I approach gardening like buying books — a plant is purchased with good and valiant intentions, then I return home and it'll sit for weeks, sometimes months, before I take action and re-pot it.
The exception to that recently, is a Huon pine cutting which received very-important-plant (VIP) treatment. I tended to it immediately and gave it pride of place indoors.
But despite the care I took in watering, after a month indoors, my Huon pine started to brown on the tips and trunk, leaving me questioning if a tree that grows in the Tasmanian wilderness can exist within four walls.
I've seen banana trees fruiting in lounge rooms in Tasmania, can a Huon pine hack it indoors?
Huon pine is native to Tasmania and holds an almost mythological status as one of the oldest living organisms on Earth.
It's natural droopiness and slow growth can make it formidable to a novice gardener, as does the thought of accidentally killing an ancient and venerated tree.
"It was used for it's amazing wood," explains horticulturalist Emma Ware, who says to view a Huon pine in the wild, it's best to visit the south and west of Tasmania.
"Up the west coast of Tasmania, around the Gordon River region, you see some really really spectacular, advanced, very old Huon pines."
Emma works in a nursery that specialises in plants native to Tasmania, it stocks over 500 species and varieties of plants, including the slow-growing Huon pine.
"In the right conditions a Huon pine can establish itself from a seed and become maybe one metre in the first 10 years of growth," Emma says.
At it's full height a Huon pine can be between 20 to 30 metres tall, but that should not deter you from having the pine as an indoor plant.
"You'd know fairly quickly with a Huon pine if it's going to be happy in your house, and if it is, then you could comfortably have it inside for 10-plus years," says Emma.
"In that time you might only have to re-pot it once or twice."
The Huon pine is a durable, low-maintenance plant that can be grown from seed or a cutting, depending on how droopy you prefer your pine to be.
"When grown from seed they will grow a lot more upright, but if you were to grow it from a cutting they tend to be a lot more floppy and you will need to train it to grow upright," explains Emma, who also said a plant from a cutting will be more upright if you grow it from the a cutting from the very tip of the existing plant.
"If you grow it from the laterals, they will not be as upright."
Wild Huon pine cuttings cannot be taken from national parks and a permit is required to collect material elsewhere in the wild.
"Shady, moist and not too warm — if you have a boggy spot, it should be alright," says Emma.
The ideal conditions she describes sound eerily close to Shrek's swamp house.
"Shrek could definitely grow a Huon pine," laughs Emma.
"Luscious green growth is a sign of a healthy Huon pine — it has this beautiful weeping habit that is natural and healthy."
If unhappy, a Huon pine slowly develops yellow or brown, crusty tips, which can mean a lack of nutrients or overwatering.
With careful placement, the tree can also become an indoor plant.
"If you have a cool spot in your house, like a laundry, anywhere where it's not under the heater," Emma says.
"They don't like drying out" explains Emma.
She says the plant needs to remain moist, but not saturated, if in a pot outside or indoors. In its natural environment the tree grows along riverbanks and in damp rainforest conditions.
Occasionally misting the plant and applying native fertiliser once or twice a year will help to keep it happy.
How Sydney-based couple Alicia Nigel have turned their home into a hydroponic house for aroids.
Bonsai artist Jarryd Bailey is enthralled by Huon pines. He trekked through the wilds of Tasmania to view a 10,000-year-old grove at Mount Read on the west coast of Tasmania. On a separate trip he walked overnight to visit the oldest single standing Huon pine at 3,000 years old.
"It was pretty awe-inspiring, just to be in the presence of something of that age, it's almost unfathomable," he says.
"The fact that in the wild they're such an ancient tree, seemingly immortal — it links in with the philosophy of bonsai."
Jarryd grows bonsai trees from his own cuttings and neglected tube stock — juvenile plants grown in small plastic plant pots sold at nurseries.
"You can grow it from seed, but I've never grown it that way because the cuttings strike so easily," says Jarryd.
For a bonsai Huon pine, the artist recommends initially arranging the root system to avoid spiralling, and wire to shape the trunk.
At the five-year mark the tree will start to grow rapidly after a 'glacially slow' first few years.
Prune the tree by pinching elongated tips back to a healthy green point to avoid the plant becoming too dense and to keep the Bonsai in stasis.
Wiring can be removed after one or two growth rings and the tree will maintain its shape. If left on for too long it will temporarily scar the trunk.
"They're very tough," says Jarryd,
"The main thing you want to ensure is you can get enough water into the tree."
He has seen the tree growing as far north as Sydney.
"Provided the right conditions, shade and protection from hot wind, they can be grown," he says.
Get our newsletter for the best of ABC Everyday each week
ABC Everyday helps you navigate life's challenges and choices so you can stay on top of the things that matter to you.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of the lands where we live, learn and work.