How Not To Kill Houseplants
I may be good at color and design, but I am not very good when it comes to caring for houseplants. My thumb is not green, not even a tinge.
I gave up on having houseplants in my home a few years after Ed and I were married, since they always died a few weeks after I would buy them. I missed having living things around and for many years I had fake greenery around the house. This was OK for awhile, but they got dusty and began to look dated after awhile so out they went, which left me with no interior plant life.
One year ago this week, Better Homes and Gardens came to my house for a photoshoot for their Christmas Ideas magazine. For the shoot, I bought 3 lemon cypress bushes to use as props for some of the room shots. If you are not familiar with lemon cypress they grow in a pyramidal shape, have a light green color, and smell like Lemon Pledge when you rub your fingers over the branches.
When the photoshoot was over, I moved the plants to my kitchen counter right next to the sink.
I wrote about them in this post. I figured they had much better odds of survival if they were right by the sink and a sunny window. (Ed gave me the French Bistro kitchen mat for Christmas. It is from Ballard Designs)
Well, I am happy to report…
…one year later, my placement worked….the plants are thriving! I have never ever had plants survive this long inside. Outside plants – yes, but not houseplants.
I know the main reason they are thriving is because they are right by the sink. The Delta Touch2 0 faucet that we installed this past Fall makes the task very easy. It has a pull down nozzle that changes with a touch of a button from a regular stream to a rain stream nozzle that is perfect for gently watering plants. I water them every other day so the soil is always moist.
The faucet also comes in handy since you can turn it on with only a touch of a hand, wrist, elbow, or any body part :-) It is pretty innovative… like right out of Jane Jetson’s kitchen. When making something by hand or DIY’ing means making a mess and you you have paint all over your hands or just kneaded dough and your hands are caked, there is no need to touch the faucet handle. Instead you just tap your elbow anywhere on the spout or handle and it turns on the flow of water. Just tap again to turn off.
The other reason the plants have thrived is because they are right by a sunny window. The sun shines in all morning into the early afternoon. Water + Daily Sunshine = Happy Houseplants.
When I realized they were going to make it, I read up on how to care for them for the long run. Plant food was recommended as well as periodic trimming. I pump a few squirts of plant food on each plant once a month. Every few weeks, I use a pair of scissors to trim stray branches so they keep their pyramidal shape. Before Christmas, I added some fresh soil to each pot.
I love their green color. I consider it a neutral…it goes with every color you place near them.
I usually like to move decorative items around my house from room to room so nothing every looks too static, but the lemon cypress will be staying right where they are since caring for them has been so effortless thanks to the faucet and sunny window.
No reason to change a good thing. I hope that I can do another “happy thriving houseplants” update post this time next year. Keeping my fingers crossed. XO
Would you like to save this post?
Enter your email below and I’ll send it to you!