A noun. A verb. A blog.
These mottled leaves on my Clivia could be telling me a sad, sad story. Oh, dear. You might know of my constant quest for unkillable houseplants. When I find one purported to be Helenproof, I’m on it like bees (or Battersbys) on honey. How thrilled I was to hear about Clivia, an easy-to-care-for flowering bulb […]
My Hoya carnosa or wax plant is pushing the Big 3-0 Like the Brave Little Tailor in the fairytale, I should wear a sash reading, Helen the Houseplant Killer. It’s my specialty, particularly in creative ways. Most houseplant killers do it with too much love – by over-watering. My poison, on t’other hand, is neglect. […]
Words are funny things. They come into the language, and change shape and meaning over time. Most of us know what it means to call someone ruthless. Fewer would describe someone as full of ruth. Ruth (pity and compassion) has slipped out of common usage. In the gardening world, we call houseplants tropicals, yet even […]
Okay. It isn’t a bloom. In fact, my Hoya has never bloomed. I inherited it from my mother more than 20 years ago (and I don’t think it ever bloomed for her, either). Considering my notorious neglect of houseplants, the fact that it still lives is an accomplishment. Yet, if you’ve read our blog you […]
For all you Mac users: behold my success at fooling iPhoto into creating a photo collage, something it doesn’t profess to do. There are a number of third-party software choices available to let you do this… but I found a quick, easy and no-cost solution. Just pour your photos into a page template for a […]
Sarah lives on one side, I live on the other. And, in the middle, are our neighbours Z. and K. Last month, Z. came to see me, all excited. You should see my orchid! It has buds! What did you do to it? Nothing! Sure enough, there were the orchid buds. Z. looked very proud […]
I have barbecued my mother’s 25-year-old Hoya. I mean it. Literally barbecued. It looks decidedly miffed. Having brought this otherwise indestructible plant out for its usual summer vacation, I had thought perhaps it needed a shaded transition spot. And there was the ledge beneath our rickety gas BBQ. Oooh, thinks me, looks nice there. And […]
Went yesterday to the African Violet and Gesneriad (jez-NARE-ee-ad) and the Pelargonium and Geranium shows at the Toronto Botanical Gardens. Learned that if you want to purchase an award winning African Violet, Streptocarpus, Sinningia, or Petrocosmea you have to get there early. The show is like an ordinary plant show, with some amazing specimens diplayed […]
Monstera Philodendron and Orange Abutilon spending the summer on my canopied deck. You’ve got overwintered geraniums and houseplants that have been cooped up indoors for months. You’ve noticed they’ve started packing their bags and are impatiently awaiting their summer vacation. They’re ready to burst through the screen door and start soaking up that gentle spring […]
A kind reader pointed out that my troubled, leaf dropping rubber tree, Ficus Elastica Sylvia, is notoriously difficult in indoor homes. He eventually found a good home with a greenhouse for his. Researching my rubber tree online, I just discovered that the rubber tree is one of the best plants for reducing indoor pollution. They […]
UPDATE: A kind reader pointed out that my troubled, leaf dropping rubber tree, the variegated Ficus Elastica Sylvia, is notoriously difficult in our dry indoor homes. Leaf droppage is typical behaviour. They need a great deal of humidity to be happy. He eventually found a good home with a greenhouse for his. One way to […]
Sad looking, pale green, leggy, soft, and weak growth. This is the worst time of all for houseplants. They look like how we feel. Only one more week of this winter sunshine ebb, and then the sun will start on its way back. We can start counting down the extra minutes on the 21st. Then […]