I had stems of ruscus left over from a bouquet, as well--they'd stayed green in the water for months. When the nodes started "sprouting", I attempted to plant them in soil, even though I didn't see anything that really looked like roots. Once out of the water and into the soil, they died. More recently, I got another stem from another bouquet and just left it in water. Many of the "leaves" (cladodes) have bloomed with a little floral sprig (very much like Laura Billingsley's photo, above), so I considered just trying to bury a cladode with a good little cluster to see if the "sprout" would grow into a plant. But according to this extremely helpful article https://laidbackgardener.blog/2021/10/29/strange-protuberances-on-a-leaf/, it's really just a flower bloom, and you can't propagate anything from flowers (I'd have WAY too many camellias in my garden, if this were possible!). According to the article, you just can't propagate Israeli ruscus from cuttings - you either have to have an actual plant and divide it, or you have to have seeds. I'll keep the cutting and see if anything else happens, but I think that to have any hope whatsoever, I'd have to get at least one of the cladodes to put out a berry, from which I could get seeds. Unfortunately, you really need male and female plants for that, so the chances are slim. But it's still cute!

Hello dear Florence, Yes, I hear from Grace from time to time. She didn't 'officially' move out since most of her belongings are still here....and so is Zeus, thank God! She pops in every couple of weeks to grab some of her things and to give Zeus a hug. We are on good terms and she always hugs me and tells me she loves me. Her life is a mess right now and I think she feels she has brought too much trouble onto me to still live here, even though I have never asked her to leave. When she got arrested because of the boyfriend and the drugs in her car, she lost her car and had to pay a huge fine in court (which she borrowed from me and paid me back with her tax return.... it took all of it). So since she no longer has a car and is working again, she is staying with a friend who lives closer to where she works. Her lifestyle is not what I want for her and she chooses to hang around the wrong kind of people, but she is an adult and my hands are tied. However, we remain friends and on good terms. I just wish she would come to her senses and realize that she is going nowhere with the choices she is making. I feel like the mother is always the one that the children lash out at. My youngest, Tiffany, treats me with such hostility whenever she is mad at her deadbeat father.... he lives all the way across the country and rarely calls her and is in arrears on his child support bigtime. She can't lash out at him since he's not around and says how much she hates him (to me) but the 3 times a year he thinks to call her, she acts all sweet and loving toward him. For some reason us mothers are the 'safest' to hurt and treat badly because our children know Mom will always forgive them and will love them no matter what. I am certain that with maturity and a lot of patience, our children (and your granddaughter) will come around. Sometimes it takes becoming a mother themselves to comprehend all that they take for granted now. I had hoped that my daughters would gain that knowledge by watching me care for my own mother. My mom was cold and distant to me all my life and we were never close. Once she got the Alzheimers she became kinder and gentler and I am learning to forgive all the past hurts. Maybe one day my girls will learn to forgive me as well, for not being perfect. One thing they have always known is that my love for them is unconditional. They know they can always rely on me....my arms are always open. My love to you.... Celeste

You're welcome bigack, have a nice day! Here is another one I fixed up a little later today From Mother's day bouquets from the garden

K S, I can see how the Feverfew might become invasive, but mine hasn’t been terribly so, YET. I say yet, because it’s only been around here a few years. It definitely self sows, but I have about 6 plants today, after starting with one. Each year I have about double the amount of plants, so this year, I’ll need to control them. The one shown above had started itself in a spot in front of some other shorter plants, so I yanked the entire plant when I cut those blooms. It’s very dry here, so they mostly grow where they get irrigation. In a wetter climate like yours, I bet they spread much faster. Lisa