House Plant Love

I recently read a blog post by designer, Eric Cross on the merits of house plants. I loved many of the  points he made about them.

This point I will share from his blog as I think this one was his last point and may be the sticking point for people.

Plants are inexpensive.
Clients are always amazed at how quickly their accessory budget adds up.  A real budget saver is to fill containers with plants.  A beautiful and healthy plant is much less expensive than the pretty bowl we just put it in and really elevates the look of the bowl.  Also, if you can get your plant to thrive for 6 months and it starts to show age and look sick, just dump it and get a new plant.  So many people get emotionally attached to their plants and won’t get rid of them.  This isn’t your old Aunt Gloria having to be euthanized, it’s a sad looking plant.  Look at all the joy you got from it for 6 months.  The now half-bald struggling plant isn’t doing anything good for your beautiful living room so just let it go and try another plant.

Now, I am not sure if they are really inexpensive, but I do love them. I probably get emotionally attached to them. 😂

The other thing that might need to be considered is light. My mother was the queen of houseplants when I was growing up, but she lives in a townhouse now and the lighting doesn't exactly let her have a house full of plants. She does have two poinsettias from Christmas that look amazing in her window above the fireplace and a small deck of plants.

I happen to have the perfect amount of light on the back side of my home, so I have all of my windows filled with plants. I can't grow anything on the front side of my home. Well, I do have a Christmas cactus in my foyer that seems to be thriving. 

I do keep plants in the rooms that they will grow in, but I  admit it takes time to learn what will grow and what will need replacing after so long, and just what to avoid period.

Here are a few shots of my favorites.

My bedroom has this little alcove and it is glorious. That corn plant has done well. I hate to see the day when it fades. It will happen. I had a plant in my living room for over a decade and it just finally had enough one day. I tried everything to save it. I think they just have a life span too. 
The fern is new. 

I have changed out the plants on the top shelf of my living room bookcase more times that I will admit. I have done better with the ones there now than ever before. I finally learned that one pot gets more light than the other and switch these back and forth ever so often. 

I have had lots of success with this plant in my Christmas tree spot. I moved it last year into the bedroom for Christmas and it survived.

My kitchen window has two that have thrived there for a long time as well. The fir looking thing was brought to me by my daughter about three years ago at Christmas. Someone had given it to her in a small pot as a competition to see who could keep it alive the longest. It has loved my kitchen.

I think the designer is correct in that they add a lot to a home and it is ok to think of them as sort of like flowers.

It is hilarious to me that Paul Allen's girlfriend loves plants too. That boy complained about my plants all the time. You see downstairs where he resided has the same set up of windows as upstairs and I had them filled with plants too and of course that is where I moved all my geraniums and angel wing begonias to during the winter. 

She has planted quite a few things in his back yard. The sunflower was from seed.

Breathing in the good air they produce too,
Sandy