Introduction

Hello,

I don’t know much about plants. I didn’t grow up spending much time outside, and now I’m a black thumb trying to reform. I wind up collecting all the unwanted, neglected plants in my office building and learning about them through enthusiastic failure. I learned about petioles last month because I was trying to save a begonia! In trying to keep them alive, I’ve dipped just a little into the insane variety, and it’s interesting trying to pick up the basics.

It’s hard to decide on a plant or group of plants I find most interesting at the moment, because they all seem to grab my interest in such different ways. I have been especially focused on scented plants this year, and scented geraniums have particularly grabbed my heart. I love the variety and the old fashioned feeling. But it’s hard to capture that in a photo. I also love to see people use plants in ways that surprise me, so this bonsai fushia is a good example of that:

Lithops also are really neat! Here is one erupting:

I am not from Alaska so some of the plants I see all around are familiar, but many aren’t. I’m really looking forward to feeling more connected to this place after this class, even though pineapple weed is a homey sight anywhere!