Floral accidents

I've always found it difficult to head out to a nursery and be told that I am only allowed to get a single pot of plant. There are just too many plants at home and the poor balcony is too cluttered with my seemingly endless pots of greens. Yet, the nursery houses so many more varieties of flowers, herbs and greens I covet. Out of sheer desperation, I've kept with my single-pot-per-nursery-trip budget but started creating "accidents"; I snip short branches off plants I really like from the oddest places or uprooting some from their homes -- off the slope when I'm out for a walk with the dogs, from a bush just along the street, off the bark of a tree... 

The ferns always survive and actually grow to be giants. Some of the branches I snip off various bushes survive too. I collect leaves that are meant to be discarded after floral arrangement classes and am proud to say that the product of one such lovely accident (my spotted bamboo plant) is thriving. Sometimes, when neighbours throw out perfectly healthy plants, I pick them up and re-pot them too. So maybe they were looking a little scruffy when I found them but the one I last picked up is growing real well now and I have the plant in two different pots. It makes me happy every time I look at new shoots, happy leaves. One of my favourite accidents is the "lipstick" plant. I snipped off a branch outside my school library the year I started on my doctorate. It's been 5 years since and the plant is nearly one meter tall.

I recently finished rearranging the balcony plants and it looks so much neater. When I told my husband that I managed to save space for new plants, he gave me a very predictable look of incredulity. Nonetheless, I'm determined to forge on, create more accidents and work at turning my balcony into a very green space...