Category Archives: house plants

Houseplants in November 2024.

12/11/2024house plants, UncategorizedJackie

It has been a bit wet and windy and loads of fireworks going off (despite the ban in this area) but now things are starting to turn colder and sunnier. We did manage to get the harling fixed on the patio walls and a few other patches here and there. The harler also put some extra cement at the top of my ramp as the ramp itself had sunk an inch or so from the flat slabs at the top. I now don’t have to bunny-hop over the edge of the slabs with tools or plants on my knee.

new harling on the patio wall — New harling on the patio wall.

A lot of leaves have fallen now but there are still some falling into the pond so I have to keep on top of that. There are a few flowers out still but I will be concentrating on house plants just now. I have had to move some of the more delicate ones from the cold conservatory so I now have plants in almost every room. There are still loads of plants in the conservatory that can handle the cold and I try to keep it above 5 °C.

Back in June I chopped the head off the aeonium ‘Voodoo’ to see if I could get the head to root and the cuttings to root and branch. There was mixed success: the head did root but some of the new leaves were a very strange shape, but these have now fallen off and it is looking good. The larger of the cuttings rooted and started branching, the smaller cutting just rotted, and the bit that already had roots that the head came from has done nothing. I have been spraying the stem where the buds should branch from but nothing so far.

Succulent aeonium voodoo large leaves with the cutting bellow with small branches forming — Aeonium ‘Voodoo’ rooted head plus rooted stem with tiny branches.

Succulent Aeonium 'Voodoo' cutting with branches forming. — Aeonium ‘Voodoo’ cutting with branches.

The crocus are now coming up, just slightly ahead of the ones outside on the patio. In the background is the pot with the Oxalis palmifrons which I am glad to say are coming on well. Although I am sure they were in flower this time last year.

Tiny tips of crocus bulbs just showing through the topping of moss in a pot inside ac fancy cup and saucer. — Crocus popping up.

On the lefthand side of the conservatory is a collection of plants. Beaucarnea recurvata (ponytail plant or elephant’s foot) which really aught to be re-potted but I don’t have a big enough pot and I know it will be a real struggle to do so I haven’t done anything about it. Davallia canariensis (hare’s foot fern) which in hindsight is in the wrong kind of pot: it is clay and I have to spray the plant regularly as the fern likes moisture but the the clay pot is now disintegrating. I do love the hairy rhizomes of the fern and I have another one else where in the conservatory. The only streptocarpus I have left is the small succulent leaved one called Streptocarpus saxorum and it still has loads of flowers. I gave it quite a ‘hair cut’ a few months ago and it is looking better now. The Selaginella Kraussiana is a type of clubmoss and although it is looking ok just now I did take a few cuttings and potted one up in a small pot and and put the others in a bottle. It was looking rather bedraggled before. The mice have been having a good chew at the bottle cork!

Four plants in a corner of the conservatory. — Left corner of conservatory.

Furry rhizomes of Davallia canariensis (hare's foot fern) — Davallia canariensis furry rhizomes.

Selaginella Kraussiana clubmoss in a bottle. — Selaginella Kraussiana (clubmoss).

I still have sempervivums and a few echivera hybrids and cacti in the conservatory along with a couple of herbs and cuttings I am trying to root. The cyclamen have buds ready to open.

A selection of plants on the conservatory table. — Left hand side of the conservatory table.

A collection of succulent sempervivums on a table. — Sempervivums

There is also a large tree fern and a few other miscellaneous plants in the conservatory.

The sitting room isn’t all that warm but some plants don’t mind too much. The Pilea peperomoides does well so I have taken a few cuttings to sell at the plants sale. The Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant) likes it there and I have another couple of cuttings of it elsewhere around the house. The Rhipsalideae gaertneri (Easter cactus) is still quite small but has a few new leaves on it. I have a large Crassula ovata here and a cutting in the craft room. The other plant that does well in here is the Spathiphyllium (peace lily). There are a few of theses dotted around the house as they appear to do do well just about anywhere.

