MEET PHILO-REN, SUPPOSEDLY

 Back in 1989 when I first started working my first job out of college, a colleague just bought a house and there was this plant in a pot in her backyard.  I think it wasn't in great shape, I vaguely recall her telling me.  She noticed I was diligent in watering the various plants in the office and offered to give the plant from her backyard to me.  Probably more likely just a snip of it, I cannot imagine her carrying the plant with its pot on public transportation.  We were working at One Penn Plaza and I think she traveled via MetroNorth commuter rail, from Little Neck area.  Took care of the plant I did, I even took some cutting home and gave out to other people who were interested.  I took a piece with me as I changed jobs over the year and still have a few at home right now, some 30+ years later.  I never knew what type of plant it was so one day Google told me it's a philodendron.  Recently, my track club sprouted a plant propagation club and I wanted to find out what type of philodendron my plant is.  I already came up with the punny name Philo-Ren.  Alas, none of the places Bing took me to told me what type of philo the plant is.  Some site mentioned pothos and a club member did too.  So, after all this time, it's not a philo, but some type of pothos.

Can actual people of the Internet help?  I really want it to be a type of philo but the color and shape just don't match anything I read.  The leaves are elongated, not heart-shaped.  Color is solid green.  This particular plant (in the photo) grows in water and is near a window, so while it has some sun, no soil nutrient so the leaves are not that large.  I moved a cutting to a pot outside and the new leaves are significantly larger.  Please let it be a philo, else I need to come up with another name to be punny with reference to pothos.

Meet My Philo

Much as I think of myself as a green person, I am no gardener. I cannot easily identify plants like some real gardeners and the only garden plot I ever had was overrun by weeds because I wasn't around often enough. I do have one plant that, sort of, has been around almost twenty years.

At my first job out of college, an engineering consulting firm, I volunteered to water the plants in my area. There was a tall cactus and a few others that I don't remember now. A co-worker bought a house and there was this plant sitting in the backyard. It wasn't well-tended so she brought it into the office for me to take care of. Sitting by the window, the plant grew healthy and started to climb its way around. Exposed to plenty of sun, the plant's leaves can become really big. Cut a piece and you can grow a new plant from the dismembered piece. As I changed job over the years, I brought the plant, or a descendant of it, with me. A few people liked it and I would cut a piece, put the piece in the pot and gave the pot and plant away. I can recall at least three people I met at the jobs I had who received a piece of the plant from me.

All along I didn't even know what type of plant I had. I told you I am not a good gardener, right? It was not until the year 2000 that I finally did a little research and arrived at the now-defunct web site www.vg.com. It was supposedly something related to Time-Life books. Good thing I have a printed page telling me the plant is a philodendron, of the burgundy variety. The plant shown here is now in my home office, although there may not be enough light, sun-provided or otherwise, so I may have to move it elsewhere later on.

Here's to a few more years of growth, my Philo!