”

The corner of Carter’s mouth tilts up. “Ah.”

“Ah what?”

“Nothing. Tell me about the sunlight situation.”

So, Eddie does—he tells Carter about the amount of sunlight his house gets, and the humidity, and the temperature. He ends up telling Carter about Buck, a little bit too, because Eddie is a sad, sad man who is in love with his best friend. He tells him about how Buck loves taking care of plants, and how when he comes to the farmer’s market with Eddie he’ll always by a bouquet of flowers from Cynthia a few booths down, and how him and Christopher did a seed-planting science experiment a few weeks ago, and—

Okay, maybe Eddie understands why Carter said ah .

Finally, when his mouth is dry and his heart feels a little achy, he stops talking, blinking at Carter. “So,” he says, and is only a little embarrassed by how hoarse his voice sounds, “any suggestions?”

And Carter just smiles. “I think I have the perfect thing.”

Eddie gets home and Buck is, predictably, waiting for him.

“Eds,” Buck says, nearly bending over the arm of the couch to look at him; he’s upside down, all Golden Retriever puppy and sunshine and the love of Eddie’s fucking life, probably. “How was the market?”

“Busy,” Eddie replies, setting his mesh bags full of Buck’s requested vegetables on the table. In his other hand, he holds the plant, and he feels silly, and a little stupid, but Carter said it was perfect and then gave him the most embarrassing pep talk that involved telling him the story of Diana from the chest tattoo, so Eddie is—

Eddie’s been waiting a long, long time for this. He thinks, distantly, he deserves it. Even if he is about to confess his love via succulent.

“It’s always busy,” Buck says, and he does a weird little backflip-slash-somersault to get off the couch. When he’s back on his feet, only wobbling a little bit, he walks to the table, rifling through the bags. “That’s why you should go when it opens—”

“I’m not going at nine in the morning,” Eddie says; it’s an argument they’ve had a hundred times, because you can’t just go at nine in the morning; if you go for opening, you have to be there early. There’s a line-up . Buck snorts, pulling out a persimmon and a fig, and Eddie says, “Buck.”

“Hmm?” he hums without looking up.

“Buck,” Eddie says again, and his tongue feels like it’s shriveling up in his mouth. “I bought a plant.”

Buck turns to look at him then, eyebrows pinched together before he notices the succulent in Eddie’s hand, and his face clears. He smiles, all teeth, and takes a step forward. “Dude, you have a black thumb.”

“Yeah,” Eddie agrees, because it isn’t like he’s wrong. “It reminded me of you.”

Buck glances at the plant, then at Eddie. “It did?”

And Buck—Buck isn’t stupid. He’s probably the smartest person Eddie has ever met, and he knows Karen Wilson. But Buck is smart and he’s perceptive , and there’s no way in the world that Eddie could hand him a fucking hoya heart and have Buck miss his point entirely. There’s no way he can hold a literal heart—it’s a fucking heart , Jesus Christ he should have left Carter a bigger tip—in his hands and have Buck not understand. 

“Buck,” Eddie says again, and it feels strange in his mouth, like the more he says it the less real this all is. “I’m—”

Gently, Buck takes the hoya from his fingers, cradling delicately in the palm of his hand, and he stares down at it, blinking, blinking, blinking. He traces his index finger over the ridge of the succulent, right over the hump of the heart, and Eddie wishes he’d gotten a cactus so he could stab himself in the throat.

But then Buck looks up, and there’s something determined in his eyes, and he extends his arms out like he’s giving the hoya back. Eddie has a brief moment of panic where rejection settles over him like an uncomfortable, itchy skin, but then Buck smiles, all soft and warm and fond, and says, “I heart you.”

“You—” Eddie starts and stops, eyes flicking from the hoya to Buck and back. “What?”

“I heart you,” Buck repeats, and he takes a step forward, and then another, until the hoya is pressing against Eddie’s sternum. Eddie reaches up, cupping a hand around the plastic container, and his fingers curl around Buck’s at the same time. “Eddie,” he says, and he’s looking at him so earnestly that Eddie really wishes he’d gotten a cactus, because it’s—too much. It’s not enough. “I heart you.”

“I—” Eddie chokes on the words, doesn’t know how to get them out, so he does the next best thing.

He kisses Buck.

And Eddie—he hasn’t really let himself imagine it, to be honest, because if he thought about it even once, of the way Buck’s lips slide against his, of the way his jaw feels beneath his palm, about the way he can taste toothpaste on his tongue, Eddie never would have been able to stop. But he’s glad, somehow, that he never let himself think about it—the real thing is better than his imagination ever could have been.

Buck makes a noise in the back of his throat, a high keening noise, and he presses in further, pushing Eddie back until he hits the wall, head narrowly missing the mirror. Buck slots a leg between Eddie’s, one hand wrapping around his ribs—and Jesus, if it isn’t something to be held but Buck’s stupidly big hands—and Eddie returns the favor, sliding one hand into the short hairs at the back of Buck’s neck. Buck’s tongue is in Eddie’s mouth and his thigh is between Eddie’s legs and his fingers are dipping beneath Eddie’s waistband and—

There’s a crinkle of plastic, and Buck pulls away, nearly panting. “Our heart.”

Eddie doesn’t swoon at that, but it’s a near thing.