Pilea peperomioides green plant. — Pilea peperomioides

Sansevieria trifasciata and Rhipsalideae gaertneri plants. — Sansevieria trifasciata and Rhipsalideae gaertneri.

Spathiphyllum (peace lily) plant. — Spathiphyllum (peace lily).

The craft room doesn’t always have room for plants but I have squeezed a few in.

There is a pink flowered Schlumbergera (Christmas cactus) with a Sansevieria trifasciata cutting, Crassula ovata cutting, and a Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant) in the background.

In the room with very low light levels I have large dark green foliage plants that can deal with the light levels. I like to keep the room fairly humid by spraying them every day.

Unknown palm, Dracaena fragrans 'Janet Craig' and variegated Monstera deliciosa plants. — Unknown palm, Dracaena fragrans ‘Janet Craig’ and variegated Monstera deliciosa.

The palms tend to take up a lot of space as the foliage ‘fountain’ out and droop down so I think they are better on a small table. I adore my Dypsis lutescens (Areca palm) and I am eyeing up a few other types to add to my collection.

Dypsisi lutescens (Areca palm). — Dypsisi lutescens (Areca palm) on a small table).

The Areca palm has never flowered but the unknown palm, left to me by a friend who has sadly passed, has produced very strange looking flowers. I think they are male but not quite sure.

Unknown pal tiny flowers. — Flowers of the unknown palm.

The pinky/purple colour on the wall behind is the grow light for my air plants. I have not managed to get them to flower but at least they have survived. Maybe next year. The Stephanotis doesn’t like the cold or draughts so I had to bring it in from the conservatory but it didn’t like it much and a lot of it’s leaves have gone pale, some have gone yellow and dropped., so I am hoping I can keep it alive until the spring when I can put it back in the warm sunny conservatory. Orchids are not plants that I would ever buy for myself as I tend to kill them but I do have a couple kindly given to me which I have kept alive so far – a white one and a purple one which are in the dinning room. Another plant just moved into the dinning room is the Amaryllis which was one bulb when I potted it up this year but I have two distinct sprouting areas each with 2 leaves. I just left it so shall see what happens. As I have loads of houseplants I am always afraid to get ill as they all have different watering and feeding requirements. Some you have to spray/mist regularly and others that should not get water on their leaves and although it is great to have friends and a husband who can help out it would take forever to tell them which ones get what treatment. It also takes a some time each day to check each plant and tend to their needs. So long may I stay well enough to look after all my green pals.

House plants and cuttings update.

28/06/2023house plants, plantsJackie

Some good and some sad news about the cuttings I took back in April. I will start with the sad – the lovely big Easter cactus was in a very sad state, it did bloom but the leaves were never turgid and just got more flaccid as time went on. I took the plant out of its pot and it still had roots but the main ‘trunk’ was very damaged so it has gone in the bin. I had taken a few cuttings and they looked like they were doing ok and had roots but a couple didn’t make it. I have one cutting left that looks ok and I stuck a few leaves into a pot of compost so we shall see if they survive. I am upset that I couldn’t keep that large parent plant alive as it was one of Stephanie’s plants (who was terminally ill when she gave me it and has now very sadly died). Kate’s petrocosmia is not doing well. I removed it from the pot and could see a material-like pot surrounding the plug plant (from the nursery). The roots had not been able to penetrate that and had been trying to go over top of it. It also didn’t have any roots coming from the centre of the base. I took this material away and tried my best at re-potting it in a way that the remaining roots could reach the soil. I am not hopeful though.

The good news is that Stephanie’s palm is doing well, and my attempts to propagate Kate’s echveria have all been successful. I tried a few different propagation methods: taking heads off and planting them, taking the middle part of the long stump that was left and laying them sideways on damp compost, leaving the cut stump ends in the pot to see if they would grow again, and single leaf cuttings. The stumps are all sprouting, and one of the leaf cuttings is sprouting, a few of them have roots but are not yet sprouting. The heads are all thriving now and have put down roots. Some of the leaves look a bit shiny but should soon get their coating of farina on them to give them that soft matt look. The farina gives the plant protection from the sun and it also repels water to help the plant avoid rotting.

middle part of echeveria hybrid stump laid on its side to make cuttings from sprouts — middle part of stump sprouting

echeveria hybrid sprouting from old stump

Also, I saved another of Kate’s plants recently that no-one else had wanted, and it is doing well. I was reluctant at first to take this one on as it is a stephanotis floribunda and it can be tricky to give it the correct situation all year round. I have been waiting for weeks for it to open it’s buds and now it is creating a glorious scent in the conservatory. I will have to move it from the conservatory during the winter as it will be far too cold there so it may come into the dining room over winter.

