The Holiday & The House Plants

So. We've moved into someone else's home for 7 months. Oct. 1st - May 1st. Everything the Doctor owns remains and he gave me a handwritten note: live in the house like it is your own, garbage day Thursdays, please don't use the china in the hutch and take care of my plants, 'I've had them for decades'. (!!!!) Decades? I didn't know plants lived longer than dogs. Oh my word. Does he realize that I may not be the best person to be in charge of the care and feeding of living plants? I have noticed that plants tend to lean up/grow up and towards the light; like humans who long for warmer climates. So. I'm on a quest to learn more. I have been digging around blogs and found this amazing post that taught me 15-20 house plants will clean and fill the air with fresh-filtered VOC-free oxygen of a 1800 sq. ft. home. Now that's amazing. So. The root of all this leads me to my trip yesterday to Value Village to find a book on house plants. (don't get me wrong - I'm brilliant with succulents, but all you do is ignore them) I found this book appropriately called, 'All About House Plants'. ($1.99) How about that! It was written by Montague Free and Marjorie J. Dietz (both of the Brooklyn Botanic Garden) and the colour of the book was enough to make me jump for joy. It's my new favorite colour. (I call it 'Bette Midler Green' because she has a velvet blazer that colour that she wore to a NYRP event - gorgeous, rich.)