“Buck,” Eddie says, and he takes the hoya from Buck’s hands and twists them around so Buck’s the one against the wall. Eddie leans back to set the plant down, and Buck, second hand now free, runs it up Eddie’s chest until it’s resting on the side of his neck. He pulls Eddie back in by the belt loops once the hoya is safe, tugging him in until they’re connected from knee to hip to chest. “Buck,” Eddie says again, “Baby. I heart you, too.” And then— “No, fuck that, I love you.”

“Eds,” Buck says, a little choked.

“I love you so much, Buck, that I want to buy every fucking heart shaped succulent in LA County just to prove it to you.” Eddie brushes his thumb over the sharp, delicate bone of Buck’s cheek, presses it into the corner of his mouth until his lips part. “I want to build you a garden, sweetheart.”

“I have you,” Buck says, and fuck him, honestly, for out-romancing Eddie. “I don’t need anything else.”

“You do have me,” Eddie agrees, and he knocks his forehead against Buck’s; when Buck closes his eyes, Eddie can feel his eyelashes brushing his cheeks. “You’ve always had me, Buck.”

“And I always will.” It’s a promise—it’s nearly a vow—and Eddie’s breath hitches, a little. 

“I need to go back to the market,” he mumbles, mostly to himself. “Carter will want an update.”

Buck pulls back a fraction, just enough to look at him, eyebrow raised. “Who’s Carter?”

“I’ll tell you later.”

Any other questions Buck might have is swallowed by Eddie’s mouth on his and—yeah. 

He’s definitely giving Carter a bigger tip.

---

tags :)

@himbodiaz @hoediaz @gayeddiaz @queerpanikkar @hattalove @thatbuddie @classical-memeician @mmtions @spaceprincessem @lilythesilly @trippedandfell @goldencereza @buckbuckbuck @make-a-desert-call-it-peace @naguaraquerandom @bibuddie @hughesclues @ediediaz @drinkcrywrite @messyhairdiaz @faithtrustalotofpixiedust @swiftieeddie @transbibuck @cowboydiaz @evandiaz @buckbegns @lawyerlauren @vilanaxxa @bbuddieactually

[minaslittleone]

The Sarahs as plant mums (AHS & Ratched)

Like many people I've become an avid plant mum over the course of the pandemic (much to the chagrin of those in my life who have to hear every time one of my babies sprouts a new leaf), which got me thinking - what kind of plant mum would each of the Sarahs be?

GIF: illuminated-blue

Billie-Dean Howard

Image: winterkindfotographie

Billie-Dean is much more partial to flowers than she is to caring for a whole plant. She is definitely the kind of person who always has fresh flowers in her home but also takes the time to trim and rearrange the bouquet as she places it in a vase, rather than merely unceremoniously compacting the existing arrangement into a vessel. She also definitely has a secret cut flower food recipe (passed down to her by the ghost of a Victorian housekeeper whom she met while filming a special of her show at a mansion in the UK) which keeps her cut flowers looking immaculate for a full week. If her schedule permits it, her favourite thing to do on a Sunday morning is to stroll the farmers markets and choose individual types of flowers and foliage to bring home and arrange herself from scratch. She finds the process of trimming each of the stems and finding the perfect position for each individual bloom incredibly cathartic.

Her favourite flowers are bright and cheerful. She is particularly drawn to things like tulips, gerberas and lillies, but finds softer more delicate blooms like carnations frustrating and overly dramatic, she definitely appreciates a bit of tenacity in her flowers. She also has no time for strongly scented blooms, and particularly despises the way roses seem to emit a sickly sweet odor after only a few days. Billie finds scents and perfumes in general to be quite cloying and overwhelming as smell is one of the ways she is often viscerally affected when she makes contact with ghosts. She unfortunately associates most strong smells with encounters and so sweet smelling blooms hold little appeal to her, she much prefers fresh neutral scents. The one exception is lavender which she does find soothing. After a particularly taxing week it is not uncommon for her usual bright cheerful blooms to be replaced by simple posies of lavender and rosemary as she recenters herself.

Lana Winters

Image: toms-cacti

Lana is undoubtedly a plant serial killer. Which is totally unsurprising since whenever she gets fixated on a new story she often forgets to feed herself, let alone feed and water her plants. That doesn't mean she doesn't appreciate them though. She loves the way little office plants bring life and vitality to her workspace, that is until they inevitably whither and die from lack of water, or from being burried under piles of paper but that doesn't stop her trying.

Eventually Lana discovers that she and succulents are well suited. It actually makes a lot of sense when she thinks about it - they're both a little prickly on the outside (but only to protect the softness underneath) and both are stubborn to a fault. Lana is particularly fond of the slightly larger cactus she keeps on her desk (which is incidentally the first plant she managed not to kill) and often finds herself talking to him to help work through the flow of her ideas or to overcome writer's block. Spike (as she creatively named him) really is a very good listener and a talented editor to boot.

Still there are times when Lana wishes she had a greener thumb and could expand her collection beyond succulents. As much as she loves Spike and his prickly friends, she really wishes they would grow just a bit quicker so she could experience that new leaf joy even just once. She completely dissuades herself of those feelings though when she returns from a week long book tour to find a weird bump on the top of Spike. Her first thought is that after all this time she's finally managed to kill him and that she really is as terrible a plant parent as she had feared. However, those fears completely dissolved the following morning when she returned to her office to find that Spike's bump had begun to open into the beginnings of a beautiful pink flower. For a minute she could only stare on disbelief, not quite comprehending what was going on however, that quickly gave way to a giddy childlike grin when she realised that she must be doing something right. That, and her little man really did look very cute with his flower top hat.

