Happy almost New Year, plant friends! For my last episode of 2023, I wanted to get a little reflective about the joy and growing parts of “Growing Joy.” This year, I bravely held a funeral for many of my houseplants that were no longer bringing me joy. Yes—I lost a LOT of houseplants this year. Some of the plants I said goodbye to weren’t even fully dead yet. They just weren’t happy in my home anymore, and I took it upon myself to consciously let them go in a ritualized way that released me from guilt.

This is a taboo subject for some plant parents. But I believe we need to openly discuss “plant loss” to release guilt and make space for more plant joy. So I’ll be walking you through my plant funeral experience, and how you can perform your own plant audit to grow even more joy in 2024!

In this episode, we learn:

• [00:00] I recently held a funeral for my dead houseplants this year
• [01:21] Why I performed a plant audit of my entire collection!
• [03:47] Let’s celebrate plant loss together
• [04:09] An excerpt from my book about plant death
• [04:41] Two options when a plant dies
• [04:52] Option A: Let it confirm you're a failure, then give up
• [05:21] Option B: Allow it to make you more curious and a better plant parent
• [06:33] Why I had such dramatic plant loss this year (I was diagnosed with melanoma!!)
• [08:52] Allow your plant collection to grow and change as much as you will in your lifetime
• [09:40] Why I felt guilty about failing to care for the Hoya plants Marcia gave me
• [10:25] Learn 30 simple and budget-friendly gardening projects with ¡Verdura! – Living a Garden Life
• [11:45] Find your perfect houseplant with Proven Winners LeafJoy's high-quality, diverse selection
• [13:53] Steps for performing your own plant audit
• [14:26] #1 Give yourself a nice amount of time, play music, clear table space
• [15:33] #2 Walk through your entire collection and assess its state
• [17:09] #3 Revisit neutral plants - do they spark joy or not?
• [18:20] #4 Gratitude ritual
• [19:20] #5 Figure out the highest vibe way to discard your plants
• [19:56] #6 Donate your healthy plants
• [20:19] You’re still a good person!
• [20:56] Consider "life audit" too - are aspects that need culling?
• [22:05] Where can you find me on social media?

Mentioned in our conversation:

• Book by Maria Failla Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants)
• Book by Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago ¡Verdura! – Living a Garden Life
• Book by Marie Kondō Spark Joy: An Illustrated Master Class on the Art of Organizing and Tidying Up (The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up)
• Lomi’s tabletop composter

For a detailed list of ways to do a plant audit,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Thank you to our episode sponsors:Quarto: ¡Verdura! – Living a Garden Life by Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago

Celebrates the power of adding more green to your life with 30 simple and budget-friendly gardening projects that promote well-being through plants. Perla Sofía Curbelo-Santiago of Agrochic.com has put together 30 projects found in ¡Verdura! to transform the initial spark of joy from plants into a healthy habit that enhances your life in many ways.

¡Verdura! is available January 2nd so preorder at your favorite local bookstore, quarto.com, bookshop.org, Barnes and Noble or amazon.com.

Proven Winners

If you want to have success with houseplants, you’ve got to have two things: the knowledge to care for them successfully and healthy plants. Meet my new favorite houseplant grower: Proven Winner’s leafjoy™. With only the best plant genetics grown in a state-of-the-art, European greenhouse, you will not be disappointed in the variety and quality of your favorite plants from Proven Winner’s leafjoy™. This company has taken the guesswork out of plant shopping with plant tags that include scientific names and care guides, as well as color-coded collections for the different areas of your home that you want plants in!

Find plant joy in leafjoy™. Head to provenwinners.com to find your local leafjoy™ dealer and let me know which plant you take home on socials!

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

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