This has been a terrible season for allergies. I wake up every morning with watery eyes and a stuffed nose. Little did I realize that my symptoms were compounded by an indoor plant that flourished in my bedroom. 

The purple and lavender colored spikes of the heliotropium aborescens have an aroma that have caused it to be known as a cherry pie plant. Of course, my allergies prevent me from appreciating the scent.

I decided to move my plant outdoors hoping it survived and diminishing my allergy symptoms. I did not know if this indoor plant could survive on my outdoor deck. 

To give it a chance I trimmed the wilting leaves and spikes in a process known to gardeners as “dead heading.” To my knowledge dead heading has no relation to the band formed years ago by Jerry Garcia. 

I gave it ample water with an added dose of nutrients. After a week, I noticed that the plant was thriving, exhibiting new growth. 

I spent most of my life living in New York City so my interactions with plants were more of an observer than a gardener. But my recent Sullivan County success in motivating my cherry pie plant to survive outdoors might indicate that I have a green thumb. 

Conventional wisdom is that the term “green thumb” is from the concept that algae growing on the insides of clay pots turns a thumb green when handled repeatedly. Another explanation stems back to King Edward 1 in jolly, old England. 

Apparently, he had a fondness for green peas and had a dozen serfs who shelled them. The serf who had the greenest thumb won a prize. Perhaps that is also where the expression “giving a thumb’s up” comes from. 

Enjoying his prize of an extra portion of mead and gruel led to the shell-picking winner hoisting a green thumb’s up.

My newly-found gardening talent led me to wonder about indoor and outdoor plants. Since all plants require the basics of soil, water, sunlight and nutrients couldn’t they thrive anywhere those basics are supplied? 

It turns out that indoor and outdoor plants are interchangeable to some extent. Many  outdoor plants can be successfully brought indoors. This would come in handy to avoid the frost and snow that kills the plants. 

Common annual varieties such as petunia, marigold, geranium, zinnia, pangea, dahlia and impatiens can be brought indoors and survive. If tendered to properly they can be enjoyed near your window of your heated living room. 

My list contains some of the most popular outdoor plants except for pangea. Pangea is not a plant. It was the supercontinent that incorporated most of the Earth’s landmasses about 270 million years ago during the Permian Epoch. 

Moving those plants indoors would be cost-saving since so many beautiful plants are annuals, which, as the name implies, only survive during one growing season. Every spring, to keep your garden beautiful you must buy new ones, unless your annuals lived long enough to “set seed” on the ground. In those cases, some seeds will sprout in the spring.

Perennials usually have an outdoor lifespan of 3 seasons. They can withstand the cold and survive during the winter months. Although they are hardy and some of them survive for 4 or 5 seasons, eventually they too must be replaced.

There is also the class of biennials that seem to combine the lifespan of annuals and perennials. They have a growth cycle of 2 seasons. Some flower during the first spring, while others wait for the second season to bloom.

Despite this horrendous allergy season, I enjoy watching my indoor and outdoor plants embrace springtime. I tend to them often, making sure they have enough sunlight, water and the occasional splash of nutrients. 

I approach them armed with my watering can and my gardening satchel containing a trowel, pruning shears and gloves. This sneeze-inducing season I also pack a box of tissues and a bottle of allergy relief spray, necessary items for my “nasal intelligence.”