Bottled drinking water isn't the same as distilled water, but it can be close if the filtration system is reverse osmosis (RO). Distilling deionizes water, the important aspect of which is it leaves all dissolved solids behind when water changes phase to a gaseous form, so it is free of any solutes when it recondenses. RO water is very close to distilled. The activated charcoal filters (especially like those sold to treat tap water .... Brita, etc.) do not remove negatively charged ions (most of the chemicals dissolved in your tapwater). Negatively charged ions do not react with charcoal or the ion exchange resins in the filters, so they won't help. FWIW - I don't think we can say, if you allow your water to rest for a day it won't cause any browning of foliage. In fact, I think a good argument can be mounted for the opposite effect to be true. Spider plants react adversely to a high level of solutes in the soil solution, so distilled water (no solutes) would be helpful (snowmelt or water from dehumidifiers would be, too). Allowing your irrigation water to rest in a container for a day, or two or 10, won't help guard against spoiled foliage. Technically, it INCREASES the potential for water to cause burned leaf tips/margins. Only in water purification systems that are throwbacks to the 50s & 60s will you find a volatile form or chlorination. This is because of it's short half life. Newer forms of chlorination use chloramine, which doesn't gas off like the previously used compounds of chlorine. Fluoridation of drinking water has always used a compound that is nonvolatile, so it too, remains in any water left out to rest for any length of time. As mentioned, and since some evaporation will occur while water is resting (especially if it is in a container that has a lot of air exposure at its opening, as with a pan or bucket) The level of chlorine, fluorine, and other solutes becomes more concentrated as water rests and a fraction of its volume evaporates. We just recently rescued a kitten from a litter a crippled feral cat had. It's at my feet now - inside a large, stiff plastic bag (no suffocation risk) - playing saber tooth cave kitten. Toss a bottle cap into the bag & he's good for at least 10 minutes - a remarkable attention span accomplishment - at least for this cat. ..... couldn't resist adding this one: Some info on spider plants from one of my posts on another thread: "While necrotic leaf tips or margins can occur in this plant from over/under-watering, in fact, it's much more common for the actual cause to be a high level of soluble salts in soils. It's also commonly reported that this plant is particularly intolerant or fluoride, but it's still more common for the cause of leaf burn to be a high level of solubles, to which fluoride can be a contributor, than it is to be fluoride itself. WHEN there is a high level of salts in the soil, low humidity can be a contributor, but low humidity alone rarely presents an issue, it must be in combination with a high level of soluble salts in the soil and either over/under-watering. Of course, you cannot correct the already burned tips (they won't 'heal'), but you can take steps to keep it from happening: A) Most important is to use a soil that drains very freely. This allows you to water copiously, flushing the accumulating salts from the soil each time you water. B) Fertilize frequently when the plant is growing well, but at low doses - perhaps 1/4 the recommended strength. This, in combination with the favorable watering habit described above, will keep soluble salts levels low, and keep levels from rising due to the accumulative effect we always see when we are forced to water in sips when plants are in water-retentive soils. C) When watering, using rainwater, snow melt, water from your dehumidifiers, or distilled water also eliminates the soluble salts in your tap water and will go a long way toward eliminating or minimizing leaf burn. D) If you make your own soils and use perlite, be sure the perlite is rinsed thoroughly, which removes most of the fluorides associated with it's use. E) Allowing water to rest overnight doesn't/won't do anything in the way of helping reduce the amount of fluoride (the compounds are not volatile), and it only helps with chlorine in a very few cases, depending on what method of chlorination was used to treat your tap water; but nearly all municipalities are currently using chlorination compounds that are entirely nonvolatile, which means they won't dissipate into the air." Al

Thanks for your kind reassurances. I guess what I meant when I said I sometimes feel like an imposter is that I don't really have gardening "credentials"- whatever those may be. And so whatever success I've had has just been down to luck. I've always wanted to grow plants, but somehow picked up the notion that it's an intimidatingly difficult thing to do, and you need to have lots of experience and chemicals to do a decent job of it. I'm trying to rid myself of that mindset, because it conflicts with my intuition (increasingly a conviction) that gardening is nothing more than helping plants get access to their basic needs, and then paying attention to any signals they send out that they need more or less of whatever I'm providing. (Plus weeding, improving the dirt and squishing bugs.) Having said that, though, I am pretty lucky to have good dirt, a warm climate, and plenty of rain. And to have found a local gardening mentor who is providing me with plants and showing me how to do things like taking cuttings, etc. And I'm also pretty lucky to have found these gardening forums where I can get good info from gardeners with a lot more experience than I have if I have questions or need advice. Thanks again, Virginia

I think it is possible, if you water. I have one starting to bloom between the cracks in the street beyond the curb now. If the street cleaners don't destroy it I will save seeds for next year. I think I mulched so much this year they got smothered. And the yarrow and clover where they used to come up overcame them. (I have not been able to keep up with weeding) I miss my cleomes. There was a weird bug that would appear and eat them the last couple years, and it is odd I don't see them in any of the neighbors' yards, because I never planted them, they used to reseed everywhere, but do not now. I had one growing in my garden and it wilted and died when the temps went into the 90s and there was no rain. But the one in the street looks fine. I have no idea why.

I'm glad I'm not the only one that loves a good looking stone! I LOVE ROCKS! As much as I love plants... Sometimes I think I spend more time in the rock section at the nursery staring longingly at giant boulders. They have these gorgeous pink ones with pyrite streaks through them, and beautiful white flagstones with tons of mica glimmering in the sun... I stare at the holey limestone, thinking a cute little fern would look adorable growing out of those holes. Which would look perfect in our front landscaping near the house to break up the space. Problem is, 14 cents a pound adds up when its a half-ton rock and I need a few of them! My husband just looks at me, with a specific "look" that says "are you done staring at rocks yet?" without saying a word... Every time I drive by a construction site, with mounds of dirt and natural limestone I'm tempted to stop and ask for some of the rocks. I need to keep a set of gardening gloves in my car... After my parents built their (downsized) home, I nabbed all the rocks from their newly unearthed property and from the creek that runs through the woods that I could manage on trips home to visit and lined a garden bed with them in my own yard 4 hours away... It drove my husband crazy hauling rocks across the state. 16 years later, we moved and I TOOK ALL OF MY ROCKS! I also dug up and took all of my Japanese iris that my mom had given me, that were from her mom's garden. Every single rock and iris. Luckily, after this long, my husband understood my sentimentality to it all when we moved, but I don't think that stopped him from grumbling under his breath about it when moving the bins of said rocks... Right after we moved in, I was lining the front bed of mulch with my rocks that I had clearly brought with me, and one of our new neighbors came over and expressed a similar sentimentality. He collects rocks wherever he goes and puts them under a tree in his front yard, each one has a story... I shared that all of my rocks from limestone to granite are from various parts of my parent's property that I couldn't bear to leave behind on the other side of town. BTW - the iris are loving their new home and thriving better than I've ever seen them and my grandma's thumb was so green it was evergreen... Well, now that I've been thinking about rocks, I think I need a trip to the nursery to visit my holey limestone friends later this afternoon.