The Unexpected Houseplant

I have recently read, for the second time, Tovah Martin’s book, The Unexpected Houseplant. It is a wonderful book! Tovah blurs the indoors and outdoors by using plants we wouldn’t normally think of as houseplants, thus the title. She brings in junipers, cypress, grasses and euphorbia, among other plants. She recently posted a picture of a salvia on Facebook that is blooming inside right now.  She especially loves bringing in spring plants for early blooms after the long New England winter. If you don’t like plants, don’t even bother visiting, she says,  because her house is full of them and they are her family. Amen, Tovah! Of course, we can't forget a very important member of her family. Einstein is her Maine Coon cat that plays a large roll in her house plant life, laying in them, batting at them, and sometimes even shredding them. But, everyone knows a cat is a must for plant lovers. At least this plant lover. I have three. We also have to me mindful, though, that there are many plants that are very poisonous for animals and humans alike. Choose your houseplant wisely.

“Intimacy with nature” is what Tovah is striving for and would like other people to feel the same by a hosting a houseplant or two (or hundreds) in their homes. She describes herself as a fanatic and a missionary, trying to rope us in. In her book, she describes over 200 plants that she is growing or has grown and had good luck with. She even likens her home to an oversize terrarium.  I love this quote, “Frankly, I don’t buy the “I don’t have a green thumb indoors” excuse for a botanically bereft home. Green thumbs aren’t in your genetic makeup. This myth is really just a rationale for attention deficit disorder in the botanical direction.” Again, Amen, Tovah!

 Go buy a plant, at the grocery store, on line, or at a nursery, she recommends, but only if it "tugs at your heartstrings". Don’t waste your time on a plant that really doesn't interest you. If someone gives you a plant and there is no "chemistry", throw it away.  The plant will not thrive without some tender loving care and an unhappy, neglected plant is an insect and disease magnet. 

Picture from Camp de Fiori website.

When you get your plant home, re-pot it in a wonderful container. A plastic pot is an unattractive plant home. Your plants deserve better. Tovah likens pots to picture frames- they make or break the picture. I always take my plants out of the plastic and plant them in a beautiful pot. In my case it quite often is bright green. I  love terra cotta pots, as well as glazed pots. They come in any color you need to match your décor. Campo de Fiori makes beautiful terra cotta pots and I've noticed in the book, Tovah likes them, too. 

Stephanotis- Madagascar Jasmine

Tovah includes a section on fragrant plants. She points out that winter is when "floral essences have their greatest impact". Being shut in all winter warrants some botanical perfume. She grows plants such as stephanotis, jasmine, and sweet olive. The starring role, though, goes to her South African bulbs. These include the pregnant onion, the climbing onion, (neither are onions, just look like them), and her favorite, Lachenalias. They all do their “thing” in the late fall and winter.

Begonia 'Black Truffle'

After working at Logee’s for 25 years, Tovah has a large collection of begonias. They are some of my favorites, also. Even though their flowers aren’t huge, they have a subtle beauty. She likens begonia blooms to finding a forgotten $20 bill. Even without the blooms, the foliage is amazing, but when the flowers rise above the foliage in the winter, it is sublime!

Begonia 'Marmaduke'

 

Begonia schmidtiana

 Tovah lived in a Victorian home for many years, but has moved into a home attached by a greenhouse to a converted barn. I also bought a home with a greenhouse attached, making an offer on it while my husband was out of town. The greenhouse sold me on the house the minute I walked in. My husband liked the house, but saw the greenhouse as a sunroom with a few plants and a nice table to have breakfast or coffee. Needless to say, there is barely room to walk through the room, much less have a table and chairs. Plants definitely took precedence when "decorating" the room. How could a person who loves plants pass up a home with an attached greenhouse? Tovah couldn't. I couldn't.

Amaryllis 'Prelude'

This book includes a section on holiday plants we all inevitably  receive during the holidays, excluding poinsettias. No poinsettias for Tovah. Cyclamen, schlumbergera, (my favorite), crown of thorns, and amaryllis are all discussed with great information for helping them survive past the holidays. 

Schlumbergera

I especially love the section on plants that she has tried that just don’t live in the house. I am so glad to see that someone else admits to not being able to grow a bougainvillea in their home. Me either! Heliotrope, abutilons, which I’ve tried to keep alive and looking good numerous times, to no avail, and hibiscus. I do have luck with hibiscus in the greenhouse in the winter, but they really just struggle along until I take them back outside in the Spring, occasionally sending out a bloom or two. But even a bloom or two can make my winter!

