At Home with the Hastys

At Home with the Hastys - House Plants

The Backstory

New to Hasty Book List? Read about the fire that prompted this home renovation, here.

When the fire first occurred, we were promised by the restoration company that our plants would be taken care of until we found a long-term housing solution. We obviously couldn’t bring all of our plants with us to the hotel, we had no idea how long we’d be there. Plus, the holidays were coming up, so we didn’t want to have to haul them around with us as we visited family. However, we returned back to the condo to check on everything after the holidays, we found the heat had been turned off and the plants had been left to freeze to death. They clearly hadn’t been watered in weeks. I cried, as I often did in those weeks following the fire. Eric helped me load them into the car and bring them to our apartment. Slowly, they dethawed, wilted, and died. Some of them were clearly not salvageable and having all those sad plants around me was a constant reminder of the fire. So into the trash they went. Some, however, miraculously pulled through!

The Plants

We recently did a lot of work on our house plants. I was most excited about finding this guy a pot, he was gifted to us as a “6-months since the house fire” gift by our neighbors and now resides on my desk as a reminder of happier days to come. We purchased the pot from Hearthstone and Terrace, the same place our neighbors found the plant (and a new neighborhood spot that opened since the fire and pandemic!)

This was one of my favorite plants prior to the fire. We purchased the pot from West Elm and had it planted by LaSalle Flowers Chicago. I loved how they decorated it with moss and rocks (Pic 2). She lived with us at Chestnut Tower Apartments, moved with us to STL, and had just found her new home in our condo when the fire occurred (Pic 3). She survived the fire, smoke, and firefighters. We were told she’d be taken care of while we lived in the hotel and when we went back home for the holidays, but we returned to find her nearly frozen to death (Pic 4). I was bummed. I’m not great with plants but I watched her grow to over twice her original size. I was convinced she was a goner (despite all of you telling me these plants could not be killed.) I neglected her, stopped watering her, and turned a blind eye to that corner. Then my dad came to visit and cut her back to what he thought were her healthy stalks (Pic 5). There was hope for her yet. The base of the pot is long gone and it is stained from the smoke, so Eric and I went to Alapash to find her a fresh new pot. She’s been through a lot, we all have, but she’s a survivor.

This guy is another fire survivor. He took quite a beating as he was sitting by a window that was knocked out by firefighters. I found him beneath a pile of debris, but only one of his stalks was broken off. His tips are a bit brown from the abuse (smoke, fire, and freezing temps) and there is still evidence of the trauma (the indentations on his stalks) but we are seeing a lot of new growth. One of the guys on the restoration crew told me aloe plants are good luck…I wasn’t sure how to take that since he was in the process of boarding up my window after the fire. Maybe he meant I needed more of them? His new pot is from Hearthstone and Terrace.

One thing I’m really missing while we live in an apartment with rental furniture is that sense of a storied history that comes along with being in your own space. Most of the things that surround us were selected by someone else - we don’t have any memories associated with them. It is almost like living in a hotel room - it has no personality. So to bring some of that feeling of home back, I purchased this eucalyptus plant which reminds me of my childhood. My mom used to decorate with dried eucalyptus and that smell still makes me think of home. I bought the plant from Green City Market (I got my mom one, too) and I bought the pot from Foursided Chicago.

This plant is new since the fire. It replaced one of the plants that didn’t survive. Since it has been a part of our family, it grew those two extra stalks on either side of the center stalk. So I think it is pretty happy being part of the Hasty Family. I LOVE plants, but I really don’t know a lot about them. I water them regularly and try to make sure they are getting enough sun, but not too much sun…that is about it. Should I separate these three stalks into different pots or just leave them be? This pot is one of my favorites, we found it at Alapash.

This is the plant that started it all - the OG. We got him when we lived in Bloomington, IN (pic 4)…I guess before I started photographing my plants because I can only find pics of him when he’s in the background of something else. Ha! Right before we moved to Chicago the first time, we took him to get professionally repotted (pic 3). Like I said, we really don’t know what we are doing when it comes to plants…and we really didn’t know what we were doing back then. So we left big changes like that up to the professionals. After his repotting, he did really well. Look how happy and healthy he was in STL (pic 2). I am shocked he is still hanging in there after all he’s been through. He lost a limb and some of his leaves are brown on the edges, but I see new growth! The plan and pot are old, both pre-fire.

Right before we moved to Chicago, we purchased two Alocasia plants (better known as African Mask plants or Elephant’s Ear) for these white pots. Both of them died in the fire. I bought replacements for them in a hurry when I just wanted to surround myself with living things that looked fresh and healthy. I didn’t ask how to care for them or whether they were easy to care for. I hope I can keep them going.

I have two ZZ plants (left/top), and they will be the death of me. Or, rather, they will probably die in my care. I guess I’m over-watering them because their leaves are turning yellow and then brown. So I cut back on how much I’m watering them and I’m just hoping they hang in there.

On the right/bottom is a Dracaena Dorado (I think?) and he seems to like me a lot. He really hasn’t changed appearance since I bought him about six months ago and I call that a WIN! Although, when I google pictures of Dracaena Dorados, I see they can become pretty cool trees with several layers of leafy clusters. So I’m excited to see how he progresses in the years to come!

Did I impulse buy this fiddle leaf fig at Costco? Yes, yes, I did. I have a plant problem…I can’t say no, I want them all. I’m sure a therapist would say these plants represent new life and growth after I lost so much this year…I’m good with that. On an unrelated note, how many plants are too many in one condo? Asking for a friend…😉🌱

Last but not least, my teeny tiny succulent. First of all, I made the pot! Can you believe it? Me either. I gifted my mom a pottery making class for Christmas one year and we made 3-4 items. She was MUCH better at it than I was and made a variety of objects. All of mine turned out to look about the same. I use one to hold toothpicks, one has a bit shorter sides so I use that to hold keys, and this one became a pot for a plant! I want LOTS more succulents to sprinkle all over my home.

Other Plants I Want

You may be thinking, wow…that’s a lot of plants. And yet, there are still more that I want! I have no idea where I’ll put them or how to care for them, I just love the way they look. Here are a few that are In my list (I’ve linked on Amazon so you can shop wherever you are, but I encourage you to find an local plant shop):