Cordelia Goode

Image: chickadeegreen

Cordelia doesn't just have a green thumb, she has ten green fingers. She absolutely adores plants and having living things around her, especially since the greenhouse has always been her place of peace and sanctuary. She finds it incredibly cathartic pottering around the greenhouse when she gets a few spare moments away from all her duties as supreme/headmistress/mother to a house full of girls. Most of the plants she keeps in the greenhouse are solely for practical/ medicinal purposes but she does keep a few plants in her room and office which she finds soothing. She is particularly fond of philodendrons and pothos with their easy going nature and relaxed growth pattern. She loves the way they seem to make themselves at home anywhere and every time she spots new leaves unfurling it makes her smile. She tries to make an effort to see the beauty in their imperfections and use them to remind herself that everything doesn't always have to be perfect.

Since her supremacy the plants in her personal spaces have thrived unlike anything anyone has ever seen, seemingly feeding off Cordelia's magical aura. Any time any of the plants in the greenhouse are waning she will take them to her office for a few days of rehabilitation after which they will always be positively bursting with life. It is not uncommon for her to find new additions appearing in her little infirmary if Mallory or Misty have noticed that a particular plant is in need of a little TLC.

The flip side to this is that any time Cordelia over taxes herself, while she may be an expert at schooling her features and hiding it from her girls, it will show in her plants. After too many late nights dealing with running the academy or too many days spent funneling all of her energy into everyone around her (and subsequently completely neglecting herself) the plants in her office (and room) will start to lose their vibrancy as well. The first victim is usually the heartleaf philodendron on Cordelia's office bookshelf (the first plant she allowed herself to bring into the space after ascending to the supremacy) which seems to be particularly attune to her moods, especially when it is feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy sapping her magic. Conversely it's the monstera deliciosa in the corner of her office that seems to be the first to wilt when its physical stress or exhaustion plaguing the supreme. Zoe now automatically takes stock of the plants in Cordelia's office every time she enters, knowing it's the only true indication she's likely to get that the supreme herself might be in need of some TLC.

Bette and Dot Tattler

Image: geopsych

Bette has always been drawn to flowers, she thinks they're terribly romantic. From bouquets of flowers from gentleman callers to sweet cottage gardens behind white picket fences, teeming with blooms of assorted colours, Bette thinks flowers are a beautiful symbol of normality. She desperately wants to have a garden or even a window box that she can tend to, however that particular desire is not entirely compatible with living in a trailer.

What she does have though is a small collection of African Violets sitting on their kitchen windowsill. They were a present from Jimmy after Bette's first performance singing in the freakshow. Though she might be completely tone deaf she is fiercely determined, so after months of practice she had finally managed to learn "dream a little dream of me" enough to hold the tune (with Dot gently humming it alongside her to keep her in pitch). A few days before Bette was due to perform Jimmy had quietly pressed a note into Dot's palm after dinner asking which type of flowers Bette preferred so that he could get her a bouquet for her first performance. Dot's heart warmed at that, seeing the man that she loved so tenderly care for her sister. Later that evening she had pressed a note back in reply that Bette loved anything pink, cheerful and romantic, however she also ached for flowers the she could keep beyond the length of time a bouquet would last. So maybe a flowering plant would be better. Jimmy of course bought both, handing Bette a beautiful posie of assorted pink coloured carnations along with a terracotta pot of African Violets. Bette had thrown her arm around Jimmy's neck and squeeled with excitement at the sight of her flowers while Dot had offered him the warmest, proudest smile as she mouthed "thank you" against the backdrop of her sister's excited ramblings.

Given how long Bette had pined for flowers and how excited she had been to receive them it is unsurprising that she is a devoted plant parent. She waters her flowers once a week like clockwork, adding water to a saucer underneath the pot and letting them drink the water up through their roots just like Paul had shown her. Apparently African Violets don't like to get their leaves wet. Bette would even go as far as to take her flowers out for some sun if she felt the conditions on their windowsill weren't right at their current campsite. Her little pot of flowers really did bring her so much joy.

Dot may not have shared her sister's passion for flowers (finding them mostly to be needless and frivolous) but in the end she was the one who responsible for the expansion of her sister's flower garden. When Paul had originally shown Bette how to care for her flowers he had also mentioned that they could be propagated which had fascinated Dot. The idea you could just take a leaf and it would grow roots and become a completely new plant was amazing to her. But convincing Bette to let her try it out for herself definitely proved to be battle. Bette certainly wasn't keen on allowing her sister to chop into her precious flowers while Dot couldn't see why her sister was being so protective, the little plant certainly had plenty of leaves to spare, especially if it could give a whole new plant. Unsurprisingly the disagreement escalated to a pair of very raised voices which is what ultimately drew Jimmy into the argument. After managing to calm down both sisters Jimmy revealed to Bette that the tiny pot plant had originally been her sister's idea because she knew how much she wanted to have flowers of her own. Dot confirmed that she does know how important the flowers are to Bette and that she would never want to hurt them, she was just excited at the possibility of being to make more of them for her sister and be able to give her the windowsill full of flowers that she had always dreamed of. Bette couldn't help but relent after that. A few months later and Dot has become quite the propagation expert, to the point where their windowsill is beggining to fill up with juvenile plants as well as fresh cuttings just beginning to take root. Bette smiles every time they catch her eye, not just at the beauty of the flowers that she spent so long pining for but also for how they symbolise her sister's love for her. While they may still bicker bitterly from time to time, Bette knows that no one will ever love her as much or as fiercely as her sister does. Dot still has no real interest in the flowers themselves. She does still find propagating rewarding, especially watching her little babies start to grow and flourish. But mostly she just enjoys watching the way they make her sister smile.

