SUMMER 2016
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Editor’s note by Ruth Verdez
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Sucker for succulents by Lena Floren
Rooms in bloom by Lily Brun
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SUMMER EDITOR’S NOTE Summer is upon us! Can you feel that summer sun, clear blue skies, and fun-times coming? Your plants sure can. This issue is all about how to prepare you lovely little leafy friends for the summer heat. So read on my friends and then get gardening! We have guest author, Lena Floren, teaching us all about succulents, the beautiful summer plant that thrives in the heat, and how they can thrive indoors in well, even though they are tough little guys, let’s make their life a little easier. Our plants sure can. This issue is all about how to prepare you lovely little leafy friends for the summer heat. So read on my friends and then get gardening! Even though they are tough little guys, let’s make their life a little easier. Even though they are tough little guys, let’s make their life a little easier for summer. I remember when I first got interested in having indoor plants. I went out and bought a beautiful peace lily, and my husband made a lovely wooden box planter for it. I watered it carefully, and placed in indirect light, and thought I had the greenest thumb. However, after 1 week it was dead. I gave up. I figured I must have a black thumb, and so I bought fake plants. They just didn’t fill my place the same way as real plants. Finally I got the courage to try again, and now my home is a flourishing paradise of ferns, orchids, succulents, and fiddle leaf fig trees. So don’t give up! Indoor gardening isn’t as easy as it seems, but it is so rewarding. Plant on my friends,
Ruth Verdez
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SUCKER
SUCCULENTS By Lena Floren
Succulent plants are trendy for a reason. With juicy leaves, stems, or roots, succulents form a vast and diverse group of plants, offering easy-care choices for your home. Plus, they look stunning planted alone or as companions. The color variation of succulents seems almost endless: blue-green, chartreuse, pink, red, yellow, white, burgundy, almost black, variegated, and more. The leaves may be rounded, needlelike, berrylike, ruffled, or spiky. Many have an enticing “touch-me” quality—even cacti.
Succulents lend themselves to all sorts of garden uses: in stone walls, between patio pavers, in rock gardens, and even for creating green roofs. But one of the easiest ways to grow them is in containers, specifically small dishes or troughs made from stone, terracotta, concrete or hypertufa. While succulents have the same basic needs, not every home or growing environment is the same. You need to adapt those guidelines based on where you live, how much natural light you have available, the pot and soil you are using. All of these factors contribute to the health of your succulent.
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LIGHT
WATER
SOIL
While succulents are rather adaptable to most lighting situations, light is still a vital aspect to maintaining healthy and prosperous succulents. The ideal lighting will vary depending on the type of succulent and where you are located. The closer the plant is to a window the more intense the light, however this varies depending on the season. Most succulents need at least 10-16 hours of light daily. Green leaved succulents tolerate lower light setting much better than colorful ones. So if you are planting indoors, and don’t have the most amazing window space, try out a few green ones such as a Golum Jade. It’s best to space indoor succulents out, so they have plenty of room to absorb all the sunlight they can possibly get.
Watering succulents seems to be one of the trickiest parts of growing succulents. While succulents can survive in planters without drainage holes, it takes a lot more work to keep them happy. It’s highly recommend starting with a pot that has a good drainage hole. The best practice for watering succulents is to completely soak the soil when you water. This tells the succulents to drink up because a drought is coming. They’ll absorb as much water as they can. Then the soil will take a couple days to dry out. Don’t water again until the soil is completely dry! You can actually leave your plants in totally dry soil for a few days, especially if they are larger and have well established roots.
Succulents depend on good soil for their prosperity, but not all soil is created equal. Container plants need porous soil that holds some moisture but also drains well and is rich in nutrients. Choose a specialized succulent/cacti potting mix and some form of aggregate, such as, perlite, vermeculite, or shredded bark to allow water to properly drain, enabling air to penetrate the soil. This prevents rot. Succulents need nutrients to help them grow healthy and beautiful. While they can get some of the nutrients they need from the soil, adding a fertilizer will help them grow more full and produce better colors. However, too much fertilizer can cause the succulent leaves to burn. Try a manure tea fertilizer for optimal benefits.
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PROPAGATE Succulents have this great ability to grow off their own leaves, so one succulent has the potential to be dozens of succulents all through propagating. Propagating succulents is so much fun plus it’s a cost effective way to multiply your collection into hundreds of plants. Each variety of succulent is different especially depending your climate, so experimentation is key to find out what works for you. The perfect time to propagate is when a succulent gets “leggy” or very tall, with the leaves very spaced out. This typically occurs when the plant isn’t getting enough light. Eventually the bottom leaves will wither and fall off, leaving
a tall bare stem, with a few leaves left at the top, which is the prettiest. This method of propagation can also be used on healthy plants, that are growing just fine. While this may seem slightly scary, it’s completely doable. It can pose some challenge depending on what climate you live in, but follow this steps and you’re sure to see great results. The best thing is, propagating won’t harm your original plant, so there’s no problem giving this a try to see if you can turn one succulent into dozens, possibly hundreds over time. This is a great way to grow your collection, create succulent gifts, or start your own succulent shop.
