Hey LifeKit, this is Carly Malcolm from Ann Arbor, Michigan. I've been working on organizing

the photos on my phone and on my computer and it's been a nice unexpected escape. I put

some music on and go through my photos and relive trips and celebrations in the process.

If you've got a good tip, leave us a voice mail at 202-216-9823 or email us at LifeKit at

npr.org.

Listen, if you were anything like me, you know how it goes. You stop by the hardware store

after work to pick up some command strips or drain-o. You take a quick peek at the garden

center as you're walking by and then you lock eyes with a plant from across the room and

it's all over. You rush to get at home, you find a cute spot for it on your bookshelf.

But then, after a few weeks, that lush plant you fell in love with at the store is looking

a little rough. This, or at least something similar, has happened to the best of us.

When I purchased my first plant, which was a fiddly fig, I had zero idea of what I was

getting myself into and I had no idea what I had. What type of plant you even had. That's

Hilton Carter. He's a plant stylist and author. He also has a YouTube series with the

Department Therapy called The Plant Doctor. Today, he owns about 200 plants.

When I started to see a little chain happening when all of a sudden the leaves were falling

off, I started to freak out because I wanted to be good at taking care of this plant. But

I realized that I had already started the process wrong. So I went back to the nursery

and asked, what type of plant do I have here? Or, you know, I took a photo on that. I was

like, what type of plant did I buy from you guys? They told me it was a fiddly fig and in

that moment I said, all right, I'm going to do everything I came to make sure I care for

this plant. So maybe you're ready to try again after killing your last succulent or that

...