The graveyard

• How to read a graveyard, and the two-minute autopsy for a plant that's dying now
• Drowned: six graves, and why "if it droops, water it" is the deadliest advice you own
• Forgot, the cat, moved it, repotted with love
• Mystery: the one grave I couldn't close, filed honestly instead of blamed
• Bad vibes, autopsied: the cause that never survives a real look at the roots
• Before you dig: three checks that prove half your "dead" plants are still alive

I'm not a botanist, and I don't have 150 plants — I keep a windowsill's worth, and I've killed a few learning how (a Calathea in eleven days is how this whole thing started). When something goes wrong I go down the rabbit hole: the studies, the extension-horticulture pages, the 2am forum threads, and every horror story plant people send in on @leafjournal on TikTok. These guides are that mix — hands-on experience checked against the research, cleaned up and told straight. No lab, no sponsorships, no “trust me.” Just what actually keeps a plant alive, so yours isn't the one that learns it the hard way.