Finally...

...I can keep plants outside. Today is my third day in my new apartment. Remember how I had half a salad's worth of Swiss chard before I left home? I have at least twice that today. One of my professors told our class that plants don't grow because of us--they grow in spite of us. The fact that the chard stayed alive for three months indoors and is now growing prolifically testifies to the truth in that statement.

So, here are the pictures of my plants' new homes. Maybe at the end of the summer I can do a before-and-after post. I'm sure there would be lots of improvement.

These are the three wandering jews that I've decided not to keep. I'm still looking for good homes for these little guys. They're really easy to care for. Thankfully they're recent cuttings, so they haven't developed much of a root system, so they can stay in this four pack for a while without becoming rootbound.

My spider plant and bromeliad aren't really near a window, but light from three windows reaches them, so they might be okay there.

My lucky bamboo also isn't in a window, but from what I understand, these plants actually benefit from staying out of direct sunlight. It works out very well.

This table contains the two succulents I brought, my wandering jew, and my purple shamrock. They've got some of the best seats in the house.

My jade plant (unfortunately not pictured) is near a window in the bedroom. The rest of my plants are outside. My tomato is looking happier by the day. The parsley pot (behind the tomato) was flooded by rain a couple of times, but I poured out the excess. We'll see how that does.

There's a noticeable difference between the Swiss chard in this shot and what it looks like now, a day later. I have high hopes for this crop.

My basil's still a bit raggedy, but I'm working on it. The peppermint, however, doesn't need any help.

I'm already excited to see my desert rose bloom, though the plant already looks very dramatic against this brick wall.

Here are the rest of the herbs. My thyme looks small, still, but if I can keep it out of heavy rains, it should be fine. I'm going to be cooking pizzas with rosemary soon, and I think I'm going to harvest a few leaves from my rosemary for it. Think of it: my first true harvest (eating doomed plant matter doesn't count) of the year. Miraculous.

What miracles are transpiring in your garden or containers?

Next post: more from the dawn of summer.

A Brief Respite at Home

I am home for the weekend, and my plants are here with me. They're enjoying the sun. Thankfully, they'll remain outside once I move again next week.

These plants (spider plant, jade plant, lucky bamboo, and wandering jews) are hanging out inside since they're suited for such conditions.

I'm also wary of putting the wandering jews outside for fear they might grow too much. They already look eerily taller than they did just a few days ago. Another concern I have is that, because they grow so much, I really don't need four of them. I'm looking for good homes for three of them; if I can't find good homes, I might just pitch them.

My desert rose is ready to go outside. I don't have room in my car to take this one with me over the summer (though I may try anyway), but I'll get it eventually. Judging by the plentiful foliage, I'd bet this is going to be a great year for desert rose flowers.

Here's my purple shamrock, stealing the show as per usual. In the top right corner is a succulent that I'd like to take with me. I think the two plants are going to switch pots. Also, in the lower right corner are some basil seedlings that my mom is growing. Very exciting!

A better shot of the succulent. This is definitely multiple plants, so I might have to put them in multiple pots. Some might need good homes at some point as well...

In other basil news, remember my basil plant? As you can see, we're working on getting it to bush out a little. It's looking (and tasting) good, though.

Mints in general (I imagine peppermint is no exception) are tough, and my little specimen here is responding particularly well to the great outdoors. I suspect I'll have no trouble keeping this plant healthy and producing. Peppermint is one herb I've never used in cooking, but I love mint tea.

Though this isn't a great shot, you can see that the sage is doing okay too. I think it has some new leaves, but this pot will keep it happy for a long time.

The rosemary is also looking healthy as ever. All my plants (well, most) are getting repotted into permanent containers tomorrow, and I imagine the rosemary will benefit from that. Rosemary can turn into full-fledged bushes, so it needs room to grow.

Though blurry, the thyme seems to be taking off more than it has been. If this batch doesn't grow much, I can plant some more seeds and see if they perform better, as they would be outside from the beginning. We'll see.

