houseplant – HomePlants

Cats and houseplants

I have had many cats, not nearly as many cats as houseplants, but quite a few, nonetheless. Kittens, elderly cats, posh cats, moggies. Sickly cats and frighteningly robust cats. But never have I had an more interesting cat/plant relationship to witness than I have with my current cat, Baldrick.

Which houseplant can’t I kill?

Good question. And I get asked it a lot, usually with a chuckle. And I always want to answer, ‘Sure, if you can find me a cat/dog/gerbil you can’t kill.’ But I don’t, or not yet anyway. The straight answer is that if a thing is living, then you can kill it. But if youContinue reading “Which houseplant can’t I kill?”

Talking

I did a talk last night to a horticultural society. They were great, very active and engaged, very little napping in the dark.

Which houseplant should I get?

You want stunning, eye-catching and interesting plants to cheer up your rooms and bring in a bit of glamour. But you get soggy or crispy plant corpses. Over and over again.

What is a Tillandsia?

A Tillandsia is the scientific name for what many people call an air plant. They are members of the bromeliad family, and most are epiphytes. Other bromeliads are the pineapple, spanish moss and the plant in which small frogs live, mentioned by Terry Pratchett in the Bromeliad Trilogy. Tillandsias are mostly smaller and more able toContinue reading “What is a Tillandsia?”

Potted

In central London, in the RHS Lindley Library there is a small exhibition called ‘Potted’. To quote the blurb “In celebration of the humble houseplant, this exhibition at the RHS Lindley Library presents a series of designs by students from Central Saint Martins college. In a collaborative project with the library, the students have investigatedContinue reading “Potted”

‘Tis the season…

…to bring the last of your houseplants indoors if they have been holidaying outside. Here in the far south east of England the temperatures have dropped to about 3c overnight, which means that even the mediterranean-type plants (those hardy to just above or brief periods below 0c) will need protection. If you are faced withContinue reading “‘Tis the season…”

# Urban Jungle Bloggers Desert Still Life

The October challenge from Urban Jungle Bloggers is a Desert Still Life. This worried me a bit, because being picky I initially wanted to make sure that the plants were all at least from the same continent, rather than just randomly selected xerophytes. But I gave up on this as being just a touch too challengingContinue reading “# Urban Jungle Bloggers Desert Still Life”