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While some lucky gardeners live in mild climates where they can garden year round, many of us garden in areas that receive colder temperatures, regular freezes, and snow. It can make a gardener gloomy to forego months of their favorite outside activity, but there’s no reason to give up gardening altogether until the air warms up. Try bringing some of the outside in with houseplants – the greening of your interior space can keep you occupied, enhance your décor, and expand your hobby year round.
Within reason, most of the tropical plants that you enjoyed during July on your deck or patio will fare very well indoors for the winter. But there’s a trick to bringing these plants inside – because if you unceremoniously drag them all in, they will protest loudly and thank you with dropped leaves and sickly growth. Why? Because an abrupt change in their environment doesn’t leave them enough time to acclimate to their new digs. The secret is to take your time as you slowly bring them indoors. Here are the steps:
If you are very new to houseplants, start with the tried and true varieties that are the easiest to grow. After all, everyone likes to experience success when they’re trying something new, right? These plants will do well with minimal care – in fact, they will dislike it if you fuss over them too much.
Now, there’s nothing wrong with putting one houseplant in a pot and calling it a day, but if you want to create some drama while still keeping it easy, there are a few great options for you.
If you’ve been house-planting for a while and consider yourself a step above “newbie,” consider expanding your collection with some more exotic or unusual plants. There are a few that I reach for every time I want to add some excitement – and they aren’t necessarily more difficult to grow, either. Look for air plants (Tillandsia spp.), lithops (Lithops spp.), rhipsalis (Rhipsalis spp.), Rex begonias (Begonia rex), and staghorn ferns (Platycerium). These plants have interesting textures, other-worldly forms and sometimes shocking colorations. You can find them at your local garden center, at specialty sites online, or sometimes even in the garden section of your home improvement store.
Add finishing touches. The pros know that the planting is only one part of creating a stunning houseplant display. Once you’ve gotten your plants in their containers, look for ways to add top dressings to give your plantings a complete finish. My rule of thumb is that I don’t want to see exposed soil, ever, in my houseplants – so I add smooth river rock, crunchy gravel, or textural mosses that I find bagged in the floral department of my craft store. Make sure to choose the appropriate top dressings for your plants, because while some retain soil moisture, others will allow the water to drain through faster.
Holidays are a great time to add some wintery interest to your interior. Poinsettias are a Christmastime favorite, but don’t forget Christmas cactus (Euphorbia pulcherrima), Norfolk Island pines (Araucaria heterophylla), and flower bulbs that can be forced indoors (amaryllis, paperwhites, and fragrant hyacinth). While you can purchase bulbs already in a decorative container for display, you can save a lot of money by doing it yourself. Forcing an amaryllis bulb in water is particularly easy – simply take a clear glass container, add some pebbles or gravel in the bottom, place the bulb on top, add water and watch the bulb grow and flower.
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