A dedicated plant owner - or so she thought, anyway - spent two years of her life marvelling at how she'd managed to keep her tiny succulent plant in excellent condition, only to then discover it was actually made from plastic.
You see, Caelie Wilkes wasn't a plant owner at all. She was a plastic plant-like ornament owner.
Anyway, Caelie was so proud of herself for watering and cleaning the plant at regular intervals, she decided she'd re-pot it.
That's when her world came tumbling down.
She pulled off the pot to reveal that where there should be roots and mud and the like, there was polystyrene.
She'd been living a lie.
Then, on 28 February, Caelie shared her findings to a Facebook, where it was then picked up by an Australian group dedicated entirely to indoor plants.
It's good to have a hobby, I suppose.
The original post read: "I've had this beautiful succulent for about two years now. I was so proud of this plant. It was full, beautiful colouring, just an overall perfect plant.
"I had a watering plan for it, if someone else tried to water my succulent I would get so defensive because I just wanted to keep good care of it. I absolutely loved my succulent.
"Today I decided it was time to transplant, I found the cutest vase, that suited it perfectly. I go to pull it from the original plastic container it was purchased with to learn this plant was fake. I put so much love into this plant. I washed its leaves."
She continued: "Tried my hardest to keep it looking it's best, and it's completely plastic. How did I not know this? I feel like these last two years have been a lie."
Strangely enough, the good people of the Aussie houseplant enthusiast community have rallied around Caelie.
In fact, it seems as if they could form a support group for the loss of a 'real' houseplant.
One person commented: "My cousin did this. She kept watering her mum's plant for months before she discovered it was fake."
Another said: "My friend at work always kills the plants because she doesn't water them, so I put a fake one in the cafe. She watered it for a month before I told her it was fake."
A third added: "When I was a beginner plant owner my mum gifted me a fake succulent but I thought it was real and this has happened to me, took me months to realise it was fake."
Thoughts and prayers, plastic plant cultivators.
Featured Image Credit: Facebook/Caelie WilkesTopics: Funny, Weird, Australia