Indoor plants have become increasingly popular as decorative assets,
particularly in city homes where even outside greenery is scarce. Am
amazing variety of foilage now blooms in homes...flowering plants,
evergreens, shrubs, small trees, even palms and rare species from the
Orient and deserts. Almost all of them flourish the year round, so that
a feeling of spring persists even when snow is falling outside.
The decorating possibilities are enormous. A single house plant will
highlight a coffee table, a fireplace mantel or a piano, and a large
collection of foilage and flowering plants will bring a bay window into
dramatic focus.
You can spark up your kitchen with a an indoor herb garden, or bring
early spring to your entrance foyer with a fragrance of flowering
bulbs. A teacart provides an unusual as well as practical place for a
collection of potted plants. There a literally hundreds of places in
your home where plants will serve not only a decorative function but a
useful one as well.
Create an Indoor Garden
Creating your own indoor garden is easy, and a fun hobby, particularly
as you can start or add to your collection of living potted plants any
time, and in any season you choose. Of course selecting living plants
and using them effectively to enhance indoor beauty is important. But
it need not be complicated. You don't need "green thumb" talents. You
merely have to use exercise the same basic good judgement you would in
planning and using any of the materials, furnishings or accessories
that add to the beauty of your home.
Two basic types of pot plants
First...flowering plants that may either flower all
at one time or keep flowering over various periods of time. Some of the
favorites are geraniums, azaleas, begonias, hydrangeas, lillies, roses,
gardenias, chrysanthemums, African violets, tulips, poinsettias,
daffodils and hyacinths.
Second... foilage or green plants, mostly tropical
varities professionally conditioned to grow in almost any climate. Some
of the more popular are philodendrons, ferns, jade plants, Chinese
evergreens, dracaena, caladiums, coleus, bromeliads and cacti and other
succulent plants.
The clay pot is preferred by professional growers and florist, because
it is the only container that truly provides plants with the growing
conditions of the earth itself. Plants in thin-walled plastic
containers do not have this essential advantage. You will find the
majority of the finest, healthiest looking plants of each variety in
red clay pots, which make them easier to care for and easier to repot
into larger-sized clay containers as they grow. Note: the clay potted
plant can be stood in a decorative tub, basket or planter for special
effect.
Plant Selection and Watering
Select foilage plants that have dark green, glossy leaves flowering
plants that have firm healthy stems and well-developed but not yet
fully opened buds. Avoid: Yellowed, browned, curled
or falling blossoms or leaves and drooping stems, all tell-tale signs
that a plant's root structure is not healthy. Ask your florist or
garden store to give you watering instructions for each plant and
follow them carefully.
Plants require different quanities of water. Some like it dry. Some
like it moist. But few can stand overwatering. Hence
the porous clay pot, which leaches out excess water on all sides, is
your best insurance against "drowning" and killing your plants.
Generally, if top soil in the clay pot feels dry to the thumb, your
plants needs water. Use lukewarm water. Do not allow plants to stand in
water. It's best to water all your plants at once, pouring gently until
water runs out of the bottom drainage hole of the clay pot.
Plant Temperatures..Light..Fertilizer
Do not expose plants to temperatures that are too warm or too cold.
Most plants are best kept at temperatures between 60 and 70 degrees.
Ask your florist about each variety. Keep plants away from drafts,
heating or cooling units. Be sure to ask your florist what amount of
light is best for each plant in your collection. Flowering plants
generally like more light, but in varying degrees. Foilage plants
usually do better with less. Group sun-loving and shade-loving plants
together, when possible.
Apply a fertilizer that can be disolved in water about once a month.
Don't over-fertilize. Finally, turn a spotlight on
your indoor plants for a dramatic effect. This is a good supplement if
plants do not get much light, as long as it is not too close to the
plants.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
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