I am not sure if I am irritated by this plant as in truth I am very fond it of. From the moment that our eyes met (eyes and leaf met??) I knew this was a plant I liked. When I had the chance to get theplant for myself I did so quickly.
She settled in well at first, in fact I would use the word thrived. When she had grown enough I divided her so that I could enjoy her in more than one part of the garden. This turns out to have been a good move. For whilst she was happy in the Spring Border, and the conditions in that border should have made her happy, she started to decline. Not quickly, but perceptably. I think she might have got a bit over crowded.
This Spring when I looked for her I could not find her in the Spring Border. I thought I had lost her. This was irritating. I went to where I had planted the division and there were a few leaves: phew! all was not lost.
But I had phewed too soon? I looked again a couple of weeks later and there was only one scraggy looking leaf left. I had now moved away from irritated, I was worried. Worrying never solves anything, so I decided to dig her out, pot her up and see if she would recover.
As you can see, one scraggy leaf. I popped her into the greenhouse to keep her warm in the hope it would help her to recover.
Six days later and....
There was hope! I looked at these little green moments of joy and whispered words of love to them as we all know this is the difference between success and failure.
Three more days pass and we are on.a.roll - my cup overfloweth. I ensure she is watered but not soggy and kept my eye on her.
and now, a couple more days later, we are at this stage, not out of the woods but definite light at the end of the tunnel (tries to think of another cliche to fit in here.... )
Every day, a little bigger, a little stronger.
So I am not irritated by this plant at all, I am overjoyed that she still loves me and still wants to grow. It turns out it has been three years (three years!) since I last had an Irritating Plant of the Month - I decided life was too short in the pandemic to be irritated by plants, there were much more important things to be concerned about. There still are in truth as things do not feel hunky dory do they? With no light at the end of that tunnel, being irritated by plants feels a welcome diversion.
But why Vera I here you ask? Because I couldn't remember her name when I was looking at her in the garden and decided it was Vera something..... close enough.....