My Brown Thumb

Keeping plants alive has never been my strength.  Most of the plants in my house growing up were fake ficus trees- so I blame my mother for making me believe that plants required zero maintenece to look green year round.  Danny likes to tell me that I have to keep a plant alive for a year before I'm allowed to have a pet.  And I REALLY want a kitten. I mean puppy.  I mean pony. Let's see how it's going so far:

My newest plant is one week old- I bought it on Danny's birthday to be part of the centerpiece for his birthday dinner.  I'm not sure if it's actually possible to kill a plant in less than a week, but if it is- then I probably would've done it.  So I count this one as an early, tentative success.  The flowers are still pink, the leaves are still green- so that means I've succeeded.  Laura: 1, Death: 0.

Next we have my "money tree".  I don't know why it's called that, but I bought it in July 2009 when we moved into our new apartment.  It had a rough patch a couple of weeks ago, when I forgot to water it, but it's pulled through quite nicely.  I'm proud of this guy- and I'll ignore the fact that I was told that its nearly impossoble to kill when I bought it.  Laura: 2, Death: 0.

Now here's the one that I'm most concerned about.  My mom sent it to me when I took the boards, in April 2009.  That means we are REALLY close to hitting the one year mark with him.  I put this plant on my desk, thinking "I study at my desk EVERY DAY- how could I possible neglect something that I see EVERY DAY?!"  It was a good thought- until I started 'studying' in bed.  Drat. This little guy probably went a solid 3 weeks without water.  I'm desperately trying to nurse him back to health, but those yellow/brown leaves at the bottom just seem to be getting deader every day.  This guy could go either way. Laura: 2, Death: 0, Purgatory: 1.

If you ever come and visit me, you might see a few other plants around the house that look like my handiwork.   Such as these two.  I am proud to annouce that I wasn't directly responsible for either of these sticks' plants' deaths  These belong to my generally nurturing and attentive roommate, Ala.  But this is what third year of medical school will do to you.  So we won't hold it against her.  But it does raise the final score to Laura: 2, Death: 2, Purgatory: 1.  Let's hope that the final plant is a tie-breaker!!  I think keeping paper flowers alive counts. Right?