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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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Speaker 1: This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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Speaker 1: tip is to give plants as gifts. With the right mindset,

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Speaker 1: plants can combine the best of giving someone flowers with

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Speaker 1: the upsides of longer lasting gifts. So if you are

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Speaker 1: going to someone's house for a party, the odds are

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Speaker 1: good that you are giving wine or flowers, and it

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Speaker 1: makes sense people can serve wine even if they don't

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Speaker 1: drink it, and flowers are pretty. But if you are

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Speaker 1: looking for something beyond that, or just something to give

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Speaker 1: as a Christmas or Birthday present, even to someone who

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Speaker 1: is difficult to shop for, consider a living plant. Yep,

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Speaker 1: regular houseplant like you can find in a nursery, or

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Speaker 1: a plant like lows or home depot. Plants are an

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Speaker 1: excellent choice because, perhaps like wine, they have been shown

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Speaker 1: to boost moods and reduce stress. Unlike with wine, however,

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Speaker 1: there is very little risk of a headache the next day.

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Speaker 1: Like flowers, plants are beautiful, but they also tend to

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Speaker 1: last longer than flowers. Most houseplants won't wind up rotting

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Speaker 1: in less than a week. Of course, there are reasons

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Speaker 1: people default to flowers or wine. These things don't really

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Speaker 1: require anything of their recipient. Giving someone a houseplant might

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Speaker 1: come across as a lighter version of giving someone a puppy.

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Speaker 1: This is a present that requires work, but does it.

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Speaker 1: One obvious way to get around this problem is to

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Speaker 1: give a houseplant that is very easy to take care of,

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Speaker 1: like a succulent alo vera, a cast iron plantodendron, or

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Speaker 1: the humorously named zzi plant. Any of these growing in

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Speaker 1: a neutral but nice looking pot, could be stuck on

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Speaker 1: a counter or a table somewhere and mostly ignored except

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Speaker 1: for a little watering, perhaps once a week or so.

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Speaker 1: And obviously, most plants aren't tremendously expensive either. If the

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Speaker 1: plant does die, it is not like this as the

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Speaker 1: end of the world. If you are concerned that your

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Speaker 1: friend doesn't have a green thumb or doesn't need one

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Speaker 1: more thing to take care of in this world, you

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Speaker 1: can tell your friend to treat the plant much like

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Speaker 1: they would treat cut flowers. Enjoy the plant until it

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Speaker 1: is no longer enjoyable, and then feel free to get

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Speaker 1: rid of it. Let your friend know that you are

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Speaker 1: not judging their horticultural skills, and you won't be looking

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Speaker 1: for the plant the next time you visit. With this mindset,

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Speaker 1: a plant can be enjoyed like flowers, and hey, it's

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Speaker 1: always possible that your friend might get quite a stretch

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Speaker 1: of light out of a potted plant. A friend gave

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Speaker 1: me a plant to celebrate the birth of my current

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Speaker 1: four and a half year old with very little tending.

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Speaker 1: That plant has been going strong in our kitchen for

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Speaker 1: wait for it, four and a half years. That certainly

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Speaker 1: outlasted any wine or flowers that I have received in

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Speaker 1: the meantime. This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's

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Speaker 1: to making the most of our times. Thanks for listening

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Speaker 1: to Before Breakfast. If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback,

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Speaker 1: you can reach me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com.

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Speaker 1: Before Breakfast is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts

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Speaker 1: from iHeartMedia, please visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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Speaker 1: where wherever you listen to your favorite shows.