Mid-Winter Greening

After the holidays, the winter can become a little bleak. Personally, I love winter and don't really mind the cold (must be the Scot in me) but I can't say I don't mind a little bit of plant life around the house to change things up. Recently, we decided to coordinate our potted plants a bit more and upgrade all their containers from the hodge-podge of random plastic/ceramic to all ceramic. Not only do they look better, they are much healthier with a little more space and replenished soil.

Above is an amaryllis we are trying to grow. I say trying because for the last couple weeks we had it right up against our kitchen window and I think it was overexposed to light. We've moved it back to the entryway table and things are looking a bit better. As you can see, we're also gearing up for Valentines day!

This guy was half-dead and made up of one 4 inch long, purple-ish spike when we found him at our local garden center a couple years ago. Because we have a thing for bringing plants back from their last leg, we took him home and he seems to be thriving. We found an industrial and minimal concrete planter which seems to be just right. I love the clean lines paired with the spiked fronds of the plant. To replenish the soil I used some new cactus mix potting soil and it seems to be doing just fine. 

On the other side of the bookcase, we have this one. This vining tropical plant that has beautiful purple flowers during the summer tends to stay dormant during the winter. I'm not sure exactly what it is but the buds resemble a clematis amd the sap and leaves are just like milkweed. Any guesses? Anyways, to train the vines, I put a couple pieces of curly willow in the plant (still leftover from our wedding) which gave the whole arrangement some nice height. Just plain potting soil seems to work for this kind of plant. 

This one was just a stump when Ben found it in the back of a work garage. I still remember when he came home with it in a broken plastic container and solid rock soil, insisting we save it. Which meant taking it with us to our parents over the next week as we were heading that way for the holidays. We carted it hundreds of miles that week, lugging it in and out of a few places and have tended to it for the last 5 years. It has flourished into a pretty spectacular little tree and this month, we gave it a new home in a cool eastern style container from my mom. Thanks, mom!

In 2010, I was lucky to have a really amazing group of interns at the Statehouse. On their last day, they gifted me this beautiful pear terrarium (after reading this post) and it is looking as good as ever. That tiny jade tree in front something we're working on brining back but so far, so good. 

Finally, our latest adopted plant, is Big Jade. I love the look of this jade tree and it seems to be very happy with some new soil (part cactus mix, part regular potting soil), a bigger pot, and some corner window light.

These few changes have added a nice fresh touch to the house. When replanting anything, remember to  give the roots some space, use the appropriate soil, and be flexible with your placement. You may have to move indoor plants around a few times to find a good spot, but it is worth the work! Here's some more info from Martha if you're looking to integrate or rejuvenate any indoor plants of your own.