Have you ever adopted someone else's houseplants?

I try to avoid it because I neglect houseplants so badly and I don't want to be responsible for killing someone else's. However, a couple of times it's been a choice between leaving them to die or bringing them home with me.

That's how I ended up with some of my mother-in-law's plants when she passed away in 2003. She had an unbelievable green thumb, so the responsibility was awesome. Surprisingly, most of her plants have survived my clumsy care quite well. My only explanation is they have to grow well because Rose planted them. She was that good.

This Easter cactus of hers even bloomed for me for the first time this spring; it must like the bathroom in our "new" house.

It's been nearly a year since I brought home a couple of my Aunt Alice's plants from Oregon when she had to move into assisted living. She had one of those huge Christmas or Easter cactuses, and another aunt told me it was possible it had originally been my grandmother's. How could I say no?

As you can see, it seems to be doing well here. It even bloomed (lightly) early this year!

Aunt Al's mother-in-law's tongue, on the other hand, is struggling. That's the small one on the floor behind the cactus. It was damaged by the sun on the way here, and when I repotted it I discovered it had no roots. I haven't given up on it yet.

I really don't want to tell my aunts. cousins, and siblings I killed it.