Not-So-Green Thumb

In my inbox this morning I found the following tip from Clorox's 30 Days to Natural;

"Get a green thumb and breathe easier. Enhance indoor air quality with houseplants, which convert carbon dioxide to oxygen. Some plants, like the spider plant, remove some air pollutants."

Can they smell the funk of a diaper pail from a three year-old from there?! I've been looking into houseplants because I know that I need/want a few. My mom always had houseplants and they were always glorious looking, dusted regularly and perfectly potted. I have had several attempts with geraniums and other spring/summer flowering plants and they are always lovely for the amount of time that they can sustain themselves and then it's Sayonara, Sister!

I have to be careful, because with the lasseiz-faire tactics I employ for most things in life, I would most likely end in a poisonous plant being placed within reach of curious hands. Good thing there are websites that help weed out (ha ha, pardon the pun) the baddies. In looking at the list I'm pretty sure I would have deduced that Devils Backbone, Crown of Thorns and Dumb Cane would not good choices make. But Angels' Wings and Angel's Trumpet? Are they trying to make us have that conversation with Child Welfare workers?

I have one plant that is being plant-sat in Oregon, which I managed to keep alive for just over four years, before abandoning it to head to the "right" coast, as they call it here. Granted it's really tall for it's girth and was placed in a much larger pot far before its time, but thrive it has. I've been told my my old cubie buddies that it's doing quite well, and I'll be visiting it when I go home to visit.

My mom and two of my girlfriends at home have the most beautiful yards and are a big factor in me wanting to move back to Portland when residency is over. Who needs a landscape architect when you have friends that are passionate about an aesthetically pleasing, yet practical and balanced flora arrangement? But for now, here I go again on my own...yes, I'm full of 'em tonight.