Jane asks in response to my pictures of the tropicals indoors, “[w]hat, if anything, do you do to avoid bringing unwanted outdoor things in with the plants?” I assume she means bugs of various kinds, though it could also mean weeds, or, quite frankly, baby rodents in my garden location. What works best for me is taking the time to properly tend the plants right before I bring them inside. I do not repot the orchids that are spiking or in bloom, but I do take ones that are struggling or ones which have only had new green growth for the year out of the pots, change or at least rearrange the potting medium, and snip off dead roots, branches, leaves, etc. I brush off the outsides of the pots. After I have done that, I give them a good watering with the hose, letting the excess water run off before bringing the plants inside. A moth or two always comes inside, a few ants, maybe a couple of flies and mosquitoes, but I think it is worth it.
The answer for me then is two-fold, as it would be with any “unwanted things” in life. I try to take appropriate, healthful efforts to purify and fortify so that the wanted things outshine the unwanted things and the unwanted are released. As that is a challenging process, I also have expanded my tolerance, by recognizing them as part of the whole, for the things I don’t want that come with those things that I do want . It’s these two practices together that have made it easier for me to appreciate and have beauty in my life.
