The days have been cold and dry most of this week.  With our central heating running more than usual, the house plants needed some extra TLC.

Dusting and polishing are never high on my to-do list, but I made an exception for the plants.  Just like nick-knacks, the broader the leaf, the greater the dust.  I use a damp, micro-fiber cloth for the taller plants, wiping the leaves when possible. The Ficus don’t seem to collect much dust, so a gentle tap to the branches loosens what’s there.

The small plants in the kitchen window are the easiest to revive.  I set them in the sink for a thorough soak, giving the leaves a quick, warm-water rinse while I’m at it.  Even the saucers got a nice cleaning.

Kitchen windows are such a great place for houseplants.  They enjoy the natural humidity of an active kitchen, and they rarely dry out with a water faucet just inches away. I generally have a small planter with kitty grass for KT and if we’re motivated, we try growing from an avocado pit.

It’s amazing how well some houseplants do living in cramped pots, with dry air and sometimes dryer soil. This coffee plant, below thrived in the kitchen for many years, sitting on top of the fridge.  After remodeling, we had to relocate the plant to another room.  It’s still quite healthy, producing these lovely shiny leaves.

Here’s what we have growing indoors:

Freshly “polished” leaves

Fiddle-leaf Fig

Dracaena

Kitchen Counter Collection

The current windowsill collection includes three “Christmas Cactus,” a small yellow rose and an as yet unidentified bulb.  I must have picked it up from the garden and had it stored in a kitchen drawer with my seed keeper.  It started sprouting, so I popped into a plastic martini glass, leftover from my Halloween costume.  Crazy, eh?

Martini with a twist?

‘Sunrise Cactus’ gorgeous, even when not in bloom

Christmas Cactus Bloom

Do you have anything growing on your window sill?