Hospitality, Friendship, Encouragement

Wednesday, January 24, 2018

House Plants


For the last several years, I've been trying to bring more live plants into my home.


I first bought a wee Mother Fern and then a Pathos.  

I am very good at growing Pathos.  They're easy.



Lindsay has take some cuttings from mine and given me two cuttings from hers.  They were tiny when she gave them to me and they are growing full and tall.  Its time for them to be transplanted.

She also gave me a ficus.  I love ficus and this one is really growing too.  It likes the light in my house.  I need to transplant it, but I'm afraid to shock it and kill it. 

As for my fern...It was growing beautifully and two summers ago I had it out on my deck.  It was full and lovely, until a sweet little girl pulled off almost all of the fern fronds! It hasn't been the same since.

At times it does really well, growing and getting full and then other times, its sparse.  I'm not sure why.

Obviously, I need some more plants.  I don't have the space for a lot in one area, like Lindsay has in her dining room.  But I want to continue to have oxygen producing, stale air filtering plants in the house.  They're pretty and useful, too.

Do you have houseplants?  What kind is your favorite?  Any helpful hints on my fern?

Let's chat in the comments!

18 comments:

  1. Absolutely no tips on plants from this gal. I am the kiss of death to plants. However, I do love me some faux! (No health benefits from those, but they do look cheerful and pretty.)

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  2. No, I have a black thumb. I like your plants. It seems like a good start. Maybe I will look for a pathos to put in my dining room bay window. If I could keep the littles from digging in the pot, it might just grow and do well! These little ones of mine "pick" the fake flowers and berries in my flower arrangements all the time!! At least they don't eat it.

    On your fern, does it stay on the porch and then you bring it inside? I buy ferns every year for my porch. I know nothing about growing them.

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    Replies
    1. For years I used faux, then nothing. But a nice plant, real or faux, really adds a lot to a room! I used faux during those little years!

      My fern is in the house mostly, unless its really warm outside.

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  3. I have pretty much given up on keeping house plants. I don't mean to but I seem to be very good at neglecting them. Now at my office at work, that's a different story...I guess it's because they are constantly in my view. In the summer I always have ferns of the porch but since we built the larger porch out front, I have 4 on it and just don't have the room to bring them in...so I throw them out when summer is over. I hope to get better at that when we move to the country...I should have all kinds of great light!

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    Replies
    1. When I worked I had a thriving pothos - I gave it all my left over tea every day!

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  4. I love houseplants, although I do not have very much room in my home. Right now, I have a pothos, an ivy and 2 different succulents. Spider plants are very easy to grow and are good air purifiers. Oh, and right now I have a lovely bright pink cyclamen that is brightening up my living room.
    Just a note to Christina, if you get a pothos, they generally do better in lower light, so your dining room window may not be ideal.
    This is a great time of year to do some repotting. The longer days seems to really kick start some new growth.
    Enjoy your plants. Those pothos look really lovely!
    Blessings, Marie

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for your advice Marie! Your pink cyclamen sounds just right to cheer up your home during the winter!

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  5. Boston Ferns are favorites of mine, but I have learned the hard way not to try growing them.

    I have an orchid, which is surprisingly resilient, and an ivy. The geranium and Easter cactus are hanging out at The Ponderosa for just the positive reasons you mentioned...filtering and cleaning the air.

    I know your Pathos by another name...Philodendron I think.

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    Replies
    1. I looked that up because I've heard both names before and found this interesting article about both plants - http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/newsdetail.cfm?NewsID=30319

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  6. Ivy and mother-in-law's tongue (there is another name for this plant, but this is the only one I can remember) are my two favorites. I also have a prayer plant someone gave me 15 years ago when I have surgery. I think I've finally learned the watering patterns for said plants, so that's helpful. I use to forget them, and my husband would say he could hear them when he walked by saying, "Water, water!" I just read an article about putting live plants in one's bedroom for more oxygen and good sleeping, so I added a smaller mother-in-law's tongue there. The only one I could find last year was a large pot at Walmart with actually three plants in it for $15! Great bargain, so I re-potted them and gave my DIL one.

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    Replies
    1. I do love ivy, too. I'll have to try growing it again.

      That was a great deal on that plant!

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  7. Like Cheryl, I am the kiss of death to most plants!
    My pathos or philodendron (?) do OK if I remember to keep them watered :)

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    Replies
    1. Here is an quick article about how to tell a pothos from a philodendron - http://web.extension.illinois.edu/state/newsdetail.cfm?NewsID=30319

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  8. I think ferns like a specific type of soil. I can't remember what. Mine always dried out too fast.

    Aloe is good to grow! :) Useful too.

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  9. Louis Dean has Aloe Vera plants. I used to have a great many in the den all hanging or sitting in front of the window wall. To tell you the truth I got so tired of taking care of them that I gave most of them away. They were huge healthy ones and I gave them to ladies who had offices.
    It's good to have live things in your home like plants and pets. At this time in my life, the only live things I want are me and Louis Dean! That is all the caretaking I can handle right now!

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  10. I have a really nice aloe that needs to be separated! In the warmer weather it lives on my deck and only comes in once we are going to have cold temps.

    I'll have to do some research about the soil, Sandi! Thanks for that idea!

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  11. Catching up on posts here, after a busy week. I love house plants, but am not terribly faithful about caring for them. I've had a ficus tree for 15 years and I just keep trimming it to make it stay the size I want. Last summer when we were gone while Tim's mom passed away, most of my houseplants died. I put them in a shady spot in the garden where they would get watered with the sprinkler system, but an extreme heat wave killed them off. I'm slowly building up again.
    Today I bought a pink cyclamen that is brightening up the living room. I'm in the mood for pink!
    Good luck with your pathos plant. It looks wonderfully healthy.

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