Growing houseplants

While I was on a Zoom call two weeks ago, I noticed something that ignited a great sense of excitement. The parlor palm on my desk, which I have had since last year, started to grow leaves. This excited me because after months of few signs of growth, the plant was now changing.

I had forgotten that houseplants could grow entirely new leaves. My palm plant has always gotten along reasonably well – despite the few leaves that have been dying for the last month or two – but nothing has ever showed any signs of growth. I have been thrilled at sustaining the plant, especially after hearing stories of people buying new houseplants after one died.

Watering my plant every week, and occasionally misting the leaves, has worked. These last few days I have been looking eagerly at my plant. I can see the new leaves getting bigger and turning from the bright green colour they were at the beginning to a slightly darker green. I have a feeling that in the next few weeks I will have a full new branch of leaves on the palm (I am a novice at houseplants so excuse me if I make any technical errors when describing my plants).

Metaphorically, this has reminded me that even during periods where I may not be growing, that doesn’t mean I have stopped growing. I’m still learning and there are plenty of opportunities for me to grow just like my plant. It’s very me to turn the growth of my plant into a higher level comment about personal growth. More than anything else, I am excited that my plant is growing. I hope to see it, and the other two plants I recently acquired after being inspired by the growth of my palm, to continue to grow, make new leaves, and become bigger.