During our trip out of state to visit family, I left the plants in our apartment and on the balcony. I wasn’t too nervous about the indoor plants, but I had a tiny bit of concern for the ones outside. I had a wonderful time with family, but I found myself missing my plants more than I expected. They add so much personality to my little apartment, and it’s always a delight to see them when I come home.

Things took a turn when I saw a post by the Desert Botanical Garden, showing cacti suffering from the extended heat wave due to global warming. That made me more anxious about the plants. My husband didn’t mention his worries until we were on our way back home, and he saw the photo of the covered up cacti. It was sweet of him to be concerned for my plants.

Luckily, most of the indoor plants were fine, just dropping a few leaves. The hoya serpens was solid, but my avocado tree shed the most leaves. When I returned, I spent a lot of time watering all the plants, and it felt like a never-ending task.

As for the outdoor plants, most of the cacti were pushed to the back of the balcony, getting sun only in the late afternoon. They needed more water, but the monkey tails suffered the most, getting burned. I was bummed about their appearance, so I moved them inside for the rest of the summer. Thankfully, after a thorough watering, most of them started looking good again. However, with another trip coming up, I plan to keep them in the shade to avoid direct sunlight.