How to break free when you outgrow your pot

Do you ever get sick of hearing platitudes like bloom where you are planted?  Sometimes you can't bloom where you are planted because you have outgrown your pot, the conditions are wrong, or the soil is depleted.  Then what?  What if you are stuck in a pot that's too small, with poor soil, and there's no more room?  It happens to plants and to people.  We find the perfect plant in the most beautiful pot, the perfect job with the best company and then one day we wake up and realize we have outgrown the pot or the job.  

I met Violet last Christmas.  JMH handed  me a present which I flipped over to peel away the tape so I could unwrap it without the destroying the paper.  My mother's teaching follows me, fifty odd years later.  Save the wrapping paper.  JMH's parents cried in unison, "No, keep it upright!"

Upright it is, immediately as I wonder what live thing is inside.  They wouldn't give me a puppy, would they?  No they wouldn't dare.  Gifting a puppy would bite them later.  Inside the wrapper was a lovely violet plant.  Exactly what I had asked for.  My Christmas lists were not complex or expensive.  There was such reward in asking for something and having others listen and respond.  Violets reminded me of my mum and I don't get to visit her as much as I'd like, so having one on the kitchen windowsill was comforting.  Now there would be a violet in the window again.

Overgrown and Outgrown
Violet, grew and grew.  She liked the windowsill with east light and even temperatures.  She thrived and bloomed and grew some more.  Until, one day I realized she hadn't bloomed in a long time.  She was just taking up space on the windowsill in an overcrowded pot where she couldn't find the conditions and nutrients she needed to bloom.  I'm not very patient and if you just take up space, something's going to happen and it probably won't be good.  Predecessors to Violet have taken an ill-fated tumble into the garbage can. They had some help in the form of a push.
Violet was different, I couldn't push her into the garbage just because she had grown too large for her pot.  She had been a gift from those I love.  I needed to take the time to investigate, buy new pots, get fresh soil, do surgery and give her a chance to multiply her gifts.  Thanks to Google, there were some very good instructions on how to divide and repot violets.  

Repotting was just what she needed.  I made a quick stop at Creekside to wander the aisles, smell dirt, feel humidity in the air, and buy pots. Walking through a greenhouse in the winter was good for my soul, and they were getting used to me at Creekside.  We had a routine.  I swung open the old wooden and glass door which sported a sign about pets, announcing the right of the resident cat to be inside but asking you to leave your pets at home. As I crossed the threshold the door creaked slightly and I was greeted cheerfully, "How can I help you?"
I breathed out and in and out deeply, "I just need to walk around and breath growing smells."  

Bless them, they have never sent for the emergency responders and the funny white jacket.  They always welcome me, inviting me to wander, breathe, and stay a while.  And, they remind me of their sale whatever that happens to be.  I'm quite sure they know I will not get out without a visit to the till even though I just stopped to breathe.  But on this day, I am on a mission.  

After recognizing the signs of overgrown, squished life, and an inability to bloom, I decided I to take action on Violet's behalf.  A close inspection revealed  my darling Violet, had three separate whorls of growth.  With some finesse and a bit of luck I might get three violet plants.  Three plants meant three new pots just large enough for Violet's I-lll to grow into.  If the pots were too big or too small the plants would struggle.  I picked out pots, wrestled a large bag of potting soil onto the cart, and made it to the till without any additional sale items.

The pots, soil, and I went straight home to perform a rescue mission on Violet.  It was time.  Today was the day.  Seize the day, and all that stuff. Out came the special Japanese dividing knife and a paper was spread to protect the counter from the debris that our surgery would create.  Creating the ideal situation for growth was messy but preparation helped.
Renewal Process
 Whorl number one came off nicely with a good set of roots.  The second whorl and third whorl separated with pieces of root intact.  Now we were ready to pop them into their new pots.  We needed a little soil in the bottom, enough for the roots to grow into and find strength.  The crowns had to be kept above the soil.  Only the roots were to be covered.  It all seemed easy enough.  I had been worried about the cutting part because it was so final.  But that had gone well.

As I tucked the individual plants into their pots the roots of Violet ll snapped off.  In an instant, I had ruined one chance at new growth.  I understand I could have gotten root propagation stuff and generated loads more violets.  But growing violets isn't my paid work so I had limited the scope of this adventure to keeping three whorls alive.  I failed.  We were down to two violets.  With great respect and a brief ceremony, Violet ll was gently laid to rest into the recycle bucket from whence she will travel to the compost bin to break down into dirt and nutrients only to feed other plants later in the garden.

All my concentration was on the remaining plants.  There could be no more accidents.  We succeeded and within a half hour the mess was cleaned up and two tiny brave Violets sat on the windowsill side by side.  They survived their experience and the larger one has begun to bloom again. 
Violet ll blooming in new pot
When I was doing the cutting and potting I took photos because it seemed like there might be a story in it.  Three weeks later, the story has arrived.  People either grow and thrive or they don't grow.  They get stuck.  When we get stuck we don't just stop growing we eventually begin to die.  Spiritually, creatively, physically, emotionally we are designed for renewal and growth no matter what our chronological age is.

Sometimes all we need is to have our life-pot turned on the windowsill to give us a different perspective and a bit more light.  But, sometimes we need an all-out operation to get us out of our comfortable pots so we can multiply our talents and give them back to the world.  It isn't always pretty, we can lose parts that were important in the process and it can be painful.  If we are open to it and brave we can come out the other side with more to offer to the world.

I realized that this process of renewal is exactly what I have been working on with this blog.  It will mean letting some parts go, pruning back others, and repotting the stories so we can grow more.  The story of renewal has been present in my business, Teneo Consulting Inc., as we go through significant growth.  There will be a letting go and an embracing of new.  That's life in all it's wonder, if you are growing and thriving you will constantly be letting go, dividing, and then repotting - setting up for more growth.  Get your hands in the dirt and live fully.

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Comments

  1. When Ite and I got dating 45 years ago, we visited his first born sister Henny (21 years older than me, and also Rita's cousin). She had her windowsill full of Violets. In our country they are called Kaaps viooltje: Cape Violet. She had a hobby of growing all sorts of Violets, with different leaves and all sorts of colored flowers. Every home she visited with a different Violet, she asked for one leave. She grew them by just putting that leave in a pot and put a plastic bag over it like a small greenhouse. She really had green fingers. It was beautiful to see, but I never tried!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for telling me about Henny, and the Dutch name for violets. I don't think my fingers are as green as hers, but maybe one day I will try the leaf trick.

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