And here are some of my own succulents in flower and about to flower.

a collection of sempervivums in flower — collection of sepervivums

This sempervivum Chocolate kiss doesn’t look like it is going to flower yet though. It is such a great colour as it is.

deep chocolately/ purple coloured sempervivum 'chocolate kiss' — sempervivum ‘Chocolate kiss’

House plants and cuttings

24/04/2023house plantsJackie Elwin

I never think a house can feel like a home without house plants. The rooms tend to look bare without fresh living foliage. They can be incorporated into a room design or just dotted about as you please, as long as they have sufficient light and the room stays at a temperature that suits the plant. There is no point trying to grow a fern that requires a moist environment in a hot, dry centrally heated room as it just won’t be happy. I have plants in every room of the house but I sometimes have to swap them around rooms as the seasons change depending on their individual likes. As they grow larger they may need re-potting or even split and re-potted. This is a great opportunity to make new plants to give away to friends and family or to charities to sell on. I take lots of cuttings from large plants, split the peace lilies many times to make new plants and pot-on the chicks from the sempervivums to sell at Duddingston Kirk Plant Sale. I have been given a few plants (that have needed a bit of TLC) recently from friends and I am waiting to see if they come through or not. Steph gave me an Easter cactus that was very old and had split leaves dead leaves,old woody leaves etc so I gave that a good trim and potted up the cuttings. I don’t have a before photo but I did take a snap after I had given it a haircut.

Steph’s Easter cactus after it’s trim

Steph’s Easter cactus in bud

Steph also gave me palm which had been very neglected so I trimmed off the dead leaves and re-potted it and it is looking much better.

Steph’s palm before

Steph’s palm after

I have been given a few plants of Kate’s (who passed away recently) and it was quite a difficult decision to make, whether or not to alter anything about them or leave them as they were. The Echeveria hybrid was looking very leggy and distressed so I cut the heads off it and a few single leaves too. These were left to dry out until the ends calloused over, then were planted in a free draining compost mix. I have left the rooted plant stumps in the hope that it may get new growth from the stumps bottom part. The leggy bit in the middle I have just placed on compost to see if it will root from the stem (just an experiment). Hopefully one of these will take and I can keep it going. She also had a Christmas cactus which was growing mainly in one direction so I trimmed off a few bits and left them to dry for a few days and potted then up, and hopefully I can get some new plants from it. Kate’s Petrocosmia had been very over-watered so I re-potted that and it is trying to dry out, I took some damaged leaves off it but I don’t know if it will survive. I will take a photo if it survives. I really hope I can keep them all alive for Kate’s memory.

Kate’s Echevaria hybrid before

Kate’s Echevaria hybrid stumps

Kate’s Echevaria hybrid small head potted-up

Kate’s Echevaria hybrid large head potted-up

Kate’s Christmas cactus trimmed

Kate’s Petrocosmia begonifolia before

I am loving me Aeonium Voodoo just now as the colours are just fantastic! The top of the stem is bright green and these leaves go such a deep, rich, burgundy which contrast beautifully with the lime centre. I don’t know when I should take the head off to replant – I may leave it another year or so.

Aeonium Voodoo head

Aeonium Voodoo plant

Aeonium Voodoo under leaves

Aeonium Voodoo stem and leaf joints vivid colours

Aeonium Voodoo stem with leaf joints

And recently purchased are these fabulous living stones: Lithops. They can be tricky to grow so I am going to have to be very careful with my watering of them. I have potted them up in a very gritty, free draining compost and have given them one watering so far. Fingers crossed I can keep them alive.

