This thread is very entertaining and informative.
For my own house, I got a mini-zippy greenhouses to keep my animals away from the plants but that does occupy a lot of floor space.
I was gonna suggest hanging the plants from the ceiling, but the bird cage idea is so much better.

And the dove-room will be fantastic I hope you will be photographing and creating a little tutorial as you build it and submit it as an 'Idea'.

I agree! Photos are definitely a must! And a step by step would be outstanding!

I may end up retrofitting a table that isn't currently useful to us, but we shall see. If it seems too large for the space I'll start from scratch. Photos if it does the job and ends up looking halfway decent.

Another suggestion is to check out yard/garage sales, craigslist etc. for old aquariums. If you can't find tanks with lids you can always put plastic wrap or a board over the top to keep the cats out. I plant them as terrariums but I've heard others talk about using them as a holding tank (so to speak) for a few plants that like extra humidity during the winter. If you go that route, just be sure to wash them really well (especially if they were marine (salt water) systems.

Oh, wow, Lin! Those are nice!

Thanks Chelle! The 10 gal tank was a birthday give a few years ago (for the purpose of use as a terrarium) and I got the Hexagon tank from a friend's son. He moved to California five or six years ago and the aquarium sat in his parents garage for a few years. I have a few glass jar terrariums too.

Oh, those really are nice!

First day of spring update...

I ended up storing these in the crawlspace under my house -and guess what?! After 5 months in the dark, through the worst winter for this area in 60 years...I think there's life in there!

Begonia (Begonia 'Fannie Moser')



It's not a pile of black mush anyway.


I've brought these up into the light, but now I'm wondering...should I water lightly now, or wait a bit? They've been kept dry all winter...

Good job! Wow, what a tough little Begonia, I had no idea they'd survive in a situation like that! As long as you are keeping them warm I'd say a little water would be fine!

Thanks, Lin!

I'll let that soil warm overnight and then give it some room temperature water in the morning. I'm so excited!

Cool that they've survived their exile! But, gee, I was really looking forward to that birdcage Taj Mahal.....

Letting the soil warm up a bit before watering sounds like a very good idea. I inadvertently nearly killed off a few plants by watering when the soil was too cold. Fortunately, I spotted the problem before things were too far gone and was able to repot most of them in dry soil.

Hmmm, my mom had me over winter a begonia she broke at the base last time she visited. No idea what kind of begonia it is. I stuck it in the pump room and just brought it out about 3 weeks ago. It is coming back to life. But, it is on the floor and where the dogs like to hang out! I'm gonna have to put it up on a table just to be safe!

The resurrected begonia is coming along nicely.




Thanks again for all of the helpful input!

Yay Chelle! My mom took hers back. I wonder how it is doing. @abhege and update?

Not as full as when I picked it up from my mother, but a lot of growth since I brought it home from Jen's.