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This month, some plants have made their way into my care, and for that, I am as grateful as a squirrel well stocked up for the winter – because another side-effect of not having a proper summer this year is not having my batteries fully charged for winter. So I’ll need houseplants more than ever to keep me out of the claws of seasonal affective disorder.
I got the following houseplants as baby cuttings and root transplants from a friend. This was a giant haul, and don’t think I bring this many plants into my life every single month. In fact, this might be the first and last time, unless I get lucky and find another way to get plants from other friends who live far away. The logistics are just too much to deal with at the moment, so this will probably be a once-and-done affair.
I’m addings some links to where you can buy these plants from small businesses in the United States. If you’re not in the US, you can change the filter on Etsy to show you options from the country you’re currently located in; just go under All Filters and select Shop Location.
August rain lily (Zephyranthes candida) – three bulbs that didn’t travel very well. They seem to have bounced back, but since this is more of an outdoor plant, I’m letting it recover indoors while we’re being rained on every day.
Striped Barbados lily (Hippeastrum striatum) – currently just one bulb with two very healthy leaves coming out of it. I’m really looking forward to this plant blooming next season.
Busy Lizzie (Impatiens walleriana) – an absolute trooper. After all the adventures of getting to our house, there was nothing left of this plant but a bare stick. Three weeks later, it has six new top leaves and a few other smaller leaves poking out from the base of the stem. I’m so excited to be growing impatiens.
Pink wood sorrel (Oxalis debilis) – currently just a dry stub, so calling it a plant is way too generous. I take great pleasure in observing plant recovery, so this one should be right up my alley, though a challenging alley it might be. Hopefully, if I put it next to my lush purple oxalis, it will be shamed into recovery. No? This is not how plants work?
Flamingo lily (Anthurium andreanum) – this one reached me in a state of pure bliss (both the plant and myself). I positively love anthurium plants and I think they make for beautiful home decor. Their waxy poise and deep shades of green and red make them the perfect hostess gift. In an article I wrote for one of my clients for Valentine’s Day, I used the phrase, “there’s no plant more sensual than an anthurium” and I stand by my description.
Queen’s tears (Billbergia nutans) – I have mixed feelings about bromeliads. A soup of mixed feelings, in fact, because I’ve killed two in my early days of keeping houseplants. I used to teach in a corporate setting, and my adult students gifted me a large gorgeous bromeliad to celebrate the beginning of their summer vacation. Let’s just say it didn’t last until we resumed our course in the fall. I was tempted by it again, but the second bromeliad succumbed to the same fate. Fingers crossed this one makes it past its three month mark.
White velvet (Tradescantia sillamontana) – this has proven to be, by far, the most forgiving of the bunch. It got to me in a sorry state of mostly roots and a few inches of bare stems, and has now sprung a couple of leaves out of every stem. I’m holding off on recommending it as a sturdy plant for beginners for the time being, but it’s surely creeping up there on the list.
Broadleaf stonecrop (Sedum spathulifolium) – a bit of it died en route, so I ended up with one very delicate florette about 2 inches in diameter. I think it will pull through, if I resist my tendency to overwater it. But I’m not making any plans for it at the moment.
Lace aloe (Aloe aristata) – I have killed aloe before, so this is my friend’s way of giving me another aloe chance. A second chance aloe, if you will. It’s looking … squishy.
Wax begonia (Begonia cucullata) – I have a love-hate relationship with begonias (which I’ve mentioned in this post), in that I love them and they hate me. However, this one seems to be bouncing back very quickly. I got one piece of stem with roots (which is now growing base leaves), one piece of stem with some two leaves (both of which fell, but have been replaced by six beautiful new leaves) and one piece of stem that’s currently just … one piece of stem. Not much is happening to this latter one, so I’ll keep it until it shows signs of drying out.
Alocasia Giant Taro (Alocasia macrorrhizos) – finally, something I’m confident about. It seems to be adjusting well to the new environment and it’s taking pride of place on my desk.
Globe cactus (Mammillaria spinosissima) – I’m super excited to see it grow as large as this one
Red orchid cactus (Disocactus ackermannii) – here’s how it looks like in bloom
Hedgehog cactus (Echinocereus subinermis) – I have one slightly larger than this one
Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) – similar to this one
After almost eleven years of growing houseplants with nary a cactus in sight, I suddenly find myself the proud (albeit prickly) owner of four cacti in one fell swoop. I’ve been avoiding cacti not because I don’t like them (I do!) or because I don’t find them satisfying as houseplants (I do!), but simply because I live with a clumsy partner. And since we’ve been living in small rentals for a good portion of our marriage, let’s just say tight spaces + cacti + clumsiness = not a fortunate combination for the epitelium. But now we have enough space to keep cacti, so I was thinking of getting some even before my friend sent me a few of her pokey babies.
The globe cactus and the Christmas cactus are very small, but they seem to be adapting well to the new environment. The hedge cactus is the size of a large orange – and a very intimidating one at that – so it’s the only new plant that didn’t get repotted in fresh soil. I might attempt to repot it while sporting my bathroom cleaning rubber gloves, but it seems to be happy in its current soil (which is on the clay-ish side).
One thing I do after I bring home new plants
Now before the plants reached me, they were in someone else’s care for a couple of weeks, then left in the trunk of a car for about 48 hours. So while I don’t have high hopes for some of them, others might just pull through.
Once I got the cuttings in my possession, I left them on the back porch for about 5 days of quarantine before bringing them indoors to join the other foliage dwellers of this house. Plant quarantine is a sound practice with every new indoor plant you bring into your environment; I make no exception, whether the plant is from another person, from a nursery or from the supermarket. You just never know what pests and diseases it might have. If I happen to bring the plant home in the cold season, when leaving it outdoors would be foolish, I just put it in a room where there are no other plants. (Currently, that’s the kitchen for me.)
I don’t just set it aside and forget it though. I inspect the new plants every day for signs of pests, damage or (dare I hope) recovery. Closely inspect the surface of the leaves, the underside of the leaf, the stems, the petiole and the surface of the soil.
As I’m taking care of these plants, and allowing them the space and the time to bounce back from the shock of being uprooted, transported and rehomed, I’m writing down what works and what doesn’t in their everyday care. I might even put up a few tried-and-tested care guides for some of them. Sign up for my mailing list (don’t worry, I’m too lazy to overwhelm you with emails), and I’ll send links once I publish the care guides.
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