STEP 1
STEP 2
STEP 3
Start by removing the lower leaves first. Be really careful when you remove the leaves from the stem. Hold the leaf firmly and wiggle it from side to side until you feel a little snap. You want to be sure you get the entire leaf. If you rip the leaf, leaving the base still attached to the stem, it will not be able to grow roots or a new plant. Then let the leaves sit out in order to dry out the ends to a callous feel. Do not place in soil until the end is dried or it will absorb too much moisture.
Once the ends of the leaves are dried and callous, place the leaves on top of well-draining cactus or succulent soil. For best results keep indoors, near a window with plenty of indirect sunlight. Do not water the leaves until you start to see little roots or baby succulent growing from the ends. Once that has occured you can begin watering about once a week, or when the soil is completly dry. A technique you can use to avoid overwatering is to spray the end with water daily.
Let your baby plants grow until you notice the “mother leaf ” starting to wither. At that point carefully remove the leaf in the same fashion you removed it from the original stem. This can be tricky as you don’t want to accidentally remove the roots with the leaf, so you can be patient and play it safe and let the leaf fall off on its own. Once the mother leaf has fallen off or been removed, you can move the baby succulent into it’s own pot, and voila! You now have a brand new succulent.
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ROOMS
BLOOM By Lena Floren
Bringing nature indoors is a great way to liven up your living space, and provide super rad decor. The soul-soothing process of coaxing plants to grow in a sunny window keeps you close to nature, especially when the winter wind rattles the glass and snow piles up outside. The allure of indoor plants begins with the promise of sunshine, lush greenery, fresh flowers, homey beautiful scenary, and aromatic soil. With nothing more than some potted plants, you can
create a fragrant, blooming indoor haven that radiates organic style and freshness. Indoor gardening is a great way to have lively decĂłr and functionality for your home. Plants enhance mental, physical and spiritual health. As people spend less time outdoors breathing fresh air, indoor plants counteract the negative effects of the pattern by boosting oxygen and moderating humidity to more natural levels. People who work with or near plants
and flowers have lower blood pressure, reduced depression, and an increased sense of well-being. Generally, plants with large leaves have a higher ability to reduce toxins. As great as indoor plants are, it can be challenging to find the space, especially in a location where the plant will thrive. So in this issue of Rooms in Bloom we’ll take a look at some unique indoor gardening solutions, learn some tips from our gardner and expert decoraters.
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DESIGN BASICS
YOUR STYLE
If you choose plants and containers that appeal to you aesthetically, the result is often more a work of art than an act of nature. Plants work as decorative accessories, like your favorite art or vintage pieces, to brighten bare walls or dull corners with forms, textures, and colors. Begin by looking at the big picture—the entire room—then focus on the details. A plant’s outline or overall shape creates a strong intial impression. If you choose plants with varied shapes and sizes of leaves and flowers, you’ll create interest within a room. Plants bring rooms to life. Use their colors to create a more welcoming and comforting room, playing with warm, exciting reds or cool, calming blues. Purple grabs attention; yellow and pink convey optimism. Soul-soothing green is the primary color of indoor plants, and you’ll find many hues of green. Foliage plants may form the backbone of an indoor garden, with leaves adding splashes of colors, but flowering plants make an indoor garden spectacular. Concentrate on the interplay between one or two colors when combining plants in a display. Experiment to group plants effectively. When combining plants in one accomodating container, choose varieties that need the same cultural care. Select one plant—usually a larger one—to anchor the group; let smaller and trailing plants reside at the perimeter. When grouping single plants in individual containers, consider how they will be viewed from more than one location.
The decorating scheme of any home is a unique and personal expression. Use plant selections as finishing touches that make your stylistic statement, complementing the design style of the setting as well as the furniture. Plants can enhance a room’s architecture. If you have a large open room with a vaulted ceiling, place a tall plant on a pedestal to give the illusion of a large plant that won’t overwhelm the space. Other architectural features thatt call for plants include an alcove, ledge, fireplace mantel, bookcase, and windowsill. Tropical plants, including palms and other houseplants, grace indoor rooms with their forms. Trailing and climbing plants can create a verdant curtain, room divider, or living wall. Ultimately the selection and placement of plants depend on what appeals to you and makes a positive addition to your space. Any arrangment that includes plantsand other objects can be balanced either formally or informally. Using tow single potted plants to flank a feature, such as a doorway, has a formal effect. Informal designs are asymmetrical and freely balance the shapes, colors, and other design qualities of an odd number of plants. Check out some unique planting solutions submitted by our readers (featured below) to get some inspiration for creating your own indoor garden space. We want to see your unique garden style, so submit your rooms in bloom to roombloom@bloom.com for a chance to be featured in our next issue.
By Kris Allen – Charlotte, NC
By Erin Yakes – Baltimore, MD
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By Angela Minh – San Francisco, CA
By Chloe Anders – Salt Lake City, UT
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