Liam has a Red Sister

MOM HAS PLANTS EVERYWHERE

In the fall of 2016, my indoor plant addiction was shaken out of its dormancy when I was gifted with a variety of plants. My dear friend had selected two identical groupings of house tolerant plants to assist in my recovery from surgery. Don't know about my colorectal surgery? I wrote about it. Of course...
here is the blog story.
http://liamlicks.blogspot.com/2016/10/it-began-with-three-numbers.html
My friend had sent me 8 plants, 2 duplicate sets...actually there were more as each pot had several potential offshoots. I replanted. Fertilized. Learned about them. What they liked...what they did not.
Rotated them around the house. I loved them because they were a tangible gift from my friend. And they needed me and distracted me during unforeseen post op complications.
See photo collage following
top left
Pothos...also called devil's ivy...grows long vines which you can drape and in which you can hide drinks, See my iced tea, left and wine, right.
middle.
Kalanchoe, croton, kalanchoe.
top right
Liam with another pothos
bottom
croton. kalanchoe

They thrived. And surrounded us with love and life. I shared their progress with my friend. She cheered them on.
But my friend did not thrive.
She died unexpectedly on December 1st 2017. Here is Barb's story.

http://liamlicks.blogspot.com/2018/01/love-aunt-barb.html

Her plant gifts then became more essential to her memory. I was propelled towards increasing my indoor garden. Maybe as a tribute to Barb

Various ways I accrue plants
You know of the gifts
Next are

1-Planned Purchases
This year I started with a visit to Hicks Nurseries for their annual January sale. 
On the right
The two bromeliads were purchased at the sale. I had never heard of this plant category but was drawn to the color and their tropicality. It basically is a pineapple.

On the left
I bought this one in 2005; it was alone on a table in Hicks, No tag, no info. Had the idea someone carried it around then changed his/her mind and dumped it on a convenient table. Was small and fit on the front passenger seat of my car. It is now ceiling height and 3 feet wide. Liam's eating and drinking area are at its base. Schefflera.

and

2-Rescues  
I rescue plants from King Kullen, Stop n Shop and our local florist.
I believe they need saving because are put out there to catch a shopper's eye for seasonal displays and then ignored...sometimes unrelated plants are stuffed into one small container...they are over-watered. Some are dusty...some hidden... Usually not labeled.
But what are they?
A Pinterest pal's plant board pin alerted me to an app- PictureThis -that identifies plants
You send in a pic and it offers likely matches. It works!
I tested its accuracy against plants I am sure of and it is phenomenal in its percentage of correct matches.
See the app in action via screenshots. My photos were submitted and I selected the match.

and in person in our home
top
English Ivy, bamboo palm, flowering kalanchoe.

bottom
two Ming aralias
Thank you to Picture This...I now know my rescues

And our newest acquistion
In the first week of April, we visited friends in Port St. Lucie. My heightened desire for plant acquisition dovetailed with my active awareness of local plantings. I was drawn to our friends' new plants. Was told they are Ti plants...a quick google check expanded the name list to red sister, cabbage palm, good luck plant, palm lily... The Ti was pronounced tee, not tie as I had been saying. I decided to call them Red sisters.
A latent visual memory emerged of my parents' Tampa home. I am sure there were Red Sisters there.
I knew I had to have one.
Here are my friends' plants...outside, in front of their house

PORT ST LUCIE RED SISTERS

During our stay, I began noticing them all over and augmented my visual education with reading about them
Qualities and Uses
they are:
red, purple, orange, yellow, chocolate, pink, green
edible
liqueurs
hula skirts
leis
surfboard covers
sleds
good luck
sacred
medicine
Australian
Polynesian

a link about them
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cordyline_fruticosa

and another way to obtain a plant
3-Order from Amazon

I contacted Hicks and they told me the Ti plants would be coming in to them in June and July.  Okay. A day passed. I had to have one. So I sent away for it. It was coming from Florida. I looked at its origin point and it was one of our favorite places to visit with my parents, Ybor City. Its next stop was St. Petersburg. Another hangout. The places we frequented with my parents. We will have a living testimonial to memories of my parents tenure in Florida

Liam's Red sister arrived Monday April 16. Two feet high with a zip lock bag over its root-ball. We posed root-ball in my paw, hugging Liam close-an official family portrait. Mom and sister and brother.
Liam leery from the start. Could not wait to get away. He has a good reason.

There is a catch and it is a big one.

The Red Sisters are poisonous to dogs.

Liam cannot lick or kiss his red sister.

No worries

He prefers chocolate for his poison.

Woof, Woof