It’s March 2021, which means Metro Manila has been under quarantine for a full year already. (To clarify, all of the ECQ-MECQ-GCQ-MGCQ programs end with -Q for quarantine.) On the bright side, this also marks one year of exploring hobbies that can be done at home.
One such hobby was gardening. My interest started when I began working from home and finally spent enough time at home to appreciate the ornamental plants my mom left in my care. Prior to the quarantine, I only begrudgingly watered the plants once a week. It was more a chore than anything—I realize now that for someone who didn’t care for plants, I had a fair number of plants in my care at the time.
Particularly, I started off with:
- Golden pothos
- Monstera adansonii
- Fiddle leaf fig
- Victory plant
- Spider plant
- Bacularis snake plant
As I stared at the plants during my downtime, I realized that I did like the pop of color they added to my space. Fast forward to quarantime: my mom and I discovered online plant sellers, and my mom ordered us a buttload of plants. And it was all downhill from there: I collected more plants and learned to propagate them. I also made new (online) friends with whom I traded plants and care tips and shared pictures of new acquisitions.
I want to say that I no longer shop for more plants, but occasionally I see a pretty plant for cheap, and I pounce. However, I have reached a point where I’ve begun decluttering the plants from my personal collection, which is a feat—self-control is hard. There is only so much space for plants…
So where are we today? I have my favorite ornamental plants in my room:
- Cebu blue
- Calathea orbifolia
- Monstera pinnatipartita
- Monstera adansonii
- Calathea manoa blush
- Syngonium albo variegata
In my living room, I also (finally) have a monstera deliciosa—I found an affordable one on Instagram, so I’m set …for now, unless I find another affordable calathea. Basically, my plant collection has grown and will undoubtedly keep growing for as long as we remain in quarantine.
kamventuretime 