They say, however, that before you get a pet, you ought to be able to care for a plant; and before you get a baby, you ought to be able to care for a plant and a pet.

I often find myself wishing a genie would come to my apartment and give me a Highland White Terrier (Westie) puppy. They say, however, that before you get a pet, you ought to be able to care for a plant; and before you get a baby, you ought to be able to care for a plant and a pet.

So it seems that the place to start learning responsibility is by caring for a plant. Here are some tips on keeping them alive.

1. Keep your plants away from extreme heat.
My sister used to grow hydrangeas in my bedroom while I was at school. To get her back, I stole some to put in my house. Not thinking much where they should be placed, I stuck them on top of our radiator. I thought it would be okay because there was a shelf on top of it. Not so…

2. Pay attention to how much liquid they are getting.
Water is good for plants. Not too much and not too little. A friend’s roommate, we found out later, sloshed beer in her fern on a weekly basis because she “kept forgetting to pay the electric bill.” After a month it croaked.

3. Don’t forget about them and make arrangements when you travel
This summer I went up north for about three weeks. I neglected to find a sitter for my flowering wandering Jew and it didn’t like me too much when I finally returned. Fortunately, that plant survived my neglect and abuse and with some serious TLC, the brown spots turned green again.

4. Don’t put your plants in the line of fire.
I don’t mean in front of a fireplace. My current roommate loves bonsai trees. She decides to place one on our windowsill (on the window tracks). During the heat wave this past August, I flew the window to the side and CRASH, down comes Hillary’s prized bonsai with the blue, purple, and yellow rock beads all over our new carpet. I made her clean it up to teach her a lesson.

5. Treat your plant’s home (its pot) with respect.
I get the urge to garden every once and awhile. Unbeknownst to me, when I changed my geranium’s plastic container to a striped pot, I found bottle caps in it. It was cutting some of the roots and didn’t grow as fast. I admit that I can’t nurture plants as well as my mother, but who does that!?

Some of these tips may seem like common sense, but trust me, if you don’t keep them in mind you will forget them.

Someday I hope to grow my own massive garden with every vegetable you can fit into a summer salad. Until then, I’m trying to keep my wandering Jew alive for at least a year, that way I’ll know that I’m ready for a Westie (and in 20 years, maybe even a baby).

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