Marguerite

“Your plant’s dying,” my four-hours-a-month housekeeper told me in that ever-so-helpful way.

“No,” I said. “It’s going to drop those leaves and grow new ones. It did that once before.”

Once before, five years ago, it turns out. Remember when I wrote that I had a plant (a sago palm)? And that after a few years of having it, it was still alive? And how crazy that was? No? Refresh your memory here.

So, if five years ago I’d had the plant a few years, it’s truly some sort of record that it’s still in my life.

I call the plant Marguerite after Sewa Yoleme’s mother, who gave it to me. Soon after I wrote about the plant, the real Marguerite died. When Marguerite the Plant gave up its original palms, I boxed them up and sent them to Sewa Yoleme.

But doubt is beginning to nag. Did the plant shed leaves another time between that first shedding and now? I don’t think so, but maybe it did. Five years is a long time. Anyway, it doesn’t happen often.

About two weeks ago I took these photos with the old and new growth:

And this was the plant after I trimmed off the old leaves:

This was the plant about a week ago:

And this is Marguerite today:

I still have a plant. What are the odds?