I remember as a kid that I hated gardening. It was definitely a chore that was assigned to me and that I would whine about until I was finished. I also remember that about 10 years ago while living with my brother, he purchased a number of houseplants which actually angered me because I was in no way accepting of the added responsibility of tending a garden however small. And just to clarify it became my responsibility because my brother travelled often, leaving me alone with all the little plantlings. And guess what?? I killed them all because I just didn’t care, I didn’t ask for them and I didn’t want them.

Oddly sometime between then and now I have become a succulent addict, plant hoarder, green thumb, gardening monster. I honestly don’t know when the switch flipped. Or perhaps it just came on slowly, so that I didn’t even notice until I was building my own living space and wanted to make sure my window sills were large enough to account for the many, many plants that would be residing there.

Regardless of how it happened I would now be so bold as to state that I love gardening. I am not a patient person but nothing teaches you patience quite like an itty bitty little seed. Watching a seed make it from start to finish in the garden is quite miraculous as the odds are often stacked against them, from age, to weather, to pests. It’s a wonder how there are any vegetables to harvest and any flowers to smell. Many plants have the ability to reseed themselves or grow again from a seemingly dead mother plant which I also find fascinating!

During our two-month closure at the cafe many of our beautiful little succulents became leggy and top heavy. So, I decided to take my love of botany to the next level and became a plant doctor (self-dubbed) . I performed surgery on the mothers and replanted them to pots that fit their new size better. I also removed the extra leaves from their spiny off casts and coaxed them all to become their own little baby plants. The success rate of this new growth makes even the blackest of thumbs feel like a champ!

But what to do with all these lovely green pups? (My windowsills are full!) Why, create a plant menagerie of course! Now at the cafe we have a display of our beautiful little succulents, visit often and you will see them growing big and strong. Strong enough to hopefully, one day create babies of their own.

“It’s the circle of plant life, and it moves us all, through despair and hope, through faith and love, til we find our place on the path unwinding.”

Yup, I just quoted the Lion King!