Tag Archives: Houseplants

Take that, winter!

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When this clivia flower cluster opened a couple weeks ago, it was like a sucker punch to winter. The orange-tipped buds emerged from deep within the emerald-green leaves, pointing upward like little round-nosed rockets, then opened as a chorus to expose their soft yIMG_2004ellow throats and delicate pistils.  Each flower stretched its petals wider until they formed one glorious globe of sherbet orange and yellow against thick strappy foliage. The show has gone on now for several weeks, delighting me no end.

My friend gave me the plant as a division several years ago, and it’s become one of my favorite houseplants, doubtless for those winter-blah-chasing flowers, but also because of its undemanding demeanor and dramatic fountain of dark foliage.

These South African natives need light to grow well, but do not tolerate direct sunlight. They actively grow in the spring and summer months, then enter a resting phase for about three months in late fall, then bloom in winter. Here’s how to give your clivia the conditions it needs to thrive and bloom.

Place the plant in a bright north-facing window, or an eastern or western window, provided the light is filtered by trees or curtains. Clivias do well summered outdoors in a shady but bright location. I move mine to the front porch after the weather has warmed and settled, and it stays there until fall night temperatures dip into the 40s.

Clivias don’t need much water. In the spring and summer, when they are growing, water only when the soil dries out, and fertilize regularly. In the fall, when they enter their resting phase, stop watering. Continue withholding water through winter, unless the plant wilts, in which case you can give it a small amount.

Clivias like to be crowded in the pot, and it can take a couple years for a plant to mature enough to flower. Then, to set flower buds, they need a chilling period of about 50 degrees for three months during the resting phase, which begins in late fall. At that point (and before a frost) I move my clivia to a north-facing sunroom that I keep between 40 and 50 degrees for the first half of winter. Come January, I move the clivia to a north-facing window in my warmer dining room and wait for the show to begin. Within a month, a flower stalk emerges from the center of the foliage, and for the next month I’m treated to a long-lasting winter show that makes the remaining days of winter a little more bearable.

 

Cool succulents

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Fun and funky, strange and weird… succulents are all that, plus easy to grow. They are everywhere these days too, just hit your local garden center, nursery, or big box store. Succulents are offered in a whole range of shapes and sizes and in plain nursery pots or decorative containers to fit any décor.

Here are some I love growing:

  • I bought a Trail of Tears (top left) as an itty bitty thing. I transplanted it from a plastic nursery pot to a terra cotta pot. I mixed some sand into the potting mix (about 2/3rds potting soil and 1/3 sand) and hung it in a western-facing window. Once in a while I tuck the longest strands into the soil, where they root, because my cat plays with them when they get too long.
  • My jade plant (bottom image) is a clone of one my mother acquired in the 1950s, ro-oted from a leaf. It spends summers outdoors on the porch, where it is shaded yet gets bright light, and overwinters indoors in a sunny south-facing window.
  • The charming aloe (top right) is from a cutting I received many years ago from my Aunt Eliza. It blooms almost nonstop with small yellow nodding flowers on a long stalk. I have divided it many, many times and love sharing it with friends.
  • I love paddle kalanchoes. The one pictured at the top of this page has red edges on the leaves and was a gift from one of my garden design clients. The great thing about gifts of plants is that they remind you of the person who gave it to you!

Succulents are so easy to grow. Just plant yours in sandy soil if it didn’t come that way (see rough proportions above) and put it in a bright window—south- or west-facing is best. Go easy on watering—once a week at most but probably more like once or twice a month.

Feel free to ask a question if you have a succulent or want to grow one. I’ll cover how to re-pot and divide succulents in a future blog post. Have fun with your succulent!