Spiritual Lessons From the Philodendron
What houseplants can teach us
My mom taught me to love houseplants. Our home was always filled with an array of houseplants on windowsills, the kitchen table, and window ledges. She installed shelving in windows and rooms that captured the best sunlight so she could have more plants. She hung spider plants in macrame hangers as works of art and always had potted plants in various stages of development around the home. Truly, what she needed was a greenhouse.
I think that was probably a silent dream she had but never spoke aloud.
She did, however, teach me to speak out loud to houseplants. She said they’d grow better if you did, and now some 40 years later it seems science has acknowledged this to be true and not just fanciful lore promoted by plant lovers.
My mom taught me a lot of things about houseplants, and while I don’t have nearly as many plants as she did, I know my house would be incomplete without them. Over the years, I’ve grown peace lilies, the prayer plant, aloe vera, spider plants, ficus trees, and the shamrock plant, to name a few.
But my favorite has always been the philodendron, and it’s taught me some important spiritual life lessons.
