A Favorite Spot

We are supposed to be removing our dilapidated wood deck and replacing it with a new brick patio.  We haven't had the heart to begin this big project yet, but I've pared down on some of my plantings in anticipation of this. I'm certainly not letting go of everything, and in the process of 'weeding out' have discovered that less-is-more is definitely working here. I got rid of an old fushia which has been shabby for the past few years and placed this collection of houseplants in its spot.

This simple pot of traditional houseplants has a special significance to me, as well as looking lovely.  In February of last year my brother Jeff died unexpectedly. This plant was given to me in sympathy by the wonderful people I work with. I think of my brother and my friends and coworkers when viewing this setting. 

Since I receive very little light in my condo, I've kept this arrangement outside, where it does well in our mild So. Cal. climate.  There was a pothos plant which was too bugridden to keep, but I love how the English ivy in the pot trails down.  The empty spot where I had to remove the pothos makes a good place for a little plaque to be added.  I like the juxtaposition of this lovely grouping, with my little napping angel at the base.  Behind the plantstand is a hanging my 5-year-old daughter picked out for me for Mothers Day a decade ago, it appropriately says 'friends forever'.  You can just see to the right side of it the handprint plaques my girls made a dozen years or so ago at a free kids clinic at Home Depot.

It hadn't occurred to me when I started this blog that this is the essence of today's holiday, a memorial for Memorial Day.  My brother is buried next to my parents in Missouri, so I cannot make it over to the graveyard to put out fresh flowers and bow my head in contemplation.  I am happy to have a constant rememberance of him in a quiet corner.