Are "Houseplants" out of Style?????

Give us the website. I love to see that folks do with mounted epiphytes.

Ken

I love our houseplants. We have a sunroom, and had a lot in there but lost a bunch of them last winter. I was heartbroken over some of them, but it gave me an excuse to buy more. We have them in every room but the kitchen, there's not really a place for one in there.

This is an older picture, but here's our sunroom.

Some houseplants should be treated as throwaways since they are more difficult to keep over a long time and take up valuable space and resources. A lot of flowering plants at Easter, Valentine's, Mother's Day are just not worth keeping at times (the exception are florist azaleas - they can be planted outdoors). When the flowers are over then they often turn ugly and die eventually so toss them. They may be tender bulbs so cannot be planted outdoors, annuals that no matter how hard you try to keep alive will die because that is their nature, or tender perennials that lose their appeal after the blooms fade and die. I remember buying freesia, ranunculus, cineraria, schizanthus, cyclamen, and mini roses (I never have luck with these) on several occasions that as much as I tried ended up in the trash or compost anyway. I have no regrets about these and pass them over when looking for new plants.

Sometimes it is a blessing when an ugly plant dies - that way you have no guilty feeling throwing them out or leaving outdoors to freeze. I've left many plants outdoors to get rid of them and have no remorse.

very nice smiley! look at the huge jade plants! I lost my jade to spots on the leaves- fungus?

Somebody told me NOT to try and save those florist azaleas. That may depend on your zone.?

Blessing, yes-I fried an orchid in the sun this fall. Kinda glad because I inherited one at work and had bought another, all Phalaenopsis, lost the most common boring color one. I totally gave away a mini Spath and a Janet Craig Compacta because I was bored with them. And killed a Schefflera this year too - boredom, wasn't really that thrilled nor knew where to put the thing.

OTOH,
I have a Dendrobium that I bought, out of bloom on clearance. It has struggled for three years and I keep trying. This year I repotted again and it now has really nice new growth. Sometimes the challenge is more inspiring and interesting than the easy.

Can you grow azaleas in your area? If so then florist azaleas should be fine too. I've had one in a 15 inch pot for years now that I keep watered during summer and a light fertilizer in spring. Some years it is spectacular, this year not (I guess the rough winter). The nice thing about florist azaleas is they put them at half price after the celebrated date. The key is to find one with a few blooms on it so you can be sure that is the color you want. So you can get a four to six inch pot for $5 or so after say Mother's Day - pick it up and try it.

Anyway the one I kept did a lot better last year. Here are some photos of it.

Florist Ivy is perfectly hardy too.

Well, so pretty; thanks for the testimony!

I find Ivy gets mites easily indoors, or doesn't like the dry air, or something, then rebounds well once it gets outside again. I love ivy (Hedera) but it hasn't loved me.

I've got two varieties indoors now - one is the Algerian Ivy that didn't do well in our winters so I bought a new one and the other one is new so I didn't put it in a big pot outdoors this summer. Next year I will do that. I may have 8 different florist ivy planted in large pots outdoors. They look a little bedraggled after winter but new leaves soon spiffy the pots up. I just have to watch out for the runners that hit the ground since they may get as weedy as regular English ivy (learned my lesson at the last house with that). Planted 3 small pots of it and in 4 to 5 years we were ripping it all out as it threatened to take over the front yard.

Here is some variegated ivy I gave my parents years ago. My mother has to keep the top trimmed so it won't take over the large redbud tree.

Smiley, you have a windchime/mobile fetish like I do! I would love to have a sun room.

Ken, here's that link. There is an orchid on here that's to die for. Orchids are on my bucket list. I figure the first one I get might as well be a doozy.

http://www.tropicalplantsandmore.com

THAT'S MY WEBSITE! I thought you came upon a site unknown to me........LOL

Yes, you really NEED that orchid. It's a bit of an odd-ball, in that it grows best mounted. I have all mine mounted on natural, Portuguese cork, the best mounting material ever! Hopefully I will still have it when you decide to get it. I am just a hobbyist and don't have a lot of any particular orchid variety.

Ken

Wow, that's some azalea! very nice, and the ivy is a beautiful variegation.

Bayou, yes, I have a windchime thing going (roll eyes). I made a little one for my mom one year out of beads & sculpey, I don't think you can see it in that photo. I took itback when she passed away.

Sally, we lost those jades last winter. I was heartbroken, the big one was at least 35 years old. My DH said it was my mom's and we've been together that long.. we've never had a problem with plants in that sunroom during the winter (it's unheated but facing south) so it surprised us to find most of them limp and frozen one day. It must have been one of those near zero nights.

Ah well.. such is life..

Drdawg, I'm going to have to check out your website too. DH had a staghorn fern that he was especially fond of. It was a little one, but we noticed an almost-black spot on it one day and it went downhill from there. I'd love to get him another in spring.

LOL!!!! And yes, I NEED the orchid.

Smiley, I bought a bunch of fimo but I haven't tried anything with it yet.

It looks like one more morning of freezing temps here and then it will (at least) be above freezing for a few days. Maybe, just maybe I can get the majority of my orchid orders shipped out on Monday. I have 42 orchids ordered (and for me that's a lot!) and I really want to get them on their way. My shipping looks like it will be pretty well over almost a month earlier than last year, and last year's late fall/winter was just horrible!

Ken

Ken,

That is a gorgeous orchid. No wonder you are shipping so many.

I hope this winter is nothing like last year. At least no snow like the folks in the northern states (UGH) have been getting. Looks like a lot of accidents up there and I thought they knew how to drive in that stuff. (Just kidding for anyone having snow recently - I feel your pain).

Anyway I saw your team lost this weekend. That must've been a heartbreaker. Is there any other team that can beat Bama?

Auburn - that's it.

WAR EAGLE!!!!!

Doesn't sound good but Auburn can pull some upsets at times.

Since we made the greenhouse, I don't even try and keep plants in the house, for 2 reasons. Number 1, we heat with wood. Number 2.........we have cats. 3 adults and 2 Red-Bull addicted kittens. Well, they ACT like they're on Red Bull. LOL

We've always had houseplants, but DH has taken care of them in the past. In the last year we've switched that around a little, after I pushed that little african violet a little closer to the light & it bloomed. I tend to overwater things, so I leave the cactus & succulents to him.

We have a dog, I'm surprised he never messed with any of them.

Even with the greenhouse, I still like having some in the house. We have eleven cats. I guess that's why I got creative with the plant hangers.

Oh, my....11 kitties. What is your secret to not having a smelly house? Mine smells sometimes, but I try to be fastidious about cleaning the litterboxes.

We have a cat door. They go in and out (to potty). I worked in a veterinary hospital for 15 years. Cat collecting is an occupational hazard.

Oh. Well, my kitties are strictly indoor. We live too close to the busy county road. And then there is the flea and other parasite problem if they are in-and-out cats.