Lithops

I do have a few air plants that I bought in 2020 but so far they have not flowered for me. As soon as they I will post a picture.

Just a few of the cuttings that will be on sale at Duddingston Kirk Garden Club plant sale on Saturday.

Cuttings

May Aquilegias

29/05/2020Aquilegia, flowers, house plantsJackie Elwin

These beautiful aquilegias add a touch of the ‘cottage garden’
style to the garden. They flower during spring and keep their foliage
for most of the summer and autumn and although they look quite delicate,
they are quite hardy. They love the shade in the stumpery area and the
raised bed, but are equally at home in the side border too. One pink
one has grown quite tall – 1m35cm which is as tall as I am (wheelchair
user). I love the way that, as the flower matures, it raises it’s head until the seed heads point upwards like little jester hats.

I don’t remember all their names and they have
been quite promiscuous so who knows what will come up next year. I did
have to take quite a few out as they had seeded in the wrong place, but
they have been potted up ready to be sold whenever the Duddingston Kirk
Garden Club starts up again after lockdown.

Baby pink aquilegia

Deep pink aquilegia

Pink aquilegia

Purple aquilegia

Purple aquilegia face on

Purple and white aquilegia

White aquilegia

Ruby aquilegia

Pale blue aquilegia

Pink and white aquilegia

Tall pink aquilegia

My tips on cleaning houseplants.

07/02/2020cleaning, house plantsJackie Elwin

House-plants collect just as much dust and debris as your furniture, shelves and ornaments do. This dust can not only affect the appearance, making them dull and lifeless, but can also prevent the plants from respiring by clogging up the stoma. (Respiration facilitates gaseous exchange via stoma which are small pores in the leaves). This dust can also prevent sunlight falling on the leaves which can reduce the photosynthesis by reducing the light levels.
Some plants with large, flattish leaves can be easily sponged with clean tepid water one leaf at a time, but I prefer to stick a few plants together in the bath and give them a tepid shower. It is best to do this in the morning so they have time to dry off before the cooler night. Make sure to drain them well – you could even put a rack underneath them while they are in the bath so they don’t get water-logged. Or you could hold them at an angle while using the shower head over, and under, the leaves. While the plants are draining you can check the decorative pots or saucers for any damage and give them a clean too. Before replacing your plants back in their decorative pots, check the plant for any signs of pests or disease, and remove any tatty looking foliage or dead material. Check if the roots are showing out through the bottom of the pot as this may be a sign that they need re-potting or dividing. Give them a gentle shake to get remaining water droplets off, and be careful of positioning your plants just in case any droplets could fall onto a wooden surface, or worse – an electrical appliance. Water and electricity don’t mix!
You can buy products that contain wax or oils to polish some leaves to give a high shine. You would just use a soft cloth or cotton wool to apply, or it may be sprayed if it is an aerosol, but, I would suggest that this could actually clog up the pores that you have just cleaned. I have also heard of people using milk or oil (such as olive oil or coconut oil) to shine leaves. In nature, usually only the young leaves look glossy and they tend to get duller as they age, so in my opinion, if the whole plant looks shiny then it doesn’t look natural. I would avoid putting any product on the leaves.

plants in the bath having a shower

Some plants shouldn’t be showered, such as, some succulents or cacti, or those that have hairy leaves. I clean them using an old, soft watercolour brush or a clean blusher brush. These soft brushes can remove the dust easily. To get some bits of debris from very hairy cacti, I use my tweezers. The cacti hairs tend to act like nets and collect all sorts of seeds blown in from the garden or discarded fragments of a spider’s feast such as wings and heads. My conservatory is home to many spiders so I am constantly picking bits out from my cacti. I have even found slug eggs at the base of a cactus plant during a routine clean and inspection. If you clean your plants regularly then you prevent any infestation of pests or disease occurring and your plants will stay looking their best.

cacti debris can be removed using tweezers

Cardesque Garden

Gardening from an ageing, paraplegic perspective.