December 11, 2013 by Born To Organize

Cyclamen: Pretty in Pink

Like dominoes, much of the garden continues to succumb to days of frost. The cyclamen, however, look terrific. The plant pictured above remained dormant all summer. As spring and summer annuals died, my trusty cyclamen bloomed again. I’ve always loved the way the flowers soft petals seem to fold in like little clam shells.

The nurseries are full of them this time of year, usually in red and white. I assumed they were all the same plant, but apparently the nursery variety are grown for indoors. Though sold as ‘house plants’, they prefer cool temps. In fact, if you keep one indoors, they suggest putting it outside for a few hours, or even overnight, to prolong the health of the plant. It seems counter-intuitive. The rest of the garden needs salvaging from the carnage of this unusual frost, but the Cyclamen crave it.

According to Garden Web:

Cyclamen [in its native habitat] is an endangered plant. Centuries of collecting from the wild have decimated populations and the Cyclamen is now protected by CITES. CITES is the Congress on International Trade in Endangered Species. It is a worldwide body set up to protect not only plants, but animals that are in danger of extinction. It is illegal to import or export Cyclamen to or from any cooperating country without a CITES permit.

I had no idea! I saw hundreds of them on display at a nursery earlier this week, so hope this bodes well for their survival. Meanwhile, this little gem is looking pretty in pink and happy in the garden. I’m inspired to plant many more.

Dusting and Polishing the House Plants

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?

December 12, 2012 by Born To Organize

Gifts for the Joyful Gardener

Gardeners are practical souls. We don’t mind dirt under our nails, or bruises on tired knees. We’ll get up early or stay out late, weeding, pruning, planting and generally enjoying our time in the garden. We love sharing seeds and flowers fresh from the earth and enjoy swapping tips for keeping the garden pests at bay.

If you have a joyful gardener in your life, here are a few gift ideas to tuck under the tree.

Practical

Your gardener will never lose their gloves in the garden again. Floral Gardening Gloves allow you to pull weeds in style.

Floral Garden Gloves

Seed Keeper or Seed Keeper Deluxe. I’ve been using mine for several months. It’s an easy and efficient way to store and retrieve the seeds you save or buy. They come packed with all sorts of garden goodies as well.

Seed Keeper Deluxe

Fanciful

Slipcovers: They’re not just for sofas! Dress up your pots with a Patio Art Planter Slipcovers. You can change with the seasons, or simply cover up an ugly pot. It’s a nice way to wrap up a potted plant to gift as well.

Slipcover Your Plants

Fair trade birdhouses attract birds to the garden. Keep those baby birds toasty warm till it’s time to leave the nest.

Fair Trade Birdhouses

What a clever idea! It’s a card and a desktop garden all in one. It’s edible too. It’s a postcarden! Click on the photo below and check out the time-lapse video on their site.

Astronomical

For the gardener with the travel bug: “Botanically themed cruises and garden tours of Europe are designed for gardening and gourmet enthusiasts who enjoy taking in ancient castles, magnificent châteaux and stunning landscaped gardens with iconic sites.”

Let’s all go! Who’s with me?

June 27, 2012 by Born To Organize

Tweet-tweet: Self Watering Gadgets

Watering Hole

Unless you live in Kauai, Hamburg or Seattle, you probably have to water your outdoor potted plants. This holds true for indoor plants that don’t get the benefit of seasonal rain. It’s a fine line between over-watering which can drown the roots, or under-watering which can quickly kill a summer annual. The mix of shallow roots and rising temperatures dry out plants. Mulching helps, but plants still need a regular drink of water. Further, seeing water pour out of the bottom of the pot on to the deck or walkway is a water-conservation no-no. What to do?

We’ve been experimenting with various self-watering devices, a misnomer since you still have to fill the reservoir with water. Our first self watering gadget was a glass globe about the size of a baseball. It came with a porous clay reservoir that you staked into the soil. After filling the glass globe with water, you quickly upended it and inserted it into the reservoir. They looked pretty, but presented two problems. The opening was narrow and hard to fill from a watering can. When I carried them to and from the sink, I worried I would drop them. Once full, you couldn’t set them down.

Next, my husband came up with the idea of using plastic apple juice containers, the ones that are about the size of a large apple. The opening was larger and they had a flat bottom. They worked, but they didn’t look nice after several weeks in the sun. When empty, they were light enough to be knocked out of the container by a squirrel…or a gardener… and often ended up under the shrubs.

Pictured below are our current watering stakes. The ceramic bird has a built-in reservoir in the back made of clay but molded into one piece. The stake remains in the soil and you add water from the top. Isn’t it cute? The verdict is out at this point. I like the ease of use and the little pop of color but I’m not convinced that one per pot is enough.

The baby bird or BORDY, is also molded in one piece but you add water through the mouth. For some reason it reminds me of a dolphin more than a bird. What do you think?

Do you have a favorite self-watering gadget? Please share in the comments, below.