Saturday, January 16, 2010

Yes, I Have Foliage!

When I've read some of the Garden Bloggers Bloom Day posts, I've noticed something about a Foliage Followup. I paid more attention this time, and found that Pam, of Digging hosts it. I decided to show most of the plants I'm keeping over the winter, because Darla asked me if I was the one who had a hundred plants inside last year. I'm not sure how many, but there are smooth, rough, thin, thick, green, variegated, and other colors, and lots of different shapes of foliage. All but the African violets and a couple other houseplants live outside when the weather is warm enough.

These plants are on Heidi's kennel that she doesn't use much anymore. It's our computer room that we don't compute in much, either. When we get the time, we plan to turn it into a playroom for our grandson. I'd like to get the dog hair out of the kennel, and let Grandson use it for a little playhouse. Larry wants to take it down, but then I'd have to figure out where to put the plants. The spiky looking leaves are an agapanthus that I'm growing for the first time. I hope it blooms this summer.


The window faces east.


The big bushy plant belongs to our daughter, who doesn't want it anymore because her cat would shred it. I have to cut it back from time to time. I think I've overwatered the oxalis.


The plants on the left are babies of some kind of mother of thousands or millions. The cactus is from a garage sale a number of years ago. I had to adjust some settings for this photo because the plants were too dark to see well.


Next, I'll call this a mother of thousands of millions plant. When I Googled to figure out which it is, I found they are called either thousands or millions, and also found some call it friendship plant. I had to laugh at that. It makes me think of the friendship batter I don't take anymore, because I never get anything made with it. The baby plants are formed along the edge of the leaves. They drop and grow wherever they land. I forgot to do an update of this plant, which had been heavily munched on by rabbits this summer. After being moved out of their reach, it filled out nicely.


Here is what is in the dirt below the mother plant. These will need to be thinned.


This rabbit's foot fern is Larry's. I think this is its 3rd winter. He takes it to the basement and waters it in the shower.


You can see how it got its name.


There is a trailing, and I think, a prostrate rosemary in this pot. They are getting leggy, so I've been cutting them to cook with in hopes they will fill out.



Our daughter gave this to Larry for Father's Day. The short round cactus had a bloom on it that we thought was a dried strawflower, but when we took it off, realized it really was a dried bloom from the plant.


Here is a close up of the red oxalis. I thought it looked like a butterfly when I took the photo.


Jade:



I have a few angel wing begonias in the kitchen. I did a couple posts last year about things I collect. One of these days, I'll post about my colanders. Do you see the photo of my sister and me? I am on the right.


Someone told me last year what this plant is that I got from an estate sale. I'm thinking it is a type of Wandering Jew. I put it outside this summer for the first time, in the shade, and it took to it well.



My in-laws raised 5 kids in this house, and we used to bring our kids over for supper. We all ate in the kitchen, and I don't know how we did it. We turned a bedroom into a dining room, and put in an east facing garden window. The angel wing begonia on the chair needs to be cut back, because it dried out at some point, and the lower leaves shriveled. I'm hoping it will grow new leaves and fill out.



Lower shelf:


Middle:


Top:



I need to dust my bay tree.




The scented geraniums get leggy in the winter, but after a good "haircut" and some outdoor sun, they thicken up.



I don't remember if this taller variety of angel wing begonia has bloomed before. It didn't last summer. It keeps getting tall, and I cut it back, hoping it will bush out more, and bloom.


18 comments:

  1. Yep, it's you with the 100 plants inside, I knew when you said you shared some of your collections last year. I don't know how you keep up with all of these Sue. Now, time for some collections..

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  2. Sue girl ! My god how do you do it with so many plants indoors ?? That is simply amazing girl !!
    They all look pretty darn healthy and wonderful .. that much "greenery" in your home MUST filter the air wonderfully .. very healthy indeed girl : )
    Joy

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  3. makes me feel good to see them and it's so healthy to have them in dead of winter. I see them leaning towards sun..sk

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  4. I can almost smell those scented geraniums. Why didn't I bring some in from the garden this past fall. Must do so next year. Love all your greenery.

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  5. I am amazed to see how many plants you've squeezed in over the winter. It must make your home feel very green and "gardeny" even in winter. Thanks for showing us your great selection of winter foliage for Foliage Follow-Up!

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  6. Great post, Sue. You are so clever to repurpose the kennel as a plant room. Your plants respond well to the attention they receive. Every little window and nook should have plants in every gardener's home. I always have something rooting in the north windows.

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  7. aloha sue,

    that reminds me of when i lived in sonoma and put all my tenders in the entire garage, i usually had over 200 plants downstairs and hand watering was not fun for the whole winter....so then i moved and now the plants just stay in the ground, happy not to be dug up:)

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  8. Wow - your plants are awesome! It makes me wish I could have house plants, but we just don't get enough light in the house and the cats would probably dig up anything I tried to put on "their" window sill.

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  9. Lots of foliage, indeed! I love that red oxalis, which DOES look like a wine coloured butterfly. Now You've inspired me to do some experimenting...

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  10. Sue you have the most amazing collection of plants in your home. I was just amazed to see a rabbits foot fern - I had to look twice to see those little paws came from the fern. Thankyou for sharing.

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  11. Great show, love the rabbit's foot fern, I have tried them in the past, never had much luck with them.

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  12. Sue~~ You've got some dandy plants. I'm very enamored with the size of Larry's Rabbit's Foot Fern. I bought mine last summer. It's still only about six inches in diameter. It is a beauty, isn't it?

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  13. HA, it is you with the millions, or thousands of plants in the house! The air must be like a greenhouse with all those wonderful leaves breathing in and out! I love the rabbit's foot fern, he must do a good job remembering to water it. This is indoor gardening at the next level! :-)
    Frances

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  14. ... and just where do the people live in this home?:) Oh, to overwinter the scented geranium! Now we're talking. I always get gnats if I overwinter plants ... do you? if so ... how do you control them?

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  15. You have quite a collection of houseplants there Sue! How nice to have a room you can devote to plants.

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  16. Holy Cow, Sue - that's quite a conservatory you have going there, and it must help cheer you up in winter!
    My mother of thousands AKA Alligator Plant AKA Bryophyllum must be a friendship plant, too - got a couple of the dropped off babies from a friend and now have a bunch of them. They bloomed last year but the buds froze before opening this year.

    So what do we say now instead of Happy Blooming Day? Felicitations on your Foliage?

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  17. You are a very intersting person, Sue. It seems you have endless subjects to blog about and I'm interested in them all.

    That is some big cactus you bought at the garage sale.

    Looking at all your indoor plants makes me think that you do NOT have a cat living in the house.

    donna

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I welcome comments and questions from anyone, including those who do it anonymously. Some people find my posts by doing searches, and I like hearing from them. I guess spammers won't even read this message, but I will delete spam as soon as I see it.