Ginger under lights in the living room
This time of year, most of my gardening, such as it’s been this year, is with house plants inside. My helper friend and I found this ginger where it had been abandoned for months in the cellar, with sprouts coming up.
They were about 3” – 4” high at the time, late last summer. I’ve not been good about watering since then, making more of an effort over the last month or so. But the ginger is determined to live and hasn’t done too badly.
Next to it under the lights, the purple wandering jew apparently adores this spot. I bought a tiny plant a year or so ago, 1 sprig about 5” high. I usually manage to kill purple jews in short order, but not this time.
This Boston fern was offered on BuyNothing a couple years ago. I never ever thought it would survive here. But so far, it’s hanging in there. I have made a bit of an effort to keep it watered and even remembered to mist it once in a while.
I started this pineapple from the top of an organic pineapple several years ago. It’s done amazingly well, given the care standards around here.
These plants have bounced around and are currently living here in the dining room. I hacked off a huge amount of the night blooming cercus on the left and stuffed them in the jar of water. I gave away about half of them to a helper. They’ve been in the jar for 2 or 3 years now.
The clivia on the right I started from seed maybe 15 years ago. When they are fed regularly, which hasn’t happened for a year, they flower regularly.
In the window opposite the photo above, I have 3 plants living in water, the 2 on the far left (one hanging) and the one on the far right. The 2 on the left are a mix of cuttings. The right side one is Attar of Roses geranium.
In the middle, left to right: primrose from last year, begonias from the flower beds this fall, and a poinsettia from last year. I cannot believe the primroses are still alive. I usually manage to kill them before I can get them planted outside in the Old North garden.
The begonia had somehow survived a couple frosts before I was able to dig it up. It’s not done very well but is still hanging on. It would do better if I fed it regularly. And the poinsettia is one of 3 I’ve not managed to kill from Christmas 2020. It’s doing the best, the other 2 are hanging on by a thread.
The bathroom doesn’t have heat of its own. This greenhouse window must get pretty cold at night. But these 3 plants have lived in there for decades. The snake plant on the left gets sunburnt in the summer. The jade plant was given to me by my husband’s grandmother in 1974 for Christmas. And the Moses in the Cradle in the jar of water behind the light has lived there for at least 20 years. There’s also a new African violet on the back of the toilet. It’s not very happy but is still alive.
Most of the plants are in the old living room, now office. I’ve had this arrowhead plant for decades. It’s been as much as 3X this size when fed regularly. It’s in a northwest window now. It used to be in the adjacent west window.
That northwest window now has the hanging aloe vera. I swapped them as it was a better fit when I re-organized the room. I have lots of aloes, many in water.
The middle window in the west wall has one of the variegated pothos, a spider in water, an aloe vera in a big pot, and several cuttings in water. There’s an angel wing begonia, Christmas cactus, arrowhead, and anything else that got cut or broke off.
The last window, southwest, has the other pothos I just cleaned up last year. In water on the top shelf is a velvet leaf philodendron. On the windowsill, l – r, an angel wing begonia, 2 jars of cuttings in water, and an oxalis. This oxalis flowers all the time, no matter how I care for it.
Going across the south wall of the office this southwest window has a very old hoya. If it’s fed regularly it will flower once or twice a year, large waxy pink flowers.
The center south window has and old ponytail plant. The ceilings in this room are only 7’ and it’s reached it. It’s started to send out sprouts along the length now and the bottom has several too.
I got the hanging philodendron on BuyNothing and under it is another of the clivias I started from seed.
This is the southeast window on that wall. The nightblooming cercus is on the left, the huge Christmas cactus in the middle and a plant I got from Freecycle years ago. I can never remember what its name is. Above them is a spider plant. It’s not fared well this year and is barely alive.
There are lots more plants, 7 or 8 upstairs, but these are the ones I see most often. I’m hoping once I’m feeling better, I can do a better job this year of caring for them.