Houseplants

My mom has always had a green thumb.  She can pluck a leaf off of anything and, a few months later, she has a full-grown plant.  Her African Violets continually bloom and re-bloom (and that's a plant I won't even try any more).  Upon moving down to Florida, she left all of her houseplants behind with my sister, but I'm betting she'll have a house full there by the next time I go back. 

Chinese evergreen & draecena

On the other hand, my efforts with houseplants have not always been successful.  However, I now have a living room full of the most beautiful plants and I'm so thrilled!  I have a Chinese Evergreen that was given to me when I had surgery many, many years ago and, because they're pretty low maintenance, it has flourished and grown dramatically. 

Then, there is a draecena that I bought at Sam's Club one time.  It was small and, while it was healthy, it definitely needed some care.  Now I keep it in front of the window all winter and out on the front porch all summer.  It's 4 times the size it was when I bought it.

When taking my Master Gardener classes in 2011, there was a class on plant propagation and I started a spider plant from a snipped leaf.  Now, 18 months later that plant is enormous and sending out spider shafts in all directions. 

Peace Lily and Meyer Lemon

I also have a Norfolk Pine that is large and healthy, a peace lily that is healthy and sending out pretty white flowers regularly, a Meyer Lemon tree that I just planted this past summer so the jury is still out, and a couple of smaller plants that I'm coaxing along.  Then, there's also the English Ivy (mentioned in a prior post) that is flourishing in the front window as it spends the winter indoors.  It normally hangs outdoors during the summer.

Philodendron in blue beads

Finally, I have an experimental philodendron.  I plucked a leaf from a healthy plant at the public library, and it is now in a vase filled with those beads that sit in water and grow large.  The beads are generally used for cut flowers to hold the flowers in place and add beauty to the vase, but I thought I'd try it as a propagation medium -- and it's working extremely well!  We're up to a total of 5 full leaves and a sixth is beginning to unfurl.  It's a little tricky because the beads alone aren't enough to nourish the plant, and the water tends to get pretty gross if not kept fresh.  A learning experience!  [Side bar:  Stacy is now using those grow beads as a planting medium for forcing bulbs.  I'm interested in how that will turn out.]

Spider plant in the center & Norfolk Pine to the right

All-in-all, I've moved from someone who neglected or flat-out killed my houseplants to one who now needs to stop bringing them into the house as I've run out of room!  Very satisfying.