So my cat sadly destroyed a little copper plant pot I had and also damaged the maidenhair fern it housed. My calathea has also been suffering - it's lost all stability, so it needs some R & R time "off exhibition" for a little while.
The upshot of all this disruption is that I've talked myself into buying a few more house plants for my collection (not that I needed much persuasion).
Pilea Peperomioides
Pinterest lovers will recognise the Chinese money plant and I'm so pleased to find one the size I wanted. I do have a mini Pilea but that will take years to grow so it's nice to have an established plant.
I've matched this plant with this gorgeous vintage pot I got from a garden centre - this is the Monza planter in vintage blue.
They're really low maintenance and very architectural - they do look quite odd with their long stems and large circular leaves.
Air Plants
Nature has cleverly found a great way to grow plants in the driest desert conditions and hence we have air plants, so called because they don't need to root in soil but can attach themselves to rock faces and suck out what little moisture they find.
As a house plant, this means they can be left in some decorative fashion and just occasionally soaked in water.
The last air plant I had I did manage to kill, which is quite impressive for a plant that requires the barest minimum attention from me. I made the mistake of watering it in tap water and I live in a hard water area, which is not good for air plants as it blocks the trichomes apparently. So I'll be careful to use rainwater in future.
I've put both in little terrariums and I love how odd they look.