Aroid plants are fascinating organisms. They can grow over ten feet tall in an ideal environment, and they come in a huge variety of sizes, shapes, and colors. There are over 1,000 species of the Anthurium genus alone. It's hard to resist working with these plants if you enjoy gardening or horticulture at all.
When it comes to hobbies, there's generally only one approach: dive in 100%. This hobby started while working through some mental health challenges (see the companion post, Security & Mental Health). As a security practitioner, I work with fascinating systems all the time — but they aren't alive in the same way that organic organisms are.
Working with aroids is an amazing experience. Spending days surrounded by vibrant, strange, and sometimes downright funky tropical foliage — plants have genuinely helped stay grounded, happy, and positive. Caring for these plants and watching them grow makes you feel alive.
Writing about botany and raising plants has been an exciting journey that continues to teach new things each day. The hope is that sharing this experience helps others succeed in their horticultural endeavors — learning from mistakes and building on accumulated knowledge.
Even as an amateur mycologist and botanist for years, I never really felt like I understood what I was doing until writing about it pushed me to study more deeply. That's the hidden benefit of this hobby: you never stop learning.