Henry on May 8 (the day we potted him)
Henry on May 25 (before we left Calgary)
Henry on June 4 (in San Francisco)
Henry, our travelling plant, is not well. Gregor says he’s going to meet his maker soon. I’m not ready to accept that yet. He started to show signs of illness a week ago in Monterey, after spending yet another chilly night in the van (~ 9 degrees Celcius) – first, he lost a leaf and then the top of his stem started to split.
Lost a leaf.
Losing his top.
Last Thursday, we drove further south to a campground in San Luis Obispo, which happened to have a beautiful botanical garden next to it. We thought we could cheer Henry up by taking him into the garden to visit his succulent cousins in California.
Hanging out with his peeps. What a ham.
The garden visit apparently didn’t help. That same day, after dropping off the van off at GoWesty, Henry lost another leaf. We then moved him from his comfy hanging spot in the van to the back seat floor of the rental car, which we drove to San Jose. He really didn’t like that. En route to San Jose, the top of Henry’s stem and the leaves attached to it broke off.
Lost his top.
While in San Jose, we left Henry in the car while we toured a shopping and dining area called Santana Row. I stopped at a Starbucks to do some work on the laptop and Gregor, who was tired of watching me work, decided to drive to the nearest Barnes and Noble bookstore. The problem was that Gregor forgot about Henry sitting on the back seat floor in his little round plant pot. As Gregor drove through stop-and-start/twist-and-turn city traffic, poor Henry rolled all over the floor like a baseball. When I got back into the car, there was soil and succulent leaves everywhere. He looked absolutely abused and decrepit. I was so upset!
Henry now.
Henry before.
Our poor plant is now sitting in our San Francisco hotel room, barely surviving. Henry looks like hell. See, this is why we don’t have children. They would put me and Gregor away for negligence, I’m sure.
Loving your blog! Happy travels…can’t wait to see you guys!
We’ll see you in less than a month!
My brother works in Santana Row – too bad you did not stop by to visit him in the trendy offices. Isn’t Santana Row a great design concept with offices, shops, and residential condos mixed together on top of underground (not surface) parking.
Hey, I didn’t know he work there! Yeah, Santana Row is a really clever concept for urban development. Calgary really needs to get on the ball with that.
P.S – the computer in the living room is now Frank…
My laptop’s name is Yoda.
Brew some strong tea and give him as much day light as you can find. He should pop back. I’m not trusting Gregor’s skills so much anymore! Come on Gregor!
His leaves picked up once we entered the desert climate in Nevada. And now that we’re in Zion in Utah, he’s really perked up. I think he’s gonna make it!
It is sadly funny that I am more concerned about Henry than its care givers. Don’t give up the faith!
I’m afraid “care givers” is not really a good term for us. He’s looking better now that he’s back in the van, though. So fussy!
Oh my… Poor Henry… 🙁 I love that he got to visit with some of his cousins in Cali. Too bad it didn’t cheer him up.
Yeah, poor guy. I think he had a fling with one of the jade plants at the garden and he’s probably broken-hearted.