This is the first house plant in our 28 years of being married that Cindy has ever gotten to bloom. She is so excited! Most die before she gets them this far. She claims she doesn’t have a green thumb, but the stuff in the garden always seeems to look and do good.
Here you can see why it is called a “lipstick” plant. Kind’a purty little thing, ain’t it? 🙂
“See how brave I am? I don’t even need to hide behind mom!”
Dennisranch 
Beautiful specimen of a lipstick plant. I’ve only seen them in books. Tell Cindy the secret to keeping house plants is lighting and not over-watering. I neglect the hell out of mine and they do great. In fact, I’m hoping they die out so I don’t have to worry about making my step-son come over and water for me when we’re gone. I told him I don’t really care if they die but I can’t just kill them. Still, he gets really nervous about being responsible for them. If they drop leaves he thinks they’re gonners.
I have two trees left that I started from grapefruit seeds. They are about 10 ft. tall and I have to bring them in the house every winter. That’s a fun job. They have these big thorns that snag your arms and clothes and the sides of the door. The planters weigh about 15 lbs. and there’s 60 lbs. of dirt in each one. I had four to start with and two have bitten the dust. I’ve decided that when the live houseplants go on to that big greenhouse in the sky, I’m opting for fake trees and plants. My enthusiasm for things that require care and attention from me has waned as my age has ascended. If it needs to be fed, watered or picked up after, I don’t want any more of it.
My sister kept a plant alive? Wow! Go Cindy! Sorry Mad and I had a red eye to Boston so no chance to comment till now. Mad loves the ponies!