Getting to the root of the problem!

A couple of months ago, Mark was doing some work on the siding of the house.  This work required him to be standing right where a couple of my plants had decided to grow.  "They" had decided to grow there..this was not where I planted them!  Anyway, with his tromping about, the plants needed to be moved.  Not wanting to spend a lot of time being in his way, I just snipped off a couple of branches of the Pothos vine that had taken root and was doing so well right where Mark needed to stand.  These branches were stuck in an old Mason jar and put on the window ledge. I had good intentions of potting them once I found the opportunity.  They looked so pretty in the window!  The heart-shaped leaves were so glossy!  My Pothos cuttings never showed any signs of trauma at being cut from the parent plant.  Yep..good intentions and all that..I promptly forgot my cuttings.

This morning, I took my cup of coffee to the living room.  Here, there is a small table near the windows where I can look out over the gardens.  In the gardens, I can view the lovely zinnias with their fresh morning faces.  I can watch the birds fly in to visit the feeders and, also, see the squirrels and rabbits scurry about the hillside.  It is one of my favorite places to have coffee.  This is also the very same window where the Pothos resides in its canning jar.  This morning, I noticed that the jar seemed quite full.  Oh, my goodness!  Has it really been that long since I snipped those leaves?  The Mason jar was filled with roots! I really must get busy plant that thing!

As a point of interest..Pothos is sort of a Philodendron twin.  It is one of those plants that most folks mistakenly call by a different name.  There are so many similarities between the two that this is a common mistake and one that I admit to making quite often.  Years ago, an elderly friend of mine told me the secret method of telling the difference.  It all falls down to the shape of the stem from leaf to main stalk.  If this stem is grooved, then it is a Pothos..if it is smooth, it is a Philodendron.  There are other differences such as the glossiness of the new leaves and if there is a "sheath" around the new leaves.  Glossy, unsheathed new leaves shows it is a Pothos.  Sheathed, matte new leaves mean the plant is a Philodendron!  It is as easy as that!  Mine has grooved stems, unsheathed and glossy new leaves so I can be sure that this is a Pothos according to Miss Dot's method!  Now to get that Pothos potted is a priority!  I will hang it from the arbor just outside of this very same window.  How pretty will that be to look at while drinking my morning coffee?