The Christmas cactus in the east bedroom. It flowers multiple times a year.
Some of the 75+ house plants I have.
The old spider plant in the living room flowers at least once a year.
The peace lily has had a rough time of it this last year. I've not been able to water at all regularly.
Once I've watered it 2 or 3 times, it will usually flower.
This pink oxalis flowers pretty much constantly in its West window. Today, it had 2 flower stalks.
I bought a Christmas cactus in a tag sale 20+ years ago. This is a daughter off that plant that never flowered. This daughter from it flowered in December 2017 for the first time and off and on since.
This aluminum plant was put in water in early October. It immediately made a large root system, and is now flowering, in water.
Aluminum plant flower close-up
This African violet is often covered with flowers.
This is a variegated African violet and it also was covered with flowers last month. The last flower left...
I was given this Irish Laughter as a couple leaves in March 2018. It flowered in December 2018.
I’ve had this arrowhead plant for decades. It seems to like that window, a northwest one, and the pot. So I just keep it watered and fed.
This asparagus fern has lived in the bathroom, in this pot for decades. It is VERY severely potbound. But if I give it a bigger pot…..
The asparagus fern flowered for the first time (I think) in June 2016, and again last year. It actually formed a bright orange berry last year.
My 2 Bay laurels with the 2 Irish Laughter leaves last March.
About 8 or 9 years ago I started 13 Clivia from seed. I’ve sold some, gave a couple away, and have the rest all over the house. This one is in my office.
This clivia is in the Roundtop window in the kitchen.
This one is in the East bedroom.
I have a hoya (Indian Rope plant) and every few years, when my care reaches a sufficient level, it will flower.
I got this philodendron from BuyNothing a couple years ago. It had been neglected but sprang back quickly, even under my sloppy care.
This year’s poinsettia is still doing well.
I have 2 of these golden variegated pothos in the other 2 West windows. They do well there. Every 3 – 4 years I take them out, unwrap the vines and cut them back. In 6 months or so, they are back like this.
This was a plant my sister left me in 1992. It’s still alive, and I never can remember its name.
The top plant, another I can’t remember the name of, lives in water. The bottom one was a velvet leaf philodendron, but I killed it. It’s now an English ivy.
This Attar of Roses geranium I rescued from frost at a garden store 11 years ago. This is after a severe pruning. It lives in the South window in my office and easily gets 3X this size every few months, where upon it will get another haircut.
This is the oldest plant I have. It was given to me by my husband’s grandma back in 1974 for Christmas. It has flowered in the past but is now severely potbound. It’s not getting a bigger pot here in the mini-greenhouse for obvious reasons…
The Roundtop window, a South window, in December 2018.
Top, L - R: Irish Laughter African violet, 2 polka dot plants, coleus, dying orchid, poinsettias, African violet
Bottom, L – R: 3 clivias, 2 bay laurels, coleus in water, and rosemary.
So this is about 32 or so of the plants. If you look, you can see others in some of the photos, a dwarf mother-in-law’s tongue, a tall succulent I don’t know the name of, the top of a big pineapple plant, an amaryllis, a ponytail plant that goes to the ceiling, begonias, wandering jews, and a Moses in the cradle.
Roughly half the plants I have live in water, sometimes for years. Some even flower in it, like the aluminum plant.
I use cache pots for the ones in soil. I try to water at least once a month, more often in winter. I try to feed them a special mix of PlantSure, Neptune’s Harvest, SeaCrop, Pepzyme, and ArmourSi once a month.
They seldom get transplanted or bigger pots, though I did give the un-named plant from my sister new dirt last week, but not a bigger pot. Most of this sort of work is done in the winter, and I have so many projects, with the additions and farm, and being sick for a month, that it won’t happen this year.