Usually the Pacific Northwest is cloudy well into July, but this year has been very dry and mostly clear. It has been a long time since my houseplants have been able to go out into the rain, which they love. (I think a summer rain is like a spa for them.) When I heard it clattering against the roof this morning I rushed my poor dusty green things outside for a shower and a full dose of light. I know they will thank me.
Looking at them all together surprises me. I didn't know I had so many. It reminds me of the seventies, when I was newly married and living with Mike in our first apartment. Up till then african violets were the only houseplants I knew about, but suddenly indoor plants were all the rage and a little store (not a nursery, just a little storefront on a busy street that stocked plants and the pots to put them in....very novel) opened two doors down from where I worked. The tiny terrarium sized specimens were less than a dollar apiece, so even as a poverty stricken student I could always afford to pick up a new variety. Unfortunately our apartment, though wonderful, was on the dark side, so many of my new pets wilted quickly. My thumb is not really green, but there was something in me thirsting for plant life. I wondered how we had done without them for so long.
Since that time, although they have gone in and out of fashion, I've always had some plants in my house. A couple of other dark living quarters taught me which ones could survive in low light, and, I must admit, low attention levels a lot of the time. When we moved into our first house I found a ficus nitida in the hardware store that was about six feet tall for only ten dollars. That tree was with us for almost twenty years, growing well over ten feet tall. It only succumbed when we moved here into the old summer house with its single pane windows and zero heat retention. Ficus plants hate to be cold, and so it died. It felt like losing a member of the family. I wish it could have hung on long enough to enjoy our new house, with its serious insulation and plentiful light. We even have ceilings tall enough for it now. The good conditions here have encouraged me to buy more and more plants, and branch out a little, although I still cling mostly to the workhorses that I know will be tough and forgiving. In payment for their loyalty it pleases me to be able to send them to the spa.