When my husband and I got married, my brother-in-law (a florist), gifted us a beautiful fiddle leaf fig tree. Unfortunately, our third floor apartment didn’t get enough sun (despite its huge windows), and the tree’s leaves started to brown and fall off, until suddenly it was naked — just a couple of branches with some leaf stragglers.
I never did have a great green thumb, having never been able to keep succulents alive very long (DO they need water? I’ve tried, I’ve really tried, but alas…).
But when we moved to Miami, to an apartment on the 32nd floor with west-facing windows and a (still unbelievable) amount of sunlight, I decided to change that. I went to Home Depot and bought three small plants: a philodendron, a ZZ plant, and a fiddle leaf fig.
The fiddle leaf fig, or Figgy, as I like to call her, took just a couple weeks after repotting to get comfortable. I could tell, she really liked her new home.
From then on, she started to sprout new leaves, and she never stopped.
We had a couple of moments where I feared she was ill — a couple yellowed leaves, some spots, signs of over- or under-watering — but she pulled through. I even propagated a couple of leaves in water and was able to gift my friend Ana a new plant of her own, which I hear is thriving.
Throughout the last year, Figgy has grown so much.
Now, Figgy stands as tall as our TV, and she’s gorgeous. I let her know it, too, when I walk past. The ZZ has even gone through many changes (when it outgrew its pot, I discovered there were 4 separate plants inside, and gifted 3 of them to some friends), but Figgy is my pride and joy.
How are you with plants?
Writing With Abandon 
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