The Commonplace Misfortunes of Everyday Plants invites us to consider the difficulty of caring for living things. At the heart of such reflections lies an undercurrent of grief over the loss of a child and the trouble in finding ways to keep living. From neglected office plants or parking lot shrubs to roadside grass and backyard blooms, Renee Emerson evokes the sacramental through the most ephemerally permanent materials around us.