Gardening: Growing Indoors

Gardening: Growing Indoors

Photos by Terri Jackson

TERRI JACKSON

Gardening indoors is a wonderful alternative to being in the Texas summer heat. With so many houseplants to choose from, you can easily bring the outdoors inside. There are numerous benefits to having plants in your home from air purification to uplifting your

mood. With that being said, the thing I hear most from people is: “I kill every plant. Is there ACTUALLY a plant that can survive me?” My answer is "YES, Pothos, or ivy as I like to call it." I promise you there is not a better houseplant out there to start with. Or if you are already an avid houseplant guru, this is a good one you may have overlooked that is easy to add into your fold.

When we purchased our first home in 2002, my grandmother potted some of her pothos for me as a housewarming present. This shames me to tell you, but I have not always been the best keeper of that sweet plant, and it has held on strong through every life challenge, every period of neglect, every move, and even a period of being forgotten about outside in the

winter. Sadly, my amazing grandmother is no longer with me, but I still have her pothos by my front door to welcome every guest to my home in 2019.

Houseplant care

Basic care is extremely easy, as pothos do well in bright, indirect light or low light, dry soil or a container of water, and they can handle nutrient-rich or poor soil. My friends, this is the plant for you! This plant reminds you when you forget about it by not growing as much or by dropping leaves and turning brown.

Water, add soil, change the light, and. voilà. a happy plant again. Find a spot in your home that you frequent daily - your bathroom, office, or living room - and plop down a pothos. Find a sweet vase of water, and take a piece of pothos with a leaf or two and around 6” of stem, and place it into the water. Put the vase on your bathroom windowsill or counter top. Keep the water filled in the vase, and watch the roots come in over the coming weeks. I have an ordinary vase my father gave me flowers in, and I couldn’t find it in my heart to part with since his passing.

A year ago, my mother gave me a section of pothos from my high school science fair sponsor's home.

I placed it in water in a vase and have it in my kitchenwindow. It has been fun to watch it root and grow. This simple thing not only provided me sentimental value, but it has also been a fun lesson to share with my boys how plants grow, which I know Mrs. Boelter would appreciate. It has grown so big that I have shared cuttings from it with others.

Not only can plant propagation be easy and fun, it can also be very inexpensive to help show others they do have a green thumb.

My Houseplant Mantras:

1. Easy Peasy Lemon “Squeezey” - Pick only easy

plants. Low maintenance is the way to go if you are getting started or starting in summer. There is so much going on in summer that you don’t want to add a laundry list of plant care to bummer out yoursummer.

2. Weekly H2O Day - Pick one day a week at a certain time to water your house plants. I have a weekly alarm that goes off, and, if for some reason I can’t when the alarm goes off, I stop and set the alarm for later in the day when I can. Never miss a water day!

3. Plants with Friends - Propagate plants to share with friends. Work together to care for your plant

babies. Or shop for plants with friends, and split up a larger plant into two pots. Buy one plant (a fern can easily be cut into two, and some plants have multiple sets within one pot), and divide it into pretty pots with fresh soil.

4. Sharing is Caring - Use plants as an opportunity to carry on legacies and memories. Get a pot from your grandmother or vase from your aunt and, instead of letting it catch dust, house a plant in it. Think outside the pot, and plant in teapots, vintage crates, or baskets. Some containers require a pot liner, but what better way to honor a loved one then to display a piece of theirs in your home with a beautiful living plant.

5. Try, Try Again - Some plants won't like the spotyou picked, the humidity of your home, or howmuch or little you water them. Move them, or try

different spots in your home. Maybe they like thewindow in your living room more than the one inyour kitchen. Change how you water (in summer, Igo to a twice a week since it's hot, and our A/C isrunning nonstop). Most importantly, don’t give up!

6. The More You Know - Read up on any plantsyou bring into your home. Be aware of toxicity ifyou have small children or pets. FYI, you can evenget houseplants from Amazon. It's that easy!

TERRI JACKSON Terri Jackson is a wife, mom of two boys, professional florist, Disney World trip enthusiast, coconut sparkling water junkie, backyard party hostess extraordinaire, and all-around craft genius in Buda, Texas. You can find her at TheInspiredHaus.com