so, i got this plant when i was born, right?

[BlurOfSerenity]

when i was born, my aunt gave me this little easter-y planter (i was born on an easter monday), which had this one plant in it that i have had ever since.
we always thought it was a palm tree. my parents always kept it, even after i moved out, because i was afraid i'd kill it.
well, yesterday i was at my parents' house, and finally decided to do something about the larger stalk of the plant, that had completely died, so i broke that part off (it was too difficult to saw it). my mom's friend was over, and we all had a good look at the plant and decided it was being under-cared-for... the browning tips of the leaves showed it was too dry... possibly what killed that larger stalk.
it occurred to me that now, i probably wouldn't kill that plant, because i recently got a pitcher plant and have been watering it (in its bowl, with distilled water), religiously, every day. it's harder to neglect all of your plants when you have just one that needs daily care... so i decided to take on this new charge.
tonight, i was looking through this awesome houseplant book i have, and i tried to find information about it in the "palms" section, but to no avail. i thought of taking pictures of it to show around online and ask if anyone knows what it is... but then i flipped through the book and randomly settled on a page about dracaena... there was a picture that looked exactly like my plant.... it's a DRACAENA!!! i would not have thought that.
i feel all happy because now i know EXACTLY what it is: Dracaena Warneckii, specifically. even when i thought it was a palm, i didnt' know which sort i thought it was.... it feels good to just know

so... that's me being a geek! back to your regularly scheduled programming!

 

[greenfreak]

it occurred to me that now, i probably wouldn't kill that plant, because i recently got a pitcher plant and have been watering it (in its bowl, with distilled water), religiously, every day. it's harder to neglect all of your plants when you have just one that needs daily care... so i decided to take on this new charge.

You're absolutely right. My orchids need care every morning so I tend not to forget about all the other houseplants I have.

If you ever want to branch out and want a great all-around book for outside gardening too, "The Complete Garden Flower Book" is a great one. I've been using it for years like an encyclopedia.

It's funny you mention pitcher plants. I was just watching Gardening By The Yard this morning and they showed two pots for pitcher plants - One big one on the bottom with no holes where you put the water, and the pot with the holes that the plant is actually in sits in the larger pot. So it's like it's got a constant water supply in it's little dunk tank.

I've never had a pitcher plant, but I always thought they were cool! Congrats on finding out about your Dracaena too.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

thanks, i will have to check out that book! i currently use "the house plant expert" by dr. D. G. hessayon, and it is really useful, but sometimes lacking.

yeah, pitcher plant soul must remain constantly very wet, so watering from the bottom up is the way to go... i have my pot in this little chinese rice bowl! i think that if you can get a pitcher plant, they're really cool. i got mine from the folks at http://fly-trapfarm.com/ , when they were at the philly flower show. i have the hooded kind where the things just stick up, but someday i want the kind where the pitchers actually hang, and look more like pitchers!

 

[kuulani]

Maybe you were Hawaiian in another lifetime?

It is tradition here to plant a tree when your child is born and plant that part of the umbilical cord that falls off your belly button with the tree (or even to plant the placenta with the tree too).

It's kinda symbolic. If your tree fluorishes, so will you.

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

that's actually a lot of why i was afraid of it dying... it seemed like it would be a really bad sign. there's traditions relating to that in... either norse or celtic mythology, too.

 

[kuulani]

is this it?

 

[greenfreak]

I've always wanted to go to the Philly flower show. I was planning on going down for a weekend this year so I could finally tour the US Mint and hit the show. Completely forgot though.

Do you have to feed your plant flies? I always wondered what happens to it if it doesn't get bugs. Does it die? Or if you keep it watered, is that enough?

 

[BlurOfSerenity]

ku'u : kind of, more like this: http://www.indoor-plants.co.uk/plantphotos/deremensis.jpg

gf: the philly flower show was AMAZING. if you can make it down sometime, you should, you would LOVE it.
i don't have to feed my plant flies, apparently they only need one or two in a year and they're able to attract them on their own, or so i hear.

 

[Nixy]

The pitcher plant is the official plant of NFLD (grows in marshes all over the province). I never knew it was an insectivore before, very cool.