houseplants

Forcing paperwhites is supposed to cheer the gardener through the gloomy, dark days of winter. But this gardener is wailing and gnashing her teeth because the paperwhites aren't cooperating!

What do your houseplants teach you? Houseplants are the only plants blooming in November, but they are fascinating in their own way. Here's what I've learned from a few of mine.

A guest post about Meiwa kumquat trees for a blog about gardening in cold climates? Oh, yes. If you have a sunny spot in your yard in summer and a south- or south-west-facing window in your house, you'll love this little tree. I live in suburban Maryland, and am the happy owner of the two [...]

I have Matt Mattus to blame (and thank) for these primulas. I never would have looked for them at my local Wegmans if he hadn't mentioned that's where he found his. (Wegmans in Massachusetts? Who knew?) Since he brought it to my attention, when I saw them for 99 cents each I grabbed two. Finally, [...]

I have nothing blooming for Garden Bloggers' Bloom Day. Oops. I take that back. My African violet is blooming. It puts out flushes of bloom, despite the fact that I don't water it very consistently. I just happened to luck out this month. No Bloom From Thanksgiving or Christmas Cacti At least one of my [...]

For my birthday, my ten-year-old daughter, my thirteen-year-old son and my twenty-something daughter Cadie each painted a clay flowerpot for me. I planted them with purchases from Stony Hill Farm. There are sempervivums at either end and silver squill (Ledebouria socialis) in the middle. I am growing them all as houseplants in the kitchen where [...]

Repotting a houseplant reputed to be slow-growing and expensive is almost as daunting as dividing a perennial for the first time. You are just sure you are going to kill it, so it helps to have someone more experienced to coach you through the process. Many thanks to L. T. Tran of Idlewild Farm, Andrew [...]

My mom asked me to repot her clivia for her. Clivia miniata is a slow-growing and slow-to-bloom houseplant in cold climates, blooming in late winter and highly tolerant of neglect. I don't own one myself (though I hope, in time, to inherit an offset of hers), so I made some attempt to familiarize myself with [...]

Many gardening books for children take what I think of as the art project approach: here's what you need, this is what you do, isn't that cute?, now show it to Grandma. Very few books out there take children--or a child's interest in gardening--seriously. I prefer to regard children as apprentice gardeners, gradually acquiring more [...]