Sally McKenna

Image: jeremiahsplants

Sally is obsessed with carnivorous plants and you can't convince me otherwise. She definitely discovered them on Instagram and loves all the funny shapes and crazy colours that they come in. Sally would never be content with a plant that looks like a plant - no her plants need to look like vicious little aliens. The fact that they're natural born killers is also a nice little bonus. She loves how they subvert the natural order of things - insects should eat plants not the other way around.

When she first discovered plants online Sally got really upset that she'd never be able to go out and buy any of her own. It was Iris who mentioned that maybe she would be able to order some online - big mistake. Sally is nothing if not obsessive and her room now rivals Poison Ivy's lair with the number of plants she has crammed in there. The sheer number of babies in her collection doesn't mean that she neglects them though, no Sally is absolutely an A level obsessive plant mum - only the best for her babies. When she discovered that carnivorous plants prefer distilled water to tap water she started ordering it by the gallon, and as the best lit positions in her room started to fill up she definitely ordered grow lights so that none of her babies suffer. The grow lights also give off a slight purple glow which makes her room look like a rave which is absolutely a feature and not a bug.

Sally has also been known to go hunting for food for her babies, especially since her collection has grown and she worries there isn't enough to go around. Iris and Liz frequently find her collecting dead flies from window ledges to take back to her growing brood. She offers them to her babies with tweezers as a mother bird would to her chicks. The last time Iris had an exterminator spray the Cortez Sally accused her of trying to murder her babies with poison and absolutely ordered fruit flies online (intended for feeding pet reptiles rather than pet plants but meh) to keep her collection going until she could be absolutely sure that the offending toxins had dissipated.

It goes without saying that Sally has a separate plant Instagram account which she updates on nearly a daily basis with photos of new growth or just progress on her collection. She definitely has a great eye for plant photography and for making her babies come to life on the screen. One of her favourite things to do is film feeding videos with her largest Venus Flytrap "Fang" (who incidentally has his own Instagram account: @Fangstagram). Watching plants move so quickly will never get old to Sally and she has definitely been known to tease some of her smaller flytraps into snapping shut just for her enjoyment. She tries not tease them too much though, they are her babies after all.

Audrey Tindall

Image: savannahs-succulent-garden

Like Lana, Audrey is another serial plant killer, but for complete different reasons. Audrey, bless her, kills her plants with far too much kindness (and water). She so desperately wants a house full of the beautiful lush plants she sees all over Instagram so she tries her darnedest to be the best plant parent ever. Her problem is that every time she sees leaves starting to yellow or wilt she assumes it must be from lack of water (rather than the fact that their roots are already rotting from far too much).

Initially she fell into the trap of picking up plants she thought looked cute on Instagram or in the garden centre, without really knowing much about caring for them. Needless to say this didn't end well (multiple times). She thought she had cracked it when discovered the subset of house plants refered to as "hard to kill". Unfortunately, most of those plants are very resistant to neglect but not to Audrey's smothering type of plant parenting. Finally she discovered peace lillies which do actually like to have wet feet and appreciate all of her affection. She's slowly collecting other spathiphyllums in all shapes and sizes now that she's feels confident she's got the hang of them. She gets so excited every time one of them grows a new leaf or flowers - such a proud plant mum.

Now that she's growing a little more confident with at least a subset of house plants she will occasionally post photos to her Instagram. She's still pretty insecure about her plant parent abilities though and it doesn't help that she will occasionally get haters telling her she's doing it all completely wrong. She tries not to let them get to her but sometimes they really do get her down - all she wanted to do was share the joy that her plant babies bring her and she's doing her best to do right by them. After one particularly brutal bout of trolling it's actually Sally who defends her. Audrey has been following Sally's plantstagram since she first started getting interested in plants so the fact that Sally even acknowledged her kinda blows her mind. Sally tells people in no uncertain terms to back off Audrey or she will set her carnivorous babies on them. The two strike up a fast friendship after this and through Sally's guidance Audrey eventually begins to grow more confident as a plant mum. For her birthday Sally definitely sends Audrey her first baby Venus Flytrap with the absolute insistence that it be named "Audrey II".

Ally Mayfair-Richards

Image: swordsintheforest

Ally has never really seen the appeal of house plants nor does she have the time (or the headspace) to look after them. She does however have a fully stocked herb garden growing in window boxes in the kitchen to have everything within easy reach for cooking. She also loves the fresh clean smell of the basil and rosemary wafting through the house on the breeze if she leaves the windows open, particularly if it has rained. She may even admit that she's beginning to see the appeal of having the greenery around the place from an aesthetic standpoint as well.

Given how busy Ally is juggling being a senator, running a restaurant and being a single mum (plus whatever wink wink nudge nudge cult stuff she's up to on the side) it's not really surprising that it's Ozzie who's taken to caring for the herb garden most of the time. He's always been such an inquisitive kid and Ally loves watching the way his face lights up over simple things like flowers and new growth. Ozzie is particularly obsessed with propagation and there is always at least a handfull of his experiments on the windowsill. Whether it's an avocado seed he's trying to get to sprout or basil cuttings he's trying to root, he always has some new scheme in the works. Ally usually just smiles and ruffles his hair (so proud and glad that she has such an amazing and we'll rounded kid after everything that he's been through). As long as he leaves her enough basil to make pesto with, she's happy for him to play to his heart's content.

