The perfect plant collection.
Most of us appreciate and strive for perfection but understand that it is rarely achievable.
If I study my face in the mirror I have a scar running from my top lip. I have uneven eyes where one appears bigger than the other when I smile. Sometimes my glasses sit lopsided on my ears and the bridge of my nose bears the striking kink in it that some of my dear family have that has passed down the generations. I accept these flaws and blemishes.
Sometimes we expect too much from our houseplants, wanting them to stay as nearly perfect as the day we bought them. Most houseplants sold commercially are grown by specialist growers in greenhouses where they carefully control light, temperature, humidity, where they are fed with nutrients and plant feeds, and also watered to perfection. But when those plants are brought and taken home which are not those exact greenhouse grown environments so our houseplants are bound to develop some imperfections.
Even when your house plants are cared for as perfectly as possible, where you’ve researched the plant species and it’s requirements, you own grow lights and good plant feeds and plant care products they will still not be ‘perfect’. Like all living things, they develop imperfections and they don’t live forever. Minor leaf blemishes and discolorations are normal, expected, and best ignored. Older leaves will gradually die back as they age.
If you want to have houseplants don't expect them to be perfect and try not to overreact to common plant imperfections.
Accept what you cannot control and enjoy what you can accomplish with your houseplants. Expect and embrace the imperfections and focus on all of the positive aspects of how much your plants have flourished under your care and don’t focus on slight leaf blemishes.
The photos that illustrate this article are taken from my own private plant collection. I certainly have scars, rips and tears especially in plants that have bigger leaves as they become really noticeable on these. I have scarred plants that are recovering from pest infestations and plants that have spotting due to under or over watering, until I got used to the each plants needs then these marks are the tell tale signs that I learnt along the way in my plant collection. Can you relate?
I often find I’ve got pockets full an unidentified collection of leaves from walking round pinching off the old leaves here and there that die back. Try not to worry when this happens, your plant is acting as it should by giving way old leaves to allow for the new growth to come through.
The plants I’ve collected, care for and adore are far from ‘perfect’ but bring me so much joy. I hope that the aim of this article has helped you embrace your imperfections too.