I truly enjoyed this book and know I will be reading it again. I've enjoyed all of Tovah’s previous books as well. A truly exciting day for me, was the day I went to a local greenhouse to hear her speak. I took all my books to be autographed. I was equally excited when she came to my area again a few years ago to lead a terrarium class. (See previous post about her terrarium book.)  Check that off my bucket list. (If I could meet Elvin McDonald, my bucket list would be a even shorter.) I have spent many hours with these two houseplant book authors,  reading their wonderful books. If you haven’t noticed, I love houseplants…..take it from Tovah and me, plants will enrich your life a thousandfold!

Little Worlds Under Glass

Fairy resting in the baby's tears.

Last week at our garden center, I had a terrarium class. Yes, I said terrarium. If you haven't noticed that they are all the rage again, you've been living under a rock! They are in all the garden magazines, as well as others.
What is a terrarium? Webster defines it as "a usually transparent enclosure for keeping or raising plants indoors." Any clear container will work as long as the opening is large enough to fit soil and plants through and deep enough to hold soil for the plant's roots.  You can use a bottle that held Grandma's perfume or a Ball jar she canned with. A brandy snifter, a fish tank, a cookie jar; if its clear glass, it will work. 
Nathaniel Ward wasn't trying to grow a plant in a jar in the 1830's, but that's what happened. He put a moth pupa in a jar and forgot about it. Six months later he looked in the jar, and found a fern. What a discovery! And, the rest is history. 
 

 

















A couple of books I recommend to help you with your small world making, is The New Terrarium by Tovah Martin and Tiny World Terrariums by Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow, the creators of Twig Terrariums in New York. 
Tovah Martin worked for many years at Logee's Greenhouses and is a celebrated author and lecturer. Her book about terrariums is top notch. I had the pleasure of meeting her at a garden center in SE Michigan and participating in her terrarium workshop. She is a big proponent of adding things that are special to you from nature. A shell, things you've gathered on a walk or vacation, rocks, etc. The picture below is the terrarium I made that day. I used some birch branches, sweet gum seed pods, and birch bark, as well.  
I love this quote from Tovah's book. "For as long as I can remember, my life has been tinged with green. Even when I can't escape outside, due to work or the weather, plants and nature are omnipresent. From the moment I first wake up in the morning and find my way past the menagerie of houseplants on the way to the kitchen until the late evening hours when I sit reading, propped up on a mound of pillow beside the fern by my bed, green is my constant companion." 

The terrarium I made with Tovah.

Tovah demonstrating terrarium construction.

Below are some of the other terrariums my fellow participants made that day.

When I taught my class, I had available, true miniature plants. It seems the problem with most terrariums, is the plants outgrow their container. This usually occurs because normal size houseplants are used. They start off small, but quickly outgrow their confines. We used miniature creeping ficus, mini begonias, espicia, ferns, and selaginella. 

Miniature houseplants in a terrarium.

A young man made this terrarium.

Another customer made this adorable scene.

A customer's beautiful terrarium.

Michelle and Katy wrote the book called Tiny World Terrariums. They are the co-creators of  Twig Terrariums in Brooklyn, New York. "For city folks like us with nary a fire escape, terrariums are a way to bring a "plot of land" into the home. But no matter where you live, terrariums are therapeutic to create and peaceful to observe." They make wonderful small scenes in their terrariums, mostly using different kinds of moss and small figurines. These are the terrariums I modeled my own terrariums after. I went out in my yard, gathered some moss, and went to work. I found the fairy, deer, and bee keeper at the hobby shop. You can find figurines at the hobby shop, antique store, flea market and garage sales. Fairy gardening is so "in" right now as well, there are fairy accessories everywhere you turn. Little birds, gnomes, toadstools, and other small items are all perfect for your tiny world under glass. Your imagination is your only limiting factor. Try making one today, and see if your little world isn't an everyday inspiration. 

Bee keeper with his hives.

Deer

Bee keeper.

 

Haworthia in a terrarium in an urgent care in Chicago.

When I was visiting my niece last year, in Chicago, we went to an urgent care and the terrarium above was in the waiting room. The hanging terrarium (what a great idea! let's get our macrame-making skill polished up) was in a florist window in Wicker Park. Love it!