You never forget your first plant.

So, as my name may suggest, I like plants, and cats.

My interest in house plants started about 10 years ago: my boyfriend’s parents’ house was really stylish – it was an old physician’s home, and the bathroom still featured the original dispensary shelves. There were rocks, bits of driftwood, and other natural things on display, as well a few plants on the window sill and the corner of the bath. I used to love it there, it felt so relaxing in an unrefined way.

My “mother-in-law” at the time gave me a few cuttings, and it all started from there. One of the cuttings was from a money plant, or jade tree – a pretty common succulent. Succulents are easy to keep: just place them somewhere quite light and pretty much ignore them. And so, my first house plant is still with me today! However it has grown quite a bit, and I have now created another plant from it too.

Another cutting she gave me was from a lemon-scented geranium. I loved that plant – it smelt, as the name suggest, of lemon or citronella. Sadly, geraniums don’t have the same indestructibility levels as succulents; and that plant suffered at my unexperienced gardening hands. You know the saying “you never forget your first kiss”? Well the same goes for plants. For years, I tried finding another scented leaf pelargonium – because .I liked the scent, but also the pretty leaves.

The house plant market in the UK is not that great, and in the end, about a year ago I ordered a small baby geranium on Ebay. I put it in the kitchen, by the sunny French doors, and I was upset that it wasn’t growing very well; it was very leggy. But during the summer I re-potted it and it is now very happy. I believe I have managed to successfully grow two more from cuttings too – but I may still get myself a bigger, bushier plant if I find any in the UK!

My last first-love is actually more of an outdoor plant, though you can keep them indoor for a while…: hydrangeas. I remember planting my first hydrangea outside the front window of the house. It was around October, and I forgot about it for a few months. Then spring came, leaves grew back, and buds started appearing. Watching the progress of my hydrangea when I came home at night was a simple pleasure which I continue to indulge in these days… Except I now have more than one!