Got the winter blahs?

During the long winter I often purchase an inexpensive plant to place on the dining room table to be enjoyed during this rather dreary part of the year. Recently, friends visited and brought my wife and I a most beautiful plant, which has graced our table ever since — a miniature orchid. Over the last

Growing a bromeliad

Over the last few years I have noticed bromeliads offered for sale more and more in garden centres as blooming pot plants. These unusual plants are familiar to those folks who take winter holidays in warm locations where they are used extensively in outdoor landscapes. They are popular in these locales because they are easy-care


Planning a winter getaway?

Some people who have extensive indoor plant collections like to take holidays in the sun during our long, cold winters. Leaving houseplants unattended for any length of time can be risky; I have sometimes returned from a winter holiday to find a few dead plants and others a little worse for wear after a lengthy

Jade plant — beautiful and versatile

I was strolling through a garden centre some time ago, and came upon a stunning sight — a large potted jade plant in full bloom. While most of us do not have the space for such a plant, particularly where it will receive enough light to produce such abundant bloom, seeing the plant reminded me


Continued care of your chrysanthemum

Maybe it was because of the lovely warm, sunny autumn that we enjoyed, but for whatever reason, retail shops and garden centres were filled with potted chrysanthemums in the weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Even after Thanksgiving, there was an abundance of potted mums available for people to use in their autumn décor. The colours

Mother’s Day is coming up

Sometimes a mother who is, or has been a gardener, appreciates receiving a less traditional potted plant for Mother’s Day. A plant that is a bit on the unusual side will show that the gift giver has put some extra thought into choosing it, and one possibility is the cineraria. The cineraria’s cousin, dusty miller,


Need a spring tonic?

April is a dreary month in the outdoor garden as everything is usually still brown. Although we go about our outdoor spring chores, and revel in the sun on cloud-free days, there is not a lot of colour. However, we can add a blast of colour to our indoor space by buying an inexpensive primrose.

Getting an azalea to rebloom

Were you lucky enough to receive an azalea as a gift plant for Easter? Azaleas are popular pot plants used as gifts for special occasions such as Easter and Mother’s Day. Although an azalea can be enjoyed until it has finished blooming (a healthy plant will bloom for several weeks) and then discarded, many gardeners


Regal geraniums

The regal or Martha Washington geranium has long been a popular pot plant for the early-spring market and you will see many of them on display in garden centres and retail shops around Valentine’s Day, Mother’s Day and Easter. They produce a wondrous show of bloom — the individual florets of a regal geranium are

Time to rejuvenate foliage plants

By now we contemplate the days becoming longer and providing more hours of sunlight for our indoor plants — soon houseplants will begin a resurgence after a long period of semi-dormancy. Because the plants will be coming into “full growth mode” as light levels increase, now is the perfect time to do some cutting back,