Monday, January 27, 2020

So, tell me about your houseplants...

I was gonna call this post: "I'll show you my houseplants if you so me yours." But there are so few people who actually blog these days, I realized most of my readers wouldn't have a way to show me theirs. Still, I'd love to see them if you can. And I should also clarify that when I say these are my houseplants, it means they are indoors year-round. They don't get moved outside come spring, like the basement prisoners do.

Here's a scene that anyone who reads my blog is no doubt familiar with. But instead of focusing on what's up on the mantel, let's look at the cast of characters below...

Starting on the left. The big tillandsia is a T. xerographica, I don't have ID on the one stuck in the large carved out seedpod.

I bought this Aechmea fasciata two years ago. It was blooming at the time. That should mean it would begin to produce pups and the main rosette would start to fade and die, right? But that hasn't happened. It hasn't produced a single pup, and the foliage still looks as good as the day I bought it, so strange...

Another plant I purchased while it was blooming, an anthurium with super dark flowers. I like the foliage, and don't mind that I haven't gotten any more blooms.

I wish I could tell you the name of this monstrous cactus, unfortuantely it came to me unlabeled.

Over on the right side there are a couple more tillandsias, a NOID sansevieria and half of a staghorn fern. Why only half? Because I killed the rest of it, not on purpose, of course.

Not a houseplant, I'm sneaking in a picture of my vintage "driftwood" table lamp.

Visible in the photo above, in a corner behind the sofa, is Zingiber malaysianum 'Midnight'.

On another table in the living room is a pair of Monvillea spegazzinii (Cereus spegazzinii) in vintage Royal Copley planters.

In front of the living room window...

This bromeliad (× Cryptbergia 'Red Burst') sat on my desk in the basement while I was working on the book, now it's graduated to the natural light upstairs.

Cryptanthus 'Black Mystic'

I know, not houseplants, but I'll share them anyway. The top of a bookcase in the living room is overflowing with dried protea, I can't just toss them after-all.

Currently on the dining table there's a small green cryptanthus, along with a vase full of alstroemeria and another piece of pottery with moss and lichen.

The wall next to the dining table is full of plant prints.

And the corner cabinet contains more dried flowers and seed pods.

These are from when I grew scabiosa from seed.

A cone from my magnolia and a dried peony from a friend's plant.

Dried nigella pods.

We're in the kitchen now, this gang hangs out behind the sink. Oh and that one in the black pot does go outside for the summer, so I guess he doesn't really belong in this houseplant post.

The Nepenthes alata seems to like the moisture next to the kitchen sink.

Hellebore blooms don't always do well in a vase, but H. x hybridus 'Jade Tiger' does.

Vintage light, Andrew's artwork, and more plants...

I think this is a Haworthia limifolia.

Once upon a time I knew the name of the one in the back, but no longer. The small one is a NOID sansevieria.

Another pair of small pots with plant's whose names I've forgotten. The carved figure is Andrew's work.

The Lila portrait a friend gave us hangs in the kitchen, After all, it was her very favorite room in the house.

Another of Andrew's figures with an agave spike (from a dead leaf) and a small Euphorbia tirucalli.

On top of the refrigerator is a dried arrangement that's been in this vase for at least a year and a half. What can I say...

In the bathroom now, and pulling back the shower curtain...

Is the variegated Boston fern a friend gave me a piece of. It's happier than it looks in this photo.

The variegation...

Eryngium in a vase, spiky agave photos on the wall.

There are no plants in our bedroom, so moving into the "media room" (TV, computer) here's the last plant of this post. An orchid given to us by Andrew's employer when we lost Lila. It's still alive, I really should take it outside this summer and give it some love.

So what about you, are you a houseplant person? Or one of those folks who doesn't believe in plants in the house?

—   —   —

Weather Diary, Jan 26: Hi 56, Low 46/ Precip .27"

All material © 2009-2020 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

26 comments:

  1. Currently I don't have any plants that live year-round in the house. I used to have a monstrose cactus like yours (I call it a butthole cactus), and a couple of other succulents that lived in my guest bathroom, which has a skylight for natural light, but they attracted ants this winter, so I moved them out to the greenhouse (which is packed to the gills). I'm battling ants this winter and it's driving me batty. I think I finally need to call someone to deal with them.

    You have so many that stay indoors! Love the variegated Boston fern. I almost bought one last year when I saw them at Watsons's, but I didn't and then they were gone. Regret, regret, regret. But I got a crocodile fern instead, which is cool. I have dried arrangements all around the house too, gathering dust.

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    1. Oh don't get me started on ants. Damn things. Portland is nothing but a huge ant hill and they come in at all times of the year. Ann is the one who gave me a piece of that fern, she bought it when we were in DC for the Fling.

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  2. Plants in the home are an extension of our artistic expression. I can't imaging not having plants in my immediate environment. Could the NOID sansevieria be samurai? Because last month I bought a tiny, 2" Sansevieria samurai , and it kinda looks the same. Seed pods are they are just too beautiful (and difficult to discard), as you showcase in the cabinet; I love the scabiosa and moss arrangement. And as usual, I adore Andrew's figurines and drawings.

