There is beauty all around us. And a worthy endeavor is nurturing that beauty. I find beauty in the sunshine-filled bay window at the front of my house. It has an assortment of potted plants. Some were given to me. Some I bought for myself. In my care, they require a constant vigilance if they are to thrive.

Moreover, I can’t treat them all the same. I sometimes have to turn a pot away from the direction of the sunlight, so the plant won’t get bent over. Occasionally a plant outgrows its container and must be repotted. At times I add plant food to its water. And this business of watering my plants can be tricky. Tricky, indeed! I must pay attention to how much water I give and how often.

I allow the soil in the Christmas Cactus pot and a nameless-to-me cactus pot to dry out completely between waterings. That cactus with the long tentacles started out in a tiny plastic pot, so you can see that I repotted it as it grew. As I don’t remember its name, I’m calling it “nameless-to-me.”

And the succulent Aloe Vera grows in the desert, so I also let it dry out between waterings.

My Red Daisy starts to bloom in the spring with a delightful burst of color. I keep its soil moist.

My favorite bay window plant for about the last year is the Red Anthurium, commonly called “Flamingo Lily” with its spectacular crimson heart-shaped blooms. Its care instructions, which came with it, say to just add six ice cubes on top of the soil once a week. That’s what I’ve been doing ever since it was given to me, and it continually looks fabulous! Maybe you’ve noticed: I do love red!

There is one plant which does not look like a success story right now. It is a bedraggled Begonia which suffered from transplantation shock. It had beautiful pink blooms when it was given to me. It was getting very tall so about a month ago I cut it back severely. I also thought it needed a potting soil in place of the clay soil it was in, so I switched that out. I may have been wrong on both counts. But I’m hoping she will come back to her once-beautiful self!

I do want to warn you that all these plants may not be suitable as house plants for you. In my brief research while writing this blog post, I discovered that, although rare, topical use of the gel substance within the leaves of Aloe Vera can cause an allergic reaction in some people. Indications are hives and difficulty breathing caused by swelling of the lips, tongue, or throat. Ingesting Aloe Vera orally may be unsafe for some and produce gastro-intestinal issues. So, do your own research and decide if these house plants are safe for you, and any pets or children in your home.

Perhaps God is teaching me a lesson in how I care for these plants that can carry over into my human relationships. I don’t have to treat everyone the same to achieve equality. In fact, my equation for treating people equally involves meeting their individualized needs.

Finding Beauty Series
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Connie Carlisle Polley, 2023
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