Wilhemina Venable

Image: leafyleafs

Plants have never been of any interest to Wilhemina, she considers them to be unnecessary sources of dirt and clutter. They serve no practical purpose so she has no time for them. At least until she becomes the somewhat unwilling recipient of one. As far as office secret Santa presents go, she supposes, the lilac coloured orchid is actually quite inoffensive. However she can't shake the feeling that it must have been bought for her as some kind of challenge, that someone at Kineros is secretly watching to see how quickly she will kill it because someone like the imperious Ms Venable is obviously incapable of the kindness or tenderness necessary to keep something as beautiful and delicate as an orchid. What she doesn't know is that it was actually from Mutt, because while he is usually too coked out of his mind to show it, he is actually quite fond of her. And he knows her well enough to know that she would never accept a gift from him directly so each Christmas he rigs the office Secret Santa to get her name so he can her something (and also partly because he doesn't trust some of the interns not to get her something crude on a dare given the anonymous nature of the gift). He also knows her well enough to realise that she would appreciate the elegant beauty (and obviously the colour) of the orchid but would never cede to the frivolity of buying something like it for herself.

Despite the good intentions of the gift, Wilhemina can not fathom the idea that it was genuinely meant for her enjoyment. Obviously someone is toying with her but she will not be beaten. Wilhemina Venable may not know the first thing about orchids but she will be damned if whoever gave her the wretched thing manages to get a laugh out of it at her expense. So she learns. Mina is nothing if not fiercely independent and resourceful so she scours the internet for information on orchid care and reads everything she can find. And of course she succeeds (because anything else would be unacceptable to her).

After six months her little orchid is still alive and thriving in her office and privately she would have to admit that she has grown quite attached to it. Compared to other plants she finds it to be quite neat and tidy, and there is something elegant and refined about its arching growth habit which she finds quite beautiful. Over the course of her research she has of course come across the tremendous variety of orchids available. She of course is drawn to all of the different tones of purple blooms but also finds herself unexpectedly drawn to some of the darker, more gothic varieties. She tries to tell herself that it is merely an aesthetic appreciation, that they hold no actual allure to her, but she keeps finding herself drawn back to them. She almost buys herself one on *so many* occasions but the idea of doing something so frivolous just for her own pleasure and enjoyment is so terrifying to her that she always chickens out. Eventually she caves though, buying an indigo coloured orchid on sale at the grocery store, abruptly rushing home with it before she can change her mind again. She spends the entire rest of the day second guessing the decision but the next morning when she opens her eyes to the delicate purple blooms tenderly placed on her night stand she can't help the gentle smile it brings to her face or the warmth that settles in her chest.

After that her collection slowly grows. She still struggles with buying things for herself simply for pleasure but she is getting better, and the sick guilty feeling in the pit of her stomach seems to appear less and less each time she does it. So her collection of orchids grows, mostly including those with particularly dark blooms or interesting and unusual shapes (though there are definitely a couple of lilac and lavender coloured blooms in there as well). She also begins to expand to other dark leaved plants as well, like certain begonias and definitely a ZZ raven. Like with the orchids, all of her new acquisitions are thoroughly researched and she is determined to succeed in their care.

Mutt will sometimes catch her glance fondly at her little desk orchid as he passes her office. He is genuinely glad to have given her something that seems to bring her such contentment. If only he knew the true extent of the gift he had given her.

Mildred Ratched

Image: bidoctor

Mildred has no idea about plants of any kind. Or at least she didn't before Gwen. Her childhood certainly wasn't filled with simple pleasures like planting flowers or playing in a vegetable patch, and any indoor plants or flower arrangements were merely things she was forbidden to touch and harshly punished if she damaged. So inevitably these things inspired a far greater degree of anxiety and tension in Mildred than they did joy or contentment.

But Gwen loves gardening. She had memories as a young child of helping her father in their backyard, returning of an evening covered in mud, much to her mother's dismay. Gwen's strong nurturing nature made her a very capable gardener and she derived a great sense of contentment from it. On some level Mildred wished she could help Gwen as she pottered through their garden of a weekend but she wouldn't have a clue where to start. In fact, the nasty voice in Mildred's head whispered, she would be so much better off without you, you'll just ruin everything, you're far too useless to be of any help. So as Gwen worked Mildred would watch, pretending to pay attention to her novel but really trying to find the pattern and reason to Gwen's actions so that maybe, someday, she wouldn't be quite so useless.

Mildred did, however, enjoy accompanying Gwen to the nursery when she went to collect supplies for their garden. Mildred may not have the faintest idea what any of the plants were called or how to care for them but she did find it peaceful to walk through the rows upon rows of different shades of green. She was continually fascinated by how many different shapes, sizes and colours they seemed to come in. Sometimes Gwen would catch her staring curiously at a particular plant but Mildred would always decline when Gwen offered that they could take it home with them.

