Last fall my mom gave me a plant called a Wandering Jew. She said it was pretty low maintenance. I was excited about that.
But I think I was over zealous about the absence of care I had to give it and actually neglected it. It went for a while without even being watered. Oops, - not that low maintenance.
I didn't remember until I saw some dead leaves and then thought, "Oh crap!" So I did my duty, gave it a drink, then and tried to pull off the dead leaves so my mom wouldn't notice when she came to visit.
I think it worked too because every time she visits, she comments on how nice it looks. Perhaps she doesn't remember how full it had been when she gave it too me. Now it looks kinda spindly, but I hang it up high so it's harder to get a good look at it. I fertilized it and I notice some new shiny leaves on the tips. That's a good sign right?
Today I took it outside to give it some real sunlight. I was disheartened when I took a close look. Lots of the foliage is bright and healthy on the ends. It has beautiful shiny purple and green leaves just like it's supposed to.
It's a façade.
Some of the stems originating at the soil have withered away. Not the roots. Not the leaves. Just the stems.
They're dry.
Brittle.
Atrophied.
And with one gentle tug, the whole thing breaks away, -shiny leaves and all.
Not that low maintenance after all.
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