Latest Arrangements

As I am repotting my babes this year, I'm trying to consolidate their displays... that is, I'm being more selective about pots I acquire and attempting to compose arrangements.

One of my favorite pots was this yardsale find, currently housing my Chinese evergreen.  Since this plant doesn't need tremendous amounts of bright light, I have it on my buffet in the center of the room, approximately 10' from the nearest window, but surrounded by 6 windows on 3 sides.

Love this plant and love this pot.

The next arrangement I'm looking at is on my over-the-couch shelf.  Previously, I only had fake flowers on this shelf (pictured in the white vase on the left half).  Since I have a couple spider plants doing well, I put them in stainless or chrome pots and set them on this shelf.  We'll see how they do away from windows.

A muted color scheme for this wall.

My plant shelf wall, next to some east and north windows, is being freed up.  I used to stack tons and tons of plant in front of this, in an attempt to hide the pipes and to capitalize on the morning sun in this corner of the room.  Instead, I've remove all but one side table, which now hosts a minimally loaded plant stand.  I'd like to use all the same pot size on that stand, but for now my begonia is going to continue to live on the bottom shelf on the left.  Also, I'm not sure where to put the black pot with my succulent grouping, since it's wide and shallow, it doesn't quite work on any shelves.

An extra side chair now breaks up the previously plant-packed corner.

On the other side of my buffet, I have an arrangement of some small house plants and some floor sized plants.  It's nice to group them together sometimes and have them feed off of each other's microclimate.

The braided umbrella tree is officially large enough to sit on the floor, fronted by a dragon tree.

A better shot of a small grouping on my new buffet table.

New "Pots" and Fresh Rock

When asked if I would like to become the new owner of a hoarder's collection of old baby food jars, I couldn't have been more ecstatic!  Those jars are great for all sorts of of practical purposes, whether spray painted and bedazzled for storage solutions a la pinterest, or fill with snackage during trips or work, or, most applicably to this blog, for potting new baby plants!

Boxes of baby food jars after this post's pottings:

My first plan with these jars was to provide new homes for all of my succulent propagations which had been in mismatched clay pots and saucers and other random pots.  This involved probably 15-20 jars, not to mention I used up all of the stones I had.

Then I decided to repot my bamboo, which probably wasn't quite thriving in its unsupported "soil."  I took it out of the green pot it came in which had some tiny stones and dirty stone debris along with mostly the water storage gels.  As much as I like the gels, I really like the look of the bamboo growing in just straight polished stone as view through glass.  One day I may return to the gels, when my bamboo is on the verge of obliteration from water neglect, but for now I feel confident I can keep it watered and looking classy.

Not all of my orchids have been thriving lately.  The one and only orchid I've been able to get to re-bloom (albeit for a short while) was the one I had transplanted to a glass vase.  Since my little itty bitty orchid seems to be doing all right and has in fact sprouted a new babe, I decided to move this one into glass jar to hopefully continue its success.

And lastly, because I like to rearrange my plants so often - partly due to the ever-changing climate and lighting conditions, partly due to individual plant growth, and mainly due to my need for a fresh and interesting display - I will include a photo of my plant corner:

Note to future self: take more "before" photos...

Lighting

In the interest of optimizing growth, I have decided to inventory all of my plants and group them by lighting requirements.  That is, lighting requirements based on my interpretation of the various terminology used to describe each plant's ideal illumination.


Bright/Direct Sunlight:

For me, this means in the sill of an east- or west-facing window.  It would probably be best to be in a south-facing window sill, but I do not have any.

Aluminum Plant (I tried setting this next to an East-facing window and it seemed to stagnate its growth.  Placing it directly in the sunny window launched a significant growth spurt.)

Polka dot plant (If not in direct sunlight, the leaves get too green thusly kabashing the whole allure of the plant.)

Kalanchoe

Sedum

Echeveria

Gerber daisy

Cyclamen

Amaryllis


Indirect Sunlight:

For me, this means within a few feet of an east- or west-facing window.  Or, in a north-facing window sill (in the summer, some of my North-facing windows get evening sun).  There could be some direct sunlight exposure, but only briefly, like during the wee morning hours or towards the end of the evening.

Palm

Braided umbrella tree

Rex begonia

Ivy

Christmas cacti

Jade jewel

Caladium


Low Light:

For me, this is on the sill of a sun-less north-facing window, in a corner near a window or against a wall a more than a few feet from a window.  

Snake plant (I've read this can pretty much go in any lighting condition, but since I have an excess of indirect and low light, I put it up on the shelf.)

Wandering jew (These can really go in any lighting condition.  They get really full in total sun exposure, like outside during the summer.)

Orchid (In the winter, I may put these in an east-exposure, but in the summer I definitely keep them in low-light conditions.)

African violet (I'm not totally sure in what conditions this plant thrives, but for the moment, low light hasn't appeared to have killed it!)

Unidentified ivy

Chinese evergreen


And here is where the majority of them now live: