I could speak about the power of nature and the insignificance of human constructions for days… Maybe omitting plastic and stainless steel. We could build plastic temples, from what I know, in one millennia our descendants would still see our legacy. And conclude we were assholes.
But still, doesn’t it bother you to see this
or this?
Dang! Doesn’t it grind your gears to see that nature doesn’t care about centuries of innovation, new technologies and architectural genius? All this hardly earned knowledge, all of this evaporates like a smelly fart when nature (that rascal!) reclaims its place.
This existential void you’re suddenly facing, feeling as insignificant as this mosquito you slapped last weekend ; you resist to the urge to dive under your duvet and hide there until forever. Breathe, breathe. You come to your senses and with timid steps, go to water the only green plant in your apartment. This valiant Beth (yes you name your plant, who’d dare judge you for that?!), she never ever failed you. Not when you forgot to water her for weeks, not even though she’s starting to feel cramped in her pot. No, of course, Beth would never betray you! She’s not like those *dirty* other green plants growing chaotically in the wild! Your beautiful house plant. As long as you take care of Beth, you will never feel lonely on rainy afternoons.
If this sounded too familiar, I invite you to leave your desk to go to take care of Robert, your superb specimen of the geraniaceae family. Because if you keep reading, what follows will break your HEART
.
.
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Ok, if someone is still reading at this point, here comes the most painful revelation you will EVER hear in botanic history. Green plants do not need you to survive. They do not need you at all! Yes, even the house plants. Yes, even Beth or Robert.
As infuriating as it sounds, they are so self-sufficient that they can live with *their own air*. Absorb at night the oxygen that they emitted through the day. And vice versa. Yep, that’s that. They don’t even need you to breath. No, not even Beth.
AH THAT RASCAAA— If you still don’t know where I am heading, I want of course my dear n’est-il pas, to talk about plants living in hermetic jars. If a green plant is strong enough to survive outside in ruthless conditions, it can without doubt live in a… JAR.
The British David Tilmer owns the perfect proof of this. He planted a Tradescantia in a big closed bottle in 1960 and only opened it in 1972 to add a bit of water. This tiny garden recycles its air and water days after days (we are not even able to rehydrate with our own urine. Plant FTW).
Anyway. If you have enough free time to do this project, this little miracle provided by mother nature, do it on your side! Ahem but to be honest, if you are as lazy as me, go pick the first wild plant you may find outside, open an empty jar and proceed as follow:
- Put a few little rocks.
- Add the plant and a bit of the soil that was around it.
- Add a bit of water, just enough to humidify the soil.
- Close the jar.
- Yay to you, you did a great job. You can go resume your watching of My little poney, but you’d rather not…
Et voila!
That’s all for today. Aaaand most of all, don’t stay well-behaved.
