A Thing for House Plants

Have you heard I like houseplants?  Have you been hanging around here long enough to have picked up on that?  It’s true, in fact, so true that I’d almost say I have a problem.

So, at last count, I have 32 houseplants.  When I say that out loud, it sounds crazy.  But when I look around my house, I don’t feel like it’s over run with plants.  Now, granted, the other house occupants may have something different to say on that matter!  I even have one in the studio and on my desk at work that aren’t even included in that number!

I’ve always had houseplants.  I grew up in a house with houseplants.  My friends’ parents and grandparents had houseplants.  I’m not sure if that is a Dutch culture thing or not, but it was just how it was.  So, having plants was normal and just part of life.

I had a lot of plants when we lived in our first home.  I recall one large tree-type plant in our living room that a certain little girl loved to get into, even though she knew better.  And we moved them to each of our houses with us.  But when the second little girlie arrived on the scene, life got a whole lot more crazy and I had a hard time keeping the plants alive and the children tended to, so I let a lot of the plants go…or they simply died of neglect.  But the kids are healthy 😉

When we moved into our current home, I started to build up my collection again.  I figured I had the girls established enough that they could fend for themselves a bit more 😉  And then, before I knew it, I had 32 plants.  You know how it is, right?  You grab one here at the grocery store, a friend gives you a cutting from that one, your neighbour offers you some and that one needs to be divided and then you have 30 plus plants before you know it.

So, to be clear, plants still die on me.  I can’t do orchids…sorry, Heather, the one you gave me lasted over a year, though… Succulents never survive long…I am trying again and some of them look healthy enough and seem to shoot out little baby succulents like crazy so I divide them up and hope for the best.  And don’t even ask about the plants that I have in planters outside…they have to be ‘survival of the fittest’ all summer so by fall they are pretty much a dried up skeleton in a pot.

But how do I keep them alive?  Mondays I water.  Simple.  Occasionally I will empty a half full glass of water in one so not to waste water.  And sometimes, I fertilize them.  I recently posted on Instagram about my fetish for houseplants and someone { Thanks, Heather!! } let me know that they really only need fertilizer in the Spring and Fall.  So, that makes it even easier!  And I repot them from time to time, too.  But, honestly, there’s no rhyme or reason to how I know when it’s time….usually when the roots are growing out the bottom of the pot…but then again, I know some like to be pot-bound, too….so…really, it’s a gamble.

I’m no plant expert, by any means, but I think part of my apparent success with house plants is that the ones I keep are hardy species.  I don’t have anything that is super demanding or has finicky needs, they’ve all long died off. Basically I water them and they make it look like I have a green thumb!

I love what the plants do for the feeling of our home.  It’s cozier and has a real lived-in feel and it reminds me of my childhood.  And the best part is that I’m passing this onto my girls!  We hit up an awesome new store in New Glasgow called Forge { if you are in the area, I highly recommend that you check them out!!  And tell them Lori sent you! 😉 } and the girls each picked out a plant to take home!  Lena picked out a Venus Fly Trap and Hannah picked out a cactus – see we’ll see how this goes and how long they survive!

So, tell me, do you have plants?  Are they thriving or merely surviving?  Any favourite kinds?  What great tips can you share on keeping them healthy?

To be continued,

Lori