Nice to see houseplants being discussed in the NE Gardening forum. I am a houseplant person since I personally think plants not only help filter the air in your home but they also give a home a warm lived in look. That of course is just my opinion.
Houseplants more or less get forgotten in the summer because of the popularity of the flower and veggie gardens most people have, but the city folk that do not have them must rely on houseplants for their fun and enjoyment. Many of us here in this area are city dwellers. I am not, I live on a Christmas Tree Farm. But my hobby and business is propagating Christmas/Holiday Cactus and selling them on different places on the internet. Many people think of houseplants as being tropicals only, but I have had some wonderful houseplants that were garden plants, cut back and brought in for the winter. I have had some beautiful blooms in the winter from outside plants that I brought in for the winter, so it is really not fair to limit houseplants to just tropicals.
I have about 30 Christmas/Holiday Cactus stock plants in the house just now along with, camelias, african violets, streptocarpus (Cape Primrose), african gardenia, orchid cactus, jasmine and peace lily. It does not look cluttered because I try and make the houseplants fit into the rooms as part of the decor. The baby plants that I propagate are in the greenhouse and I can enjoy the beauty of the older plants in the house during their blooming time. That is what makes this such a fun thing to do. Every morning you have a new surprise when a new bloom opens.
I think it will be fun to see pictures of what many of you live with inside during the winter. My biggest and ugliest plant is the disocactus x hybridus (ordhid cactus). The blooms are beautiful and I love watching the buds open and all of a sudden the plant is no longer ugly. It is a magnificent, beautiful, wonderful plant.
It is kind of like the ugly duckling.
Here it is and I brought it inside a few days ago.
Here is a shot of it in mid Sept. blooming. It blooms off and on year round. It is a wonderful houseplant, but it does get very big and must be kept cut back. You can start new plants from the cuttings without any problem.
Forgive me for rambling on and on.....there is just so many good things to say about houseplants, i forget to stop when i should.
Sorry!
