Comic: If I can’t care for a houseplant, how can I care for myself?

A cartoon of a man in the ocean leaning on a long with a plant on it

By Madeline Horwath

Oct. 5, 2021 10:23 AM PT

One artist’s attempt to save a dying plant.

"When my roomate moved out, they left behind one plant. What kind I cannot say. I just knew it needed my help."

"I don't know what was wrong with it exactly. But this was my task. Wilted leaves, root rot. Prognosis: doom."

"It didn't take long for me to lose myself in this plant. By focusing on the plant, I didn't have to work on myself"

"the survival of this plant became of higher priority that anything i needed to do for myself."

The dedication paid off. with care, i did it. I saved it."

"But the plant soon declined and nothing i could do would save it."

"My mental state was paralleling the plants physical state. As it declined, i did too."

"I had accepted the futility of my failure and then I learned my cat had been peeing in it this whole time."

"This whole period of horticulture existentialism was but a mere war with cat pee I had no qualms about losing."

"Because nothing in this world is stronger than cat pee."

Madeline Horwath is a cartoonist for The New Yorker. Follow @latimesplants on Instagram.

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