Terrarium Love

I LOVE terrariums! What's not to love, succulents, pretty glass containers . . . air purification.
I've been on the look out for a terrarium for a while now but they are expensive, capital EX, capital SPENSIVE.  So it was becoming clear that I would have to DIY one!
I found the glass container at Homesense for $7.99. I bought the plants from Walmart, I bought three different species (I lost the tags so I have no idea what their names are . . . sorry). The plants cost less than $10 for all 3! I added a couple of decorative rocks we had lying around, I thought I'd turn it into a little mini landscape. 5 minutes later we had a terrarium that looked like this:

Total Cost: under $20.00 not bad compared to the $75+ terrariums I found here.
*Word to the wise . . . double check you can fit your hand in the hole easily . . . this was the 2nd glass jar I bought for a terrarium, the first one was too hard to work with! 

Honestly, It's been my easiest houseplant ever. It lives on my desk most of the time (in front of a South Facing window). I rarely remember to water it! Seriously, SO EASY!

IKEA Houseplant LOVE!

I Heart IKEA! I went there last week looking for a little box (more on that project next week) and although I didn't find a little box, I did find a plant and a pretty little pot to put it in, all for under $7! I said "oh no Ikea I only came for a box and you don't have one" and Ikea was all "but it's only $7 and Lee phoned and said you should totally buy it" and I was all "Lee phoned?" and they were all "yeah totally" so I bought it! On a  side note, Ikea lies . . . Lee never phoned, but at that point it was too late!  {insert evil laugh here}

The plant is a Tradescantia spathacea it's has green leaves with a pretty hint of purple underneath. They sprout off and create multiple little plants in one pot, so when it out grows the pot you have it in, you have the choice to either re-pot the whole plant in a larger container, or divide the plant up to make multiple containers.

I never gave much notice to ikea's plant section, but they have A LOT of great plants there, and for really reasonable prices. They have a large selection of succulents, they also have well priced orchids and I LOVE their little money trees :).

The pot was on sale for $2.50 I love the blue color, it matches the stars over the fireplace (as pictured below).

The pot was on clearance and I can't find it on their site, so I they're probably not going to stock them again, but if you like it you might still be able to find one!  The plant rang in at $3.99,bringing our total to $6.50 + tax

I hope you liked our little Plant~ Anyone added any indoor greenery this summer?

Making sure the Houseplants stay insect free :). . . . . . Naturally!

It's been said that a good defense is a great offense, and with that in my mind,  I've taken on WAR with the fungal gnats that can live in houseplants. It doesn't matter that we don't have any fungal gnats or that I have yet to see one little flying creature in the house, it's war and it's on!!!!!

 Years ago we brought home a plant and later found out it had fungal gnats (sounds worse then it is, it's basically two or three fruit flies hanging around), they look just like fruit flies, you wouldn't know the difference if you saw one, the only reason I knew they weren't fruit flies was because we had no fruit out!

This time around I will launch the first attack, even if there is no one to fight against!

Fungal Gnats live in the moist soil of houseplants. If you have a few fungal gnats I can almost guarantee that you are over watering your plants. They need the moist soil to survive!
So If you happen to see a fruit fly and you have no expired fruit out, you might have gnats. Not to worry for two reasons:

1. They are completely harmless, they are no threat to humans or pets.
2. They are easy to get rid of, here's how:

• First, stop over watering your plants! Try this first, there's a good chance they'll go away just from this!

• If you still have a fly or two, place a potato on top of the soil, this will attract the larvae and make sure future generations of gnats aren't born! Throw out the potato slice daily.

• And last, in correlation with the potato, or by itself you can try these yellow stickers. They're called STICKY STIKS They have no insecticide on them they are basically just super sticky tape, the adult gnats are attracted to the color and will get stuck, won't be able to lay eggs therefore breaking the  cycle :)

I bought this pack for $5.99 it comes with a million little sticky "leaves" and a bunch of little "stems".

 Here's how they look when "assembled"

Here's how it looks in the plant, you can barely notice it's there!

As a precautionary measure I've placed one in each of our houseplants! and I've added a layer of sand to the tops of the plants, sand dries quickly so adults gnats will assume the soil is dry and not lay eggs!

