The fern that fell on my head mid-flower delivery in Portland

I was carrying a huge potted Boston fern up three flights to a client's apartment for a plant swap I was helping with. Halfway up the stairs, the plastic hanger snapped clean off and the whole thing dropped right onto my shoulder, potting mix and all. Fern fronds were in my hair, dirt down my shirt, and I could hear the client laughing through her open door before she even saw me. I set the plant down, brushed off what I could, and finished the delivery looking like a walking compost bin. She gave me a spare trowel and a beer for the trouble. Has anyone else had a plant fail during a handoff in a way that made you question your whole setup? I still have that dirt in my car floorboards a week later.

2 comments

2 Comments

the_hayden1d ago

Man, that image of you standing there covered in dirt while she's laughing before she even sees you is too real. I had a similar moment with a hanging basket of pothos at a market once, the wire hook gave out and the whole thing swung into a guy's cooler of drinks. I spent the next ten minutes picking wet leaves off of cans of soda, and the dirt was still in the bottom of my tote for weeks. At least you got a trowel and a beer out of it, that's a win in my book.

davidshah23h ago

Ha, honestly @the_hayden I used to think those "plant disaster" stories were always exaggerated. Like, how bad can a little dirt really be? Then last fall I was helping a friend repot a giant monstera on her porch and the whole plastic pot split open. Mud everywhere, all down my jeans, some of it in my mouth because of course. She was laughing so hard she almost fell over, and I just stood there with a root ball in my hands like an idiot. Now I get it completely, it's never just a little dirt and you absolutely earn that beer after.