I’m sort of surprised that it took me this long to add more houseplants to my collection. It all started with my Google search to find what plants could survive in an office without windows. Through that search, I learned that the ZZ plant is a great bet.
I went to Lowe’s that same week and found a cute little ZZ plant that I hoped I could keep alive.
What I didn’t appreciate was how much a ZZ plant would love 24/7 fluorescent lighting in my office cubicle.
Zen just celebrated his 3rd birthday. He has grown in leaps and bounds. Even after I was promoted and moved into an office without 24/7 lighting, I still manage to work enough to keep him well-lighted and happy.
He’s still at the office during the stay-at-home orders thanks to COVID19. But, he’s back in his original spot on my old filing cabinet in my original office. I see him on Mondays and Wednesdays when I go to the office and I make sure he’s looking happy and green. This last visit, he needed a big drink, so I’m thinking he will be looking tall and proud this week.
On my birthday this year, my husband gave me a cute little planter with a handful of succulents.
It needed much more light than Zen, so I bought a grow light from Amazon and they loved it. These little guys are home with me now sitting in my living room windowsill. I still use the little grow light to make sure they receive enough “sun” and they seem to be doing well. I’m thinking it’s time to purchase some cactus/succulent soil and start propagating them. They would make cute gifts once they are in new little pots.
My Calathea Ornata is my newest plant. Her pink pinstriped leaves dazzled me when I visited one of my favorite little shops in the Oregon District on Mom’s Weekend for my daughter’s sorority. It was the last weekend in February and I swear it feels like a lifetime ago. I knew nothing of Calatheas until I brought her home. I’m trying to figure her out while also praying that the little imperfections on her leaves aren’t a type of blight I just read about to which this particular type of Calathea is extremely susceptible. Wouldn’t that be the worst?! No cure or treatment…and I would have to discard of her and the soil to make sure it didn’t spread elsewhere. I refuse to even think about that right now because that would be too emotionally rough during this time.
I joined a local plant group on Facebook and the members kept mentioning a family-owned greenhouse in Florida that sells beautiful plants and ships them all over the country. I joined the mailing list for Gabriella Plants and decided to participate in their inventory restock sale when the newest plant babies had grown enough to be sent to new homes. I’m expecting my two newest plants to arrive this week.
I ordered a Rhaphidophora tetrasperma which looks like a tiny Monstera plant and an Alocasia ‘Ivory Coast’. I’m sure I’ll post photos once I have them home and settled.
I plan to drill holes in the bottoms of all kinds of containers so I can use them as plant containers.
I have also resurrected my Pinterest account by pinning tons of things to my two plant-related boards.
My next project is placing an online order at either Home Depot or Lowes so I can work on making a set of bleachers for my containers to sit on my porch this summer. Nice morning light and then indirect light through the rest of the day.
Something like this, or even a configuration where the cinder blocks are on their sides and 2×4 planks run through the holes of the blocks to create the seating for the containers would work. And then I will have the summer months to try and figure out how to rearrange my living room so I can have table or some other plant stands in front of the bow window.
I have always been a fan of flowering perennials and annuals. My phlox and daffodils have been looking great this spring so far. The mums that were centerpieces at my wedding 18 years ago come back each year in a flower bed by the garage. The hosta will be back soon and before I know it, it will be Mother’s Day and time to fill our multiple containers on our front steps with annuals. I hope those are considered “essential” purchases because it’s too late to start growing my own from seed…did I mention I think a small greenhouse would be nice?
