Monday, April 23

Using plants at home


One of the things I love best about my house is that it's situated in a neighborhood full of trees.  Trees are my favorite thing in the created world, I think.  And I like the little sisters of trees, too--all kinds of plants.  Plants, flowers--you name it; I like it.  Here's the view from my back deck.



While I love all that beauty outside, I spend a lot of time INside my house.  So I like to add plants to indoor landscape, too.

I start at the front door.  My front porch is shaded, but coleus do just fine in the shade.  By the end of the summer these pots will be overflowing!


Inside the front door, nestled by the antique deacon's bench:


As a simple but elegant centerpiece on the dining room table:


I have plants tucked here and there in less prominent places, too, such as beside the kitchen sink:


On a side table in my bedroom:


Or in the corner of the guest room. (I always add fresh flowers when guests are here, but I like to have a live plant in this room all the time.)


Those last two photos display one of my favorite plant tricks.  Plants need light, but the light doesn't have to come from the sun.  If you want to add greenery to a dark spot in your home, place a plant under a lamp.  The plant will happily grow toward the glow of the light bulb.  Another favorite trick?  Add some moss to hide the exposed dirt in which the plant is growing.  This will give your plants a little nicer, more "finished" look.

Need a foolproof plant?  One of the easiest house plants to grow is golden pothos.  Its heart-shaped leaves are lovely and it grows nice and full.  That's the plant on my dining room table.  It's not finicky at all.  It'll look a little droopy occasionally, which means it needs a little water.  Then it perks right back up and keeps on growing.

Another favorite houseplant is spathiphyllum, sometimes called peace lily.  The great thing about this plant is that it'll tell you loud and clear if it needs water.  Here's how it looks if it's thirsty:


And here's the same plant a couple of hours later:



As you can see, I have plants growing in baskets and pots of all kinds.  Don't let the baskets fool you; for the most part, they contain plants growing in cheap plastic pots.  I line the baskets with plastic bags and just plop in the cheap pots.  Instant beauty!  Also, if you need planters and like the look of aged terra cotta pots, you might want to check out my tutorial on making your own.  You can make any size you need for very little money and just a few minutes of time.



Do you have plants in your home?  What's your favorite?

I'm joining the Nester's Planty Party.  You'll find lots of inspiration there!


14 comments:

  1. First, I have to say that the view of your back yard is what I dream of having someday. When we move to NC. Ha! :)

    Second, I put coleus by my front door every year too! And they go crazy, even in sun.

    Third, I do not ever try to grow anything inside my house because it will be dead by sundown. I just don't have the time, nor the patience, to coax a green thing to live in my home. Silk is the way to go.

    Fourth, have a great day! xoxo

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  2. We have a Peace Lily in our house too. I have to keep it out of reach from our cat though. He loves to nibble on it and all my other house plants.

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  3. when i was little we had plants all over our house. i loved the huge ferns that hung in the bay window. i wish i had a green thumb!!!

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  4. I have only one live plant - a pothos, because it will also tell me when it needs water! (and the cat won't eat it because it is up high)

    My favorite plants are from Pottery Barn, require NO care at all!

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  5. I love plants and have several. I seem to have good luck with Shamrocks in my kitchen window and I have low light plants scattered throughout our home. xo Diana

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  6. Love your plants, Richella! I'm a plant nut!! Love the life that they add to a home!!

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  7. I need to bring some green indoors! Your home has such lovely accents, and the greenery just softens everything and adds nice texture.

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  8. Your plants look great! As an aside, I also like the stone on your front porch. It's lovely.

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  9. Richella...all of your plants look lovely. I only have one Peace Lily plant, and it is really a gift to my brother when he had surgery in Dec. I am surprised it is still alive, because I do not have a green thumb, and I forget to water it. Ha!

    I love trees too, and the view from your back yard is so beautiful! I love to look at the beauty of nature...but I am not good at taking care of it, since I have so many allergies and can't spend a lot of time outside gardening.

    I hope you will have a great day and a blessed week ahead!

    Love, Linda

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  10. Your yard is so pretty! You can tell that you've put a lot of love and work into it.

    I only have a few indoor plants. an Orchid and a Peace Lilly. My screened porch has plexiglass panels on it, so I can grow plants out there, too, which I really enjoy.

    I like how you use baskets and moss to add interest.

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  11. Wow! You have so many plants! I do not have a green thumb so we only have two plants in our whole house...I wish we had more though. I just know that I would forget to water them and end up killing them!

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  12. OH my gosh your backyard is gorgeous. And I love the finish of your front door. Beautiful! (And thanks for your comment today..it is my favorite of all of them...you get it.)

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  13. What a huge blessing to have that backyard to stare at day after day. And those photos of the wilted and refreshened plants are crazy - I can't believe it popped back that much in just a few hours! Good to know!

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  14. I was thinking about this post yesterday. I realized (please don't laugh) that I don't really know how inside plants should be potted. For example, I have this one plant in a white porcelain planter. The plant itself is still in the red plastic pot from the store but you don't see that b/c it's inside the larger white porcelain planter. Lately when I try to water it, the water seems to seep right through and collect in the bottom of the pretty white planter (ick). I put one of those absorbent pads under the store pot (inside the planter). But maybe I need to re-pot by removing the plastic store pot and just having dirt inside the porcelain planter?

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