The Swiss chard has definitely grown since coming home. It looks like it might just grow up nice and big after all. I mean, there's already half a side salad here! I could also probably get rid of the knife at this point, since the air will be well circulated. I thought these were goners on my way home because all the chard started to wilt from the heat when I was packing up my car. I gave them plenty of water, though, and they perked back up like nothing happened! I was truly impressed.

My tomato apparently got caught in a slight frost a week or two ago, but it appears to be recovering as well as can be expected.

It looks tiny in this pot, but remember, it's supposed to become 6-7' tall. I have a cage for it, but I'm going to wait until I move to put it in. You can also see the parsley pot in the background. I'm fairly certain the soil in it is good old clay garden soil, so the parsley may not have an easy time surfacing, but we will see. If it doesn't turn out, I can put something else in that pot.

How are your plants doing? Have you been moving some outside?

Next post: a garden overhaul.

New Bamboo (Kind Of)

My friend Jing came home with me over the weekend. She's from Shanghai, and as a gift for letting her see how an American family (atypical as mine may be) lives, she gave me this adorable lucky bamboo plant! How she knew that this species is on my most-wanted houseplant list is beyond me.

Lucky bamboo, Dracaena sanderiana, is not bamboo at all, nor is it of any relation.
However, it makes a good houseplant because of its low light requirements (after all, it is naturally found growing under trees in the rainforest).

My pictures may not make this clear, but this plant has been grown hydroponically. It is planted in small pebbles instead of soil. Lucky bamboo is very resilient, which is part of the reason it symbolizes luck, so it doesn't need much in the way of nutrients. It's even sensitive to phosphorous, so fertilizer is only necessary if the plant begins to yellow.

This plant came in the cutest little container! See the frogs frolicking around the edges?

I'm no expert on lucky bamboo health, but this plant looks healthy to me. Here's a better shot of its leaves.

I'm very happy with this gift. Jing knows what I like. Have you ever had lucky bamboo? Any tips on keeping it healthy?

Next post: a journey to Elephant Rocks State Park.

Houseplants to Drool Over

If you haven't noticed by now, I like plants. Plants give us food, shelter, something nice to look at, and lots of other good stuff (oxygen, anyone?). So it's only natural that I would like to have plants living in my house, when I get a house. Thus, today I am posting about just a few of the indoor plants I would like.

Note: yes, I said I would post about forsythia. I'm a dirty liar. My excuse is that there was torrential rain all day here, and I didn't want to get my camera wet. If it's still blooming tomorrow, I will photograph it.

The first plant on this list is one I recently discovered: purple shamrock (Oxalis regnellii). I saw some of these at work, probably leftover from the campus florist's St. Patrick's Day stock. They're gorgeous plants--the leaves really do look like butterflies--so I had to look them up. As you can see from that picture, the flowers aren't too shabby either! A quick Google search for "purple houseplants" revealed that these were indeed shamrocks. What I'm wondering is if the individuals in the greenhouse could still be purchased...(If I was Twitter literate, I'd currently be saying #overrun by plants.)

Next are a couple of plants I am fortunate enough to have already: the jade plant (Crassula ovate) and the spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum). These are two quintessential houseplants, and mine are faring wonderfully. I will keep them with me as long as I can.

Another discovery I made at work was the wandering jew (Zebrina pendula). This common houseplant also has the color purple going for it, and its foliage seems to shimmer, so I'm a fan.

I grew up with ferns, so it's only natural that I want one. Plus, they do a marvelous job of filtering the air in one's house. But rather than get a finnicky Boston fern that I have to mist, I'd like a birds nest fern (Asplenium nidus). These ferns get nice and big and lush, and they're originally epiphytic, so you can grow them in very shallow containers. Also, upon doing a bit of research, I just learned that these plants are edible! You can cook the young leaves (also known as fiddleheads) like you would any other vegetable. This is apparently common in Taiwan.

The last houseplant on my list (for now) is lucky bamboo (Dracaena sanderiana). Yes, this is corny and cliche, but I like how the things look, and they're easy to care for. So why not?

What are your favorite or most-wanted houseplants?

Next post: either forsythia or a container garden update.