Welcome to the Jungle

Hello World! (Ugh!) What an awful way to start a blog. Allow me to introduce myself. My Name is Mark Crescent. I am an avid houseplant enthusiast, photographer and part-time writer. I decided to start this blog as a way of documenting my plant journey and connecting with fellow plant lovers online. In this space during the upcoming weeks I will be posting tips, tricks, news, facts, stories and advice related to my passion for growing things. Here's a short version of how I got here:

I did not grow up with an interest in plants. Certainly there were houseplants around (it was the seventies and ferns were king) and I was lucky enough to spend most of my summers, as a child surrounded by Nature's grandeur in the Adirondack Mountains. But Plants had no specific place in my life. Don't get me wrong: I liked plants. They just lived in the background of my life. They held no special significance. And I had no special knowledge about them. Plus, I was mostly lazy, neglectful and capricious (still am!). At a certain point in my adulthood--let's call it the beginning of my "nesting period"--I was suddenly struck with the desire to own a plant. I think it was mostly a symbolic desire: Isn't a houseplant the ultimate shibboleth for domesticity? A way of putting our roots down both literally and figuratively.

So I went to the local garden center and brought home what I thought was a palm tree. After all, it was written “ponytail palm” on the label. On the way home I dreamt of the grand Victorian parlor into which my two bedroom apartment would soon be transformed! I could hardly contain my excitement. When I got home, I put about to give it the showcase it deserved. I had purchased a lovely pot and some reindeer moss to show off my prize to the no doubt throngs of admiring friends and neighbors that would gather to gawk at its beauty. After repotting, I carefully positioned it on the coffee table between the TV and sofa. I went to bed that night dreaming of my new life as a plant guy: How many more would I get? What kinds? Where would I put them all?

In the morning I awoke energized. I made my coffee and planted myself on the sofa to admire my new roomy. But something was amiss. In place of my fantastic find there was only a pile of dirt, torn leaves and broken pottery. While I was lost in my dreams of a green paradise, apparently the cat had his own ideas.

And there it was: My first victim. Many more unsuspecting subjects of the plant kingdom would meet their demise over the following months and years; dracaenas, philodendrons, and peperomia alike would succumb to my hubris and neglect. but slowly I learned and read and paid attention. So that now I have that elusive green house I had dreamed of 10 years ago. Over the next weeks months and maybe years I will share with you the things I have learned, the mistakes I have made and the triumphs I have won in that pursuit. Stay tuned to this space for more stories from the Jungle.