Decorating with Indoor Plants

Open every day as of MONDAY, JANUARY 16 Daily 9-5

Bring the jungle home with indoor plants • Pick from our wide selection of indoor plants • From tall fi gs to small succulents to match any size room • Decorative pots, indoor soils and fertilizers • Safe products for pest control

Spring is around the corner

• Seed racks have arrived for 2023 • Plan now for an early start on home grown food • Pick up a free West Coast Seed catalogue, loaded with information

Serving local gardeners since 1973 www.dinternursery.ca 250 748-2023

5km South of Duncan on Hwy 1 Growing plants should not be limited to outdoors. In winter one spends more time indoors and thought is given to plants for the living space. Plants are an attractive decorative feature with psychological and health benefits. An understanding of indoor plants and their limitations will ensure their success.

Most house plants come from tropical climates and must be robust to withstand the unnatural conditions in our homes, such as low light and humidity. This is especially a concern in heated rooms on dark winter days. Flowering plants need high levels of light and humidity which limits their selection, but orchids and African violets are two examples of common flowering plants. As a result, indoor plants are usually a variety of colourful foliage.

Most indoor plants require bright indirect light. Consider the scale of the room with palms, rubber plants and weeping figs being suitable for large rooms. For smaller rooms stick to ferns, dieffenbachia, peperomia and pilea. In hot

DECORATING WITH INDOOR PLANTS

or brightly lit locations cacti and succulents become the favoured plants with their low maintenance requirements. For difficult locations there is Sansevieria with its striking upright foliage and as a bonus, it is almost impossible to kill.

Flowering plants can be challenging to grow in the home except for African Violets and orchids. Most need bright light and high temperatures to bloom. If you wish to have colourful flowers in the house, purchase them in bloom from a flower shop. Commonly available plants include azaleas, chrysanthemums, kalanchoe and Rieger begonia. These are brought to bloom in commercial greenhouses and will give about 3 weeks of colour.

With a basic understanding of plant care, you can successfully grow plants indoors and have the benefits they bring to your living space.

Bernie Dinter, Dinter Nursery. Family owned and operated since 1973