Saving Plants for a Weed

Posted on Tue 1st Oct, 2019 @ 7:20pm by Lieutenant Damion Ildaran

1,533 words; about a 8 minute read

Mission: A Diplomatic Affair
Location: Scents of Love, Zelda Alegari's quarters
Timeline: MD 7, 1115

A weed is a plant that has mastered every survival skill except for learning how to grow in rows. --Doug Larson

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Humming snatches of "All I Ask of You", one of many songs still floating through her mind after seeing Phantom of the Opera, Flavia finished dusting the decoratives in the Touch of Home side of her business. As she walked toward the back of the florist shop, the bell on the door jingled behind her. She tossed the duster under the checkout desk and moved toward the man who entered.

"Lieutenant ... Ildaran, isn't it?" she greeted him. "Welcome to Scent of Love. How can I help you today?"

"Hello, Mrs. Smith," Damion said to the shop owner. He'd purchased vegetable seeds and cuttings from her in the past. "I wonder if you could help me with buying some plants for a friend who's been unable to care for hers for a while? Specifically, I'm looking for something called philodendron and also mother-in-law's tongue? And some liquid plant food for them."

"Just call me Flavia, everyone does. I can help with both of those," she said leading him to the front left corner of the shop. "I do hope she'll be all right. It's so lovely of you to fix up the plants. There's nothing worse than coming home after a long illness to find all your plants have died, too."

They stopped by a display of philodendrons, some were all green with classic small pointed oval leaves, some yellow streaked, and others had enormous leaves, many pinnate. "These are the philodendrons I have in stock, but I can get others. Do you know what kind she has or likes?

"Novice growers, or those who haven't much time, usually buy these with the smaller leaves. You can root stems in water, or even leave them in water for long periods of time. Well cared for, they tend to put out many shoots, filling baskets, or twining their way across a window rod, lamp pole or even the back of a couch."

Flavia pointed to one of the larger ones. "These take a little more care, and some knowledge of pruning, but it's quite difficult to kill one. Which type does she have? I ask that as if there are only 2, but there are actually closer to 500 from Earth alone, and related plants from other worlds."

Damion recalled the shapes of the dead leaves he'd photographed in Zelda Alegari's apartment and then looked up on the LCARS. "She had a sweetheart plant, some elephant's ear, and a split-leaf philodendron," he said.

"Here's an elephant ear. They were originally swamp plants, so they do well with a lot of water, say growing on the edge of a fountain or pond. I don't have any split leaf at the moment. They tend to grow quite large, except for a few small varieties. We'll take a look in the book and you can choose one of those, if you like."

"All right," Damion agreed.

Flavia's hand moved to caress a smaller plant. "This one's the sweetheart, if you'd care to pick one, or however many you need." The florist turned to him thoughtfully. "You're sure the other plants are dead? If there's any life in them at all, bring them in and I can probably revive them, given a few weeks. When do you expect her home?"

"I wasn't told a return date, unfortunately," Damion said. "Some of the plants are alive. The bamboo is doing fine. The African violets have an automatic watering and lighting system, so they are doing well enough. I can nurse them along a bit. Some of the vegetables were a loss, but I was able to replace them with what I have at home. They were my real priority. Now that I'm done getting the vegetables aright, I can look at the remaining plants."

"Oh, my. Such a large variety! She must be quite the gardener. And you must be a very good friend to be so concerned for her plants," Flavia smiled, imagining a budding romance. Pardon the pun, she thought.

She pulled a plant cart from its hiding place under the table and said, "Go ahead and load what you choose on here, and then we'll take a look at the order book for whatever else you'd like." She watched him for a moment as he debated.

"While you do that, let's talk about plant food. Truthfully, philodendrons don't really need much plant food. The soil needs to be changed or refreshed on top occasionally, and you can feed a balanced liquid foliage houseplant fertilizer that contains macro-nutrients monthly in spring and summer, then once in mid-fall and skip the winter entirely.

"Philos are generally foolproof plants to grow, though your friend has had extenuating circumstances. As she's such an avid gardener, do you mind if I ask what health problems have taken her away from her gardening? I do have a service for people who will be away from home, so that plants can be fresh and lively when they return."

"She asked me not to say," Damion told Flavia regretfully, "but I will find out if she's interested in the plant care service. I think that's a brilliant idea, and I'm certain she would appreciate it. I might even be interested in that for my own plants. I sometimes have to leave unexpectedly for weeks at a time."

The florist nodded, "You just let me know and I'll fit either of you into the schedule. We are a bonded company, so your home is safe with us. Do you have everything you need from this group?"

"I think so," Damion said, indicating the three types of philodendron he'd chosen.

"Then let's take a look at some herbs. Some are easier to grow than others. Rosemary, for instance, can do well with drought, while leafy ones like basil don't." The florist led him to a display of small pots of herbs.

"I was able to replace the basil with one of my own cuttings," Damion said. "The poor thing had completely died."

"I'd suggest the rosemary, then, definitely." Flavia looked over her other herbs, reaching for a pot with golden flowers which turned pink toward the center. "Now this looks almost like a cone flower, but it isn't. It's echinacea, and it's wonderful in home cold remedies." Reaching for another pot, she brought out something that looked like sage. "This is pineapple sage. Touch the leaves and then smell your fingers. There's thyme, of course. And ... oh, dandelion. Pretty yellow flowers that used to be considered a weed, but so resilient, and so healthful in teas, cooking and lotions."

She looked satisfied with these selections, and nodded her head. "Yes, a pretty little garden, and all so useful. I'd recommend all of these, but of course, you can choose as you like. These were grown from our own seed and don't have huge transportation costs, so all of them will cost you only a slip of latinum, or about 50 credits."

"That's fine. Some mint would be good, too," Damion said. "Though it'll grow like mad if I'm not careful. What about chives?"

"Chives are also a good choice, pretty easy to grow, and they don't require a lot of care. If they are watered occasionally, they'll grow." She put two varieties on the cart. "I hope the owner will be home to trim and use all these herbs. They'll go to seed, given half a chance, and then they aren't as good. On the other hand, you have seeds to grow more," Flavia smiled. "Anything else?"

"What about the, er, mother-in-law's tongue?"

"Succulent. Easiest thing in the world to grow," Flavia said, leading him to another area, and pushing the cart in front of them. "Basically, you leave it alone and let it grow. It takes almost no water other than what's in the air. If you touch the soil and it's bone dry, pour about a cup of water around the edges of the pot. It will seep into the center and be good for a couple of weeks. Only very occasionally should fertilizer be added, once a year, perhaps, and it can be any general fertilizer. If the air is just right, in a few months, these'll be taking over her quarters completely!"

They stopped at another table where there were small, medium, and large pots with appropriately tall and slender leaves of yellow and green shades. "Also known as snake plant, from the pattern on the leaves, I presume, or more technically, sansevieria. Choose your favorite. Or her favorite. You can't go wrong with these, and they keep toxins out of the air, too. I'm surprised any of them died, since they withstand drought so well."

"She's had to be away for quite a while," Damion said. "I think this lot will do it, Flavia. I very much appreciate your help."

"Any time. You let me know about the care service, if it's required. I wouldn't want to see all these plants die," she admonished him as he put his thumbprint on the payment screen.

 

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