05-02-2004, 07:04 PM
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I have a new windowsill!!!!!
In article ,
(Allview) wrote:
My kitchen is almost done. What used to be a mostly brown kitchen is now a
mostly white kitchen. And I had the presence of mind to ask the
contractor for
a windowsill. I have 2 south facing windows side by side. There is a shallow
roofed porch outside so they don't get direct sunlight but the room makes good
use of all the light they get. Now I'm looking for plants. I would like
something that blooms but I also like ferns. I have no luck with African
violets. Any suggestions?
Marilyn in Ohio
The most exciting stuff I ever grew indoors were coleuses, an eight-foot
wide window packed with big ones & little ones, bright purple ones &
lemon-yellow ones, stripy ones & cloudy ones, leaf-starts on the front
ledge furthest from light. Any that got rangy over time, clipped them
back, they grew back in a trice, all the clipped bits could be started as
gifts if there was room for so many little starts. The perpetually
colorful leaves make them eternally colorful, like they ware all-bloom
tip to base. I used to sing a song to them every morning as I opened the
curtains & the curtains made the leaves wobble about, the lyrics were very
simple, "Dancing plants! La lalalalalala! Dancing plants!"
If you're good with ferns you'll be great with coleuses which are easier
than ferns, though in low-humidity indoor settings they need daily misting
(your kitchen location helps because kitchen usually gets a couple steamy
doses a day from cooking & dishwashing & making tea & coffee). I used to
live in a steam-heated apartment when I had the colleus collection so they
thrived even if a little neglected, but in usual low-humidity homes they
need the attention similar to ferns, though not a tenth as much attention
as African violets (which in any case wouldn't belong in a window, most
African violets are rather deep shade plants).
For wondrous blooms I'd attempt hybrid pocketbook flowers, though I've
never grown indoor types & don't know if they can be sustained over time
with any ease or not, but zowy are they attractive at the houseplant
store.
Nowadays nearly all my houseplants are rugged succulents. Until I bought a
house & left the steam-heated environment, I had no idea how much that
extra shot of humidity was responsible for my alleged green thumb with
coleuses. I do not fuss about houseplants daily & have a tendency to
forget to water for a couple weeks at a stretch, which to the succulents
is a plus, but I'm to forgetful to have indoor ferns & coleuses these
days, & sometimes plan out in my mind enclosed self-misting vivarium
environment in the window where I can have coleuses again without having
to tend to them lots. But I've definitely found odd sorts of care-free
succulents are nice too.
-paghat the ratgirl
--
"Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher.
"Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature.
-from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers"
See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/
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