One particular Saturday in spring Gwen found Mildred tenderly righting a small yellow marigold which had been knocked over by other nursery-goers as they riffled through the display to choose the brightest and most beautiful blooms. The poor little plant was somewhat lopsided and some of its leaves were slightly crushed from where it had lain, still there were the beginnings of golden yellow petals starting to peak from within the confines of its buds. Gwen watched as Mildred delicately unkinked the worst of the damaged leaves, fingers ghosting over the flowers that had yet to bloom. This time when Gwen suggested that they take the battered little plant home with them Mildred suddenly became very interested in a thread dangling from the cuff of her blouse as she muttered "Wouldn't it be easier to just choose one that isn't crushed? One without so much damage?". Gwen gently reached out, linking her pinkie with Mildred's, cursing that anything more would have been unacceptable in public. She gently squeezed Mildred's slender finger in her own until her gaze lifted to meet Gwendolyn's. "Never" she breathed. "The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all". She felt her throat tighten and eyes begin to burn as she watched Mildred's eyes begin to glisten and that *damn* dimple on her chin begin to quiver. "I wouldn't have the faintest idea of how to look after it", Mildred's gaze dropping again to the poor bruised little plant. Gwen squeezed their intertwined fingers once more, coaxing Mildred's eyes to meet her own. "I can show you, if you'd like?" Mildred's teeth began to worry her bottom lip as she considered. "What if I can't? What if I kill it?" "Sweetheart, you won't and I'll be there with you every step of the way. We can do it together." Mildred seemed to consider this offer, turning back to gaze tenderly at their little friend, before meeting Gwen's eyes. "Ok" she murmured, "together".

After that, every time Mildred and Gwen returned to the nursery Mildred would inevitably leave with a battered looking plant that she was determined to rehabilitate. Gwen, true to her word, patiently guided Mildred through the basics of plant care and Mildred, unsurprisingly, quickly became very proficient. Her tiny, dextrous fingers, used to dealing with needles and surgical instruments, were incredibly adept at staking and repositioning bent and battered plants as she helped them to heal. Soon enough, one end of their porch became entirely dedicated to Mildred's patients, so much so that Gwen began affectionately referring to it as Mildred's ward. And in spite of her initial fears Mildred had become quite the proficient gardener, with her little rag-tag bunch of plants, all twisted and pointing in slightly odd directions, forming the most beautiful and beloved garden Gwendolyn had ever seen.

[morievna]

Mafuyu and symbolism of Monstera deliciosa

I am starting to think that everything has a meaning or Kizu Natsuki likes symbolism and stuff like that as much as I do XD

So there are monstera’s leaves on cover from Cheri+ September 2018 Issue

Some interesting biological stuff first:

While it would seem that the holes would cause the plant to absorb less sunlight, they actually create a larger leaf span and more surface area than non-holed leaves. This allows the Monstera to capture as many sun flecks. Interestingly enough, when the plant is young, the holes do not serve the plant well because fewer flecks of sunlight reach the understory. So, as the plant matures, it becomes wiser, adapting to its environment by changing its leaf shape.

It lines up with its symbolism:

It makes sense then, that this plant, which instinctively grows differently at different stages of its life, would represent long life in Chinese symbolism. It is a living example of how we can adapt to the ever-changing moments in our own lives and serves as a reminder to be flexible and adjust as we experience the many changes life sends our way. In that way, we can best grow.

[source]

That matches Mafuyu’s story in Given so well. I am not sure what to add more than:

[jodybouchard9]

Grow It for the ‘Gram: These Are the 5 Most Photoworthy Houseplants on Instagram

iStock; realtor.com

It’s no surprise that the best Instagram influencers make good use of their greenery. The #jungalow trend is alive and well, and nearly every week our new decor series features creative designers staging plants for the ‘gram.

But when decorating (and let’s be honest, photographing) your own home, how do you decide which plants to feature?

A recent survey by Internet Gardener analyzed a pool of over 6 million Instagram posts to discover which plants people love most. Keep reading to discover the internet’s five favorite plants, with expert tips on keeping them alive and photoworthy.

1. Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa)

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Ro Co (@studio.roco) on Feb 26, 2019 at 11:22am PST

It’s easy to see why the Swiss cheese plant would steal the game—this leafy gem can grow to majestic sizes, offering a fresh respite in any sunny corner of the house.

According to the survey, this popular plant accounted for roughly 7.3% of all indoor plants on Instagram, racking up an average of 745 likes per post.

“Let’s be honest: It’s incredible to look at, and the shadows cast across the wall when the lights are dimmed is something worthy of any Instagram photo,” says Peter Shelton, founder of the interior design blog Rooms Solutions.

Grow your own: Since Swiss cheese plants tend to be showstoppers, it’s best to display them in places where you spend a lot of time.

“Because of their size and color, the leaves contrast beautifully again minimalist interiors,” Shelton says.

Bright living rooms or bedrooms work especially well for these plants, especially since they’ll need all that indirect sunlight to keep them healthy.

2. Princess Blue (Echeveria)

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by Florida_Succulent_Love (@florida_succulent_love) on Jul 20, 2019 at 9:55pm PDT

Coming in not far behind the Swiss cheese plant is this gorgeous hybrid succulent. Cherished not only for its mood-boosting shade of blue but also for its adorably small size, it’s a favorite of minimalist apartment dwellers.

Just be warned: Succulents might not need a lot of water, but that doesn’t mean they’re necessarily easy to grow.

“Echeveria are hard to grow inside because they need a lot of sun,” explains Ana Carlson, Instagram plant influencer and owner of Sill Appeal. “The beautiful succulents we see on Instagram are either posted by people who live in places like California and can grow them outside year-round, or people showing their new plants.”

Grow your own: Indoor-dwelling echeveria need a lot—and we mean a lot—of sun to stay happy. Try a south-facing windowsill, or if you live in a dry climate, a sunny corner of your porch. Just remember, if your plant starts looking stretched and dry, resist the temptation to drown it in water; just move it to a sunnier place where it can soak up more rays.