Because every plant deserves to sing:

                             "There ain't no bugs on me, there may be bugs on some of your mugs,
                                                         but there ain't no bugs on me"

Houseplant CHIC

I LOVE houseplants, my perfect house would have a HUGE sun room off the back of it.
There are so many reasons to use houseplants:

• Plants make you happy - a Chicago cardiologist conducted a test, and the findings were that if a hospital patient faced a window with a garden view, they recovered quicker then patients who faced a wall.
• Plants fight fatigue and colds - It was found the plants reduced fatigue, coughs, sore throats, and cold related illnesses by more then 30% partially by increasing humidity levels and decreasing dust.

My major reason for having plants:

• Plants Clean the air -  NASA did a study that showed, houseplants can remove up to 87% of indoor air pollutants in 24 hours. 
• Plants can remove a variety of toxic air emissions, such as: ammonia, formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene, xylene and trichloroethytene.

Here's the Plants we have around the Manor:

First is our DUMB CANE (Dieffenbachia): It is one of the most common houseplants, and one of the easiest to care for (which makes it perfect for me :)
He needs Moderate to Low light, Moderate to Heavy watering, a little bit of 'food' once a month, we've have NO problems with this green guy. They prefer to be within 8 feet of a window but can survive a bit farther away (ours is about 10 feet away). They like it humid so daily misting is a must!They hate Drafts so keep them away from registers and opening doors.
They are a 'poisenious' plant so if you have young kids or pet who have an interest in eating plant leaves this is NOT the plant for you, luckily Max has no interest in plants!
This plant basket is actually a waste paper basket!

Next is our: BURGUNDY RUBBER PLANT (Ficus Elastica) Also a very common houseplant, very easy to take care of. They require Moderate to Low levels of light so 5-8 feet from a window is ideal. A rubber plant requires heavy watering once or twice a week. Because you want to water it heavily but you don't want the roots sitting in water so a pebble tray is super handy under one of these guys. 
This is the plant and basket we bought as part of our $50 hallway challenge!

Then we have our BOSTON FERN - again one of the most common houseplants (I feel very ordinary thanks to this post hehe) They require Medium levels of light so 4-7 feet from a bright window is necessary, I've found that our Fern needs A LOT of light we have him in the library next to a south facing window, although I'm suspecting come summer he'll need to be moved a few more feet away from that window. Ferns like moist soil, however during the winter months water when the top soil feels dry (but don't let it dry completely, that will make him angry). Misting is also necessary!!!! They like it warm during the day, cool during the night, they hate drafts and like to 'eat' once a month :)

Our ORCHID is a favorite of mine. Some people say they are finicky, some say they are the easiest of houseplants, my view on them is somewhere in between. I've had one that required no work at all, and bloomed for 6 months straight (then we left it in the garage after the move and it died). I have one now, where the blooms are doing great but the buds that were about to bloom died and fell off. But in general they are not as difficult as I thought they would be. The most important part is the soil, the roots need to breathe so using bark for soil is the only way to go. The also like orchid fertilizer, other fertilizer just won't cut it. They require low levels of water once a week to once every two weeks should do it. They love a daily mist! And they LOVE bright light at least 10 hours a day of indirect light a day!
Troubleshooting: 
If the leaves turn yellow, your giving it too much water.
If the foliage turns brown you are giving it too much light, essentially burning the plant.

and last is POTHOS IVY (Devils Ivy) The number 1 most common houseplant (I feel super original now :)
It is the easiest plant to keep! It can handle a variety of indoor conditions. The Pothos does have one pet peeve, It hates wet feet, so a pebble tray or good drainage is a must. To ensure success with a pothos ivy of your own Pick a plant with a good root system (pop it out of the pot at the store and ensure all the roots are strong and active, not mushy), and avoid over watering :)
Pothos is also slightly toxic if you eat it, so if you have kids or pets who won't eat their dinner but somehow find a potted plant irresistible avoid this plant.

Nasa suggests that for an 1800 square foot home you'll need 15-18 "good sized" houseplants, in 6-8 inch containers. It looks like we'll be needing some more plants :)

Here's some I'm looking to add to the menagerie of plants:

• Chinese Evergreen 
• Asparagus Fern
• A jade plant
• I would LOVE to try my hand at a Lemon Tree again (I definitely won't be leaving the next one in the garage when we move :( 
• Some herbs on the kitchen window sill
• I want to add some ferns to the front porch during the spring and summer and those will need to come in over the winter so those count as future houseplants.
• I always wanted a peace lily but heard the are VERY toxic so I always avoided them. 
• 
  

So there's our "Collection" If anyone has any other suggestions I would LOVE to hear them, please keep in mind that my thumbs are NOