By Anthony Longo
My special plant is aloe. This past summer we went to a farm to get flowers. My mom walked to the second tent. It was filled with succulents. We decided to buy some succulents. We almost walked past the aloe. Then I looked over and saw it. I asked, “Can we please get this mom.” She said “Yes”, and we got them.
When we got home, we watered them. That weekend we put them in pots. The next day we made a jobs chart. My little sister had to water the plants every day. I was worried but eventually (after a couple of days of them not getting watered) I realized how they could thrive and live with little water. I was not worried about them.
A couple of weeks later I got burned making lunch. That day we broke one piece of aloe and squirted it on myself and put a band aid on it. It helped a lot.
Then we went on vacation. I thought the aloe might die because it had not been watered in a long time and we were leaving for a week. The problem was that if I were home, I could water it if it were dying but could not during vacation. When we got back, I was surprised to see it was the only plant still alive. It had so many leaves and was so strong. I was so happy we bought it. My mom was proud because she can never keep a plant alive. Then that fall we did not want to leave it out there to die so we brought it in. We always forget to water it, but the aloe is ok. It grows and grows and becomes stronger and prettier. It looks genuinely nice on our table and counters. It brings beauty to our house even when it is dirty. I am happy because once one of our plants survived the fall to bring beauty to our house and it is all because I saw it. Now that aloe is incredibly special and sits on my coffee table. I am proud of growing it and think it is beautiful. The Aloe hopefully will live through the winter and till the spring. Thank you for listening to my plant love story.
Anthony is a sixth grader at Tenth Queen of Angels Catholic School. Anthony submitted his Plant Love Story and original art to the Plant Love Story Challenge hosted by the Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA. His artwork was also featured in our 2022 Plant Heart Art Valentines Day Collection.