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    1. I think the angle I photographed the sanseviera at is deceiving, as it's not so cool as 'Samurai'. Looks like I didn't plan my weeks posts very good as I've repeated a couple of plants in this post and Tuesday's! Oh well...

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  3. Like Alison, I have dried arrangements all over the place that are covered in dust. Yours all look so clean. I've got quite a few houseplants in the house these days and some that live year-round in the greenhouse. You've inspired me to take some pictures and maybe do a post of them.

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    1. Yes please. We miss you Peter.

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    2. I do try and keep the dried bits clean, lest Andrew get annoyed (being a minimalist) and ask that they go. And yes! Please do exactly that...your fans miss you greatly.

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  4. Love the whole botanical decor motif throughout the house. I have a lot of houseplants too but try and give everyone a place out of doors for the summer including Christmas cacti, orchids and succulents. The only two that don't go out routinely are my hibiscus (started from a cutting of my grandmother's plant) and a variegated fig. They attract too many aphids. In a cold climate houseplants get you through what seems the longest part of the year.

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    1. I can't imagine not having plants in the house...

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  5. You can always follow me on Instagram to see my plants (@horticultist)! Do you have an Instagram account?

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    1. I do! It's: @thedangergarden, and I'm following you now.

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  6. I've been a huge house plant fan since our tiny 1st ranch home in the late 60's. It had floor to ceiling windows on two walls in the LR with a 10'x2' built in garden and another built in garden by the front door that I filled with cactus! It was pretty dreamy. We were given a very sad looking, lopsided little Asparagus retrofractus fern as a wedding present that grew and grew and grew with the pine tree filtered light of that house! Fern moved with us 3 times and grew to be about 5' tall and wide. She was magnificent!!! Luckily, when we moved from Denver she found a home with a young family that had just purchased a home with a huge garden room and no plants. She had to be moved in a u-haul. I loved that plant! Needless to say, I've found space in our new place for my plants. It's a work in progress.

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    1. It (the house) sounds very dreamy! As does a 5ft tall Asparagus retrofractus, that's crazy. I'm so glad it found a good home.

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  7. I have only two plants that stay indoors during the entire year. Both are pots of orchids. The rest are wintering inside wishing they were able to be out.

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    1. I know that feeling! (wintering inside, wishing I could be out)

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  8. P.S. I always enjoy reading about your plant addiction.

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  9. I'm glad to see someone else has trouble throwing out dried vase flowers. If they still look good and worth saving, I add them to existing arrangements of other 'ghosts.' Come July/August, most get composted to make room from incoming fresh ones.
    At one point, I had over 60 houseplants, but that number has been reduced by at least half. I'm not a great plant tender these days, and don't repot or fertilize as I should, alas. Our hard water doesn't help. But yours look wonderful! I am drooling over the large tillandsia on the right of the fireplace - its curves are divine!

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    1. Over 60 houseplants?! How trendy!

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    2. I've lived long enough to see houseplants become popular again, haha. I lived through the first craze in the 70s. ;) I've always kept them, but the 60+ number was about 10 years ago. Like many areas of my life, I'm making do with less these days and enjoying the freedom from tending so many.

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  10. You have a substantial collection of houseplants and other decorative botanicals! Prior to our remodel I had a much larger number of houseplants than I have at present but, even compared to my former collection, yours is probably an order of magnitude greater, at least in terms of numbers. My home office alone, which formerly housed 5-6 plants, now has a single variegated Peperomia. The new HVAC system, which generates a lot more heat, is taking a toll on both houseplants and flower arrangements, causing me to hesitate about rebuilding my supply.

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    1. Your home is so open to the outdoors (those windows!) it seems like you garden is part of the indoors too. Funny (or not so funny) you mention the HVAC. A vent that hadn't been open in the living room got opened this fall. I lost a large tillandsia that was on a table in front of it. Poor thing just got crisped right up.

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  11. Beautiful houseplants, Loree! I don't have any plants that stay inside year-round. Even traditional potted plants go outside in summer because of my pets (I know some folks have success with them side-by-side, but I don't). Anyway, gosh your decor is beautiful! I love your spiky Agave photos and how you placed them. And the Boston fern in the bathroom (maybe I could do that!). And the various vases. And the Lila portrait. :)

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    1. Thanks Beth, I am lucky that my husband doesn't mind living surrounded by plants and plant shapes.

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  12. i have been so lax, lately, in blogging and life in general. You have made me think about a houseplant post (to come soon?) so thanks for the inspiration. Your inscape is every bit as delightful as your "famous" landscape.
    rickii

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  13. I have many houseplants - mostly because for years I didn't have a garden, so houseplants were it! I should post about them... Especially since I just finished sprucing most of them up after winter. But taking pictures indoors is harder than outside, for some reason?

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