3. Chinese money plant (Pilea peperomioides)

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by . (@stefiereads) on Jul 17, 2019 at 7:44am PDT

Although it might see slightly less air time than Princess Blue, the Chinese money plant never fails to impress when it does make an appearance.

”The more you look at it, the more adorable it becomes,” Shelton says.

What’s more: When this plant is thriving, it will grow baby offshoots that can be easily cut to share with friends—which is why it’s also called the “friendship plant.”

“The Pilea will always be one of my favorites,” Carlson says. “I love this plant because of the adorable babies and round leaves.”

Grow your own: Pileas, which originally grew in the Yunnan and Sichuan provinces of Southern China, used to be hard to find and relatively expensive unless you had a friend who could share some cuttings with you.

“Having this plant was a status symbol a couple of years ago,” Carlson says, “and people paid a lot of money for tiny babies.”

But since their popularity has grown on social media, mainstream plant sellers like Home Depot and Walmart started selling them. On Amazon, you can buy a 2-inch pot for $14.

4. Devil’s ivy (Epipremnum aureum)

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by thisbedroomplant (@thisbedroomplant) on Aug 6, 2019 at 5:19pm PDT

This low-maintenance leafy wonder will forgive you if you forget to water it, or even if you leave it in a dark corner of your house. It’s no wonder Instagram loves this plant— not only does it grow at an incredible rate, but it also requires literally nothing to thrive.

“This plant is popular because it’s easy to find and very forgiving of less than ideal conditions,” Carlson says. “In South Florida you can see it climbing up trees. In darker homes, they may lose some of their variegation but still look beautiful in hanging baskets.”

Grow your own: The one caveat to this hardy plant is that its leaves are toxic when ingested. If you have kids or pets who might be tempted to take a bite, we recommend keeping this as a hanging plant that’s out of reach. Try placing it in a macrame plant hammock in any room of your home, and remember to water sparingly.

5. Boston fern (Nepholepis fern)

  View this post on Instagram

  A post shared by The House of Botanica ♡ Decor (@the.house.of.botanica) on Aug 5, 2019 at 2:39pm PDT

The Boston fern is another classic houseplant that brightens up any space, and with the amount of real estate it takes up on Instagram (3.64%, according to the survey), it’s pretty obvious the Internet agrees.

“Boston ferns are the plant version of a firework, with bright green fronds that spill out from the center,” Shelton says.

Grow your own: This plant would make for an excellent statement piece in just about any room of the house, were it not for one minor detail: It really likes humidity. Bright indirect light, overall cool temperatures, and plenty of moisture will keep this fern happy, which is why the loo is an ideal spot for it—just in time for your next #bathroomgoals post.

The post Grow It for the ‘Gram: These Are the 5 Most Photoworthy Houseplants on Instagram appeared first on Real Estate News & Insights | realtor.com®.

[fernyear2]

meaning behind the plant and pattern series:

 I wanted to explore the ideas of pattern, as I am interested how the use of symbol will change the overall meaning of the work due to the social constructs and ideas attached to them even though both paintings will be very similar. I use both the Louis vutton print and the Om symbol in my series, as Om is all encompassing, the essence of ultimate reality, and unifies everything in the universe. This in contrast with the Louis Vuitton symbol are polar opposites and represent very different things - om unifies everything in the universe while LV is founded on exclusivities and upper class consumerism. These are spray painted on two pieces of ply, with plants painted over the top, one of the plants being the native plant kawa kawa, and the other being Monstera deliciosa, which has been quite commercialised lately. The Om symbol behind the Monstera makes the painting and also the wood the painting is on a conjoined entity, as the plant represents the life and the wood represents what comes after it. 

With the Louis Vutton behind the Kawa Kawa it also has this idea of both the plant and wood being the same entity but brings the idea of fast fashion, and wastefulness in the building industry, mixed with the idea of the elevated status of both the plant and the wood, taking natural or ordinary things and elevating the “worth” of both. I decided to juxtapose the native plant with the superficial Louis Vutton symbol as I wanted the symbol to be the element that changes the status. 

[isabellelambert1975]

Join the 1970s house plants revolution

I was part of the original 1970s house plants movement.

When I first left home, house plants were as essential as having a coffee mug, a Habitat plate and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of The Moon album. None of us even thought about why we had greenery dangling from every surface. We just had it.

But, until recently, house plants slipped out of my life. They have crept back in via Instagram.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BbB18ZkBntM/?tagged=houseplants

So I’ve been aware of the 1970s house plants revolution for a while. But, until now, it didn’t occur to me to join it. I already have quite enough living things to look after (dog, garden, family…).

But the 1970s vibe is creeping into our lives. For example, check out blogger Jen Stanbrook’s vintage 1970s wallpaper post for a real dose of nostalgia.

Pretty – but is there something missing?

And we’ve just re-decorated the sitting room. Suddenly it looks bare without house plants.

Which houseplant to choose?

Although I’ve embraced orchids and built a terrarium with James Wong, I feel disenfranchised from the world of house plants.

While garden centres wring their hands over how to get younger people gardening, the cash registers of those selling house plants are ringing (with the hard-earned pennies of Generation Rent).

Making a terrarium with James Wong and Fiskars UK.

James told me that there were ‘hipster garden centres in South and North London’ which are amazing at selling house plants beautifully. I wish I’d asked him which they were.

However, I don’t live in London. Most garden centre displays of house plants don’t really inspire me.

And internet searches come up with uber-cool images of house plants on Pinterest and Instagram.

But sadly, we’re not uber-cool. Our house isn’t white with IKEA ‘Billy’ bookcases and Eames chairs. It’s a family home, crammed with junk shop finds. If I’m not careful, it can easily look cluttered.

Macrame pot holder seen at GLEE17, the gardening industry’s professional exhibition. 1970s house plants and pot plant holders are a hotly tipped trend for 2018.

For example, a very stylish friend of mine has just made her own 1970s macrame pot holder, which would be wonderful in her contemporary Shoreditch home. In mine, it would look a bit too 1970s…

Try your local independent florist…

So I went into our local independent florist, Lotty’s Flowers and spoke to the owner, Charlotte May.

Charlotte May of Lotty’s Flowers in Faversham, with a tray of spider plants.

She confirmed that people are buying house plants again. She’s doing a brisk business in aspidistras, spider plants, Swiss cheese plants (monstera), ‘string of hearts’ plants and cacti. Just hearing those plant names was like going back to my student days.

(At one point in my student days, I lived in a squat. We didn’t have curtains or carpets, but we still had spider plants and a Monstera).

Some excellent reasons for choosing 1970s house plants

As a house plant – or indeed as a person – you had to be tough to survive the 1970s. Homes and offices were often freezing cold.

Which was a consequence of modernisation and strikes, rather than the weather. Most houses had their fireplaces ripped out or covered over. And at any time during the winter, either Gas or Electricity could be on strike.

With little or no double-glazing, insulation, wood burners or working fireplaces, we were left to shiver in finger-less gloves.

When I had a kitchen put into my first flat in the early 1980s, it was an accepted principle of British kitchen design that you had a gas hob and an electric oven (or the other way around) so that you had something to cook on during strikes. And don’t mention the trains…

But back to houseplants. If a houseplant could survive the 1970s, you have a good chance of keeping it alive now.

The five 1970s houseplants for now

If your local nursery or garden centre doesn’t stock these, an independent florist can often order them in. Or you can get them from Amazon (affiliate links, which means that I may get a small fee if you buy through them, but it doesn’t affect the price you pay.)

Aspidistra: was once a symbol of surburban stuffiness (as in George Orwell’s book ‘Keep the Aspidistra Flying’). Now achingly cool, and one of the few plants that can survive with remarkably little light.

1970s houseplants on display at Lotty’s Flowers in Faversham. The large plant on the left, in a pink container, is an aspidistra. Directly below it, you can see the stripey leaves of a spider plant.

Spider plant (Chlorophytum): Almost impossible to kill. It even survives office life. And it dangles. Trailing and dangling plants, such as String of Hearts plant (Ceropegia woodii), are very 1970s.

Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa): These sculptural plants were everywhere in our 1970s student flats (OK, squats). They grew to an enormous size (they can be up to 10ft tall) and lurked rather menacingly in corners. The gloriously big ones are now quite expensive, although Amazon has small ones (eg 40cm) for around £11 + delivery.

Ferns: The 1970s were the era of the fern. In both house and garden.

Anything pointy-leaved: mother-in-law’s tongue, aloe vera, and all plants that look like miniature palm trees.

How to rock the 1970s house plants look…

A single orchid on the mantelpiece is not enough.

You are truly only cool if you have an urban jungle in every part of your life. Take these Instagram posts by TV botanist (@botanygeek) James Wong and ‘waiting for the plantpocalypse’ model Hannah Lee Duggan (@hannahleeduggan):

Heaven's Launderette? #houseplants #indoorplants #hipsterbeforehipsters

A post shared by James Wong (@botanygeek) on Sep 27, 2017 at 6:00am PDT

so close to curling back up in my bed back home ♥️

A post shared by Hannah Lee (@hannahleeduggan) on Aug 28, 2017 at 1:30pm PDT

And one of the most influential ‘urban jungle’ blogs/Instagram accounts is Urban Jungle Bloggers. Each of their posts get tens of thousands of ‘likes’.

Sunday night pool party! ✌️

by @co_florist #urbanjunglebloggers

A post shared by Urban Jungle Bloggers™ (@urbanjungleblog) on Oct 29, 2017 at 11:45am PDT

And Mr Plant Geek, Michael Perry showcases plant trends on Instagram, most recently house plants in the shower.

  But even low-maintenance plants need care

Michael Perry is running a campaign to encourage people to speak up for neglected house plants drooping in shops, offices and restaurants. (The example below is of well cared for plants!)

The cafe at @notcutts in Norwich has been reimagined and is now an enthralling jungle of plants

☕️

A post shared by Michael Perry (@mr_plantgeek) on Oct 12, 2017 at 9:25am PDT

But the difference between an indoor garden and an outdoor one is that outside the sun and the rain do quite alot of the work for you. Indoors, you need to make sure the plant has the right amount of light and water.

There are care instructions on labels. But labels get lost (unless you are very meticulous). You can google plant care for various plants or buy a book, such as How Not To Kill Your Houseplant

And the consequence was…

I bought a String of Hearts plant, two spider plants and some cyclamen from Lotty’s Flowers. And I think the mantelpiece looks much better. What do you think?

Mantelpiece without house plants

Mantelpiece with cyclamen (Plant of the Month for November according to Joy of Plants) and String of Hearts plant.

Spider plants and terrarium in the kitchen

Pin for later:

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The post Join the 1970s house plants revolution appeared first on The Middle-Sized Garden.

from The Middle-Sized Garden http://www.themiddlesizedgarden.co.uk/join-the-1970s-house-plants-revolution/