Growing pains

Having a new plant in the house is like having a house guest from a foreign country. You know little about their likes, their dislikes, what they eat, what they drink and how well they do in 40 degrees heat. They come to you perfect from wherever they have come and then you have to wait and watch for signs of how you are treating them, the expression on their faces as you put pickles on their plate or their tendency to change their demeanour from green and healthy to withered and wilted. The Houseplant Encyclopedia says the bleeding heart (all the way from West Africa!) is a beautiful but demanding potted plant, especially where atmospheric humidity is concerned, and is supposed to flower in spring to early summer. God knows it’s humid enough but I’m yet to see any flowers after the first ones it came with dropped off though it does seem to be living up to its ‘climbing shrub’ inclinations. Maybe some food will do the trick.
Speaking of which, the growing of food doesn’t end at just ensuring that seedlings safely grow into plants or even that you ensure they bear fruit. You have to know when to pick. The cucumber seeds that I planted on February 14 or so soon turned into beautiful climbers that are taking full advantage of the trellis with their delicate but strong tendrils. Though how the plant supports the increasingly heavy cucumbers that suddenly appear out of nowhere — you lift a leaf and like in some treasure hunt find one hanging on, soaking up the sun, going from dark green to lighter shades — is beyond me. Anyway, the first one we picked was dark green and beautifully formed but turned out to be slightly bitter. The maid, whose mother is apparently a veteran farmer, said it should have been left on the plant a bit longer while the vegetables seller, after his initial surprise at us growing cucumbers said we probably didn’t extract its bitterness while cutting it. I’ve found two more now but I think I’ll give them another day in the sun.