Hey all. Someone who’s dear to me, albeit in a professional sort of way (okay, it’s my therapist), is moving to another state, and I’ve been racking my brain to come up with a meaningful gift.
This morning I had the idea of giving her a transplanted cutting from my 40-year-old jade plant. This plant has survived a lot of upheavals (it was originally my late mother’s), and I really like the significance of offering this small token to my therapist. She may end up throwing it out, I’ll never know since we’ll never speak to each other again, but the point is what the strength and endurance that this little plant represents.
Anyway, since she’s moving, I don’t want to give her something that’s a pain-in-the-ass to pack, so I’ve been trying to figure out how best to house this thing. We’re talking 2" tops, plus maybe a couple of inches of soil. Ideally it should be something sturdy and not easily broken (so probably not clay), and I think having a lid would be useful too.
I was thinking maybe a small mason jar? I know I just ruled out clay so it sounds dumb to come up with glass instead, but the benefit is that they have lids, and I could always put the jar in a box and pack it with peanuts. The whole thing would probably be about 5" square and wouldn’t take up too much room if she does decide to keep it.
But I’m wondering if anyone has other, more practicable suggestions or recommendations? Best would be something from Amazon since the deadline is Friday (or maybe Home Depot, there’s one near me).
Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated! I’m already dreading having to say goodbye so knowing that I can give her a little piece of myself to take with her would feel comforting.
I’d go to a garden store and get the smallest plastic pot you can find, fill it with soil that’s not too wet (it really only has to survive a few hours and then on top of the soil put some kind of packing (crumpled up newspapers, paper towels, styrofoam peanuts whatever) and then tape over the top. From one side to the other, around the plant. When I’ve had plants shipped to me, that’s how they came and they always survived. Even if they got flipped around it was no problem (albeit, the base was secured in box, but nothing came out of the pot).
Lesse if I can’t find a picture…Nope can’t find one. Hopefully that makes sense.
The two other thigns I can think of are to find a pot about 3-4 inches and have her put it in her cupholder of, if the en devour is less than, say, 6 hours, just wrap the cutting in a wet paper towel and put it in a zip lock bag. You could even send her with a another zip lock bag of dirt and a pot. As long as she deals with it with in 12 or 24 hours of arriving, I think it’ll survive just fine.
This is the best picture I could find. When I’ve gotten them they just had tape going across and sytrofoam peanuts holding the soil down. It worked really well.
Hi, Joey P! Those are great ideas. The drive is probably about five hours, but I’m not exactly sure when she’s leaving–it might be a few days after I see her for the last time–so I’d better stay away from anything too time-sensitive (like the paper towels). But the peanuts/newspaper/tissue + pot idea could work very well.
Hmm although… I do want her to actually see the plant when I give it to her. Maybe I can give her the peanuts/wrapping protective stuff in a bag with the plant pot, so she can wrap it easily when she gets a chance. I’m sure that’d be fine.
Thank you very much for taking the time to come up with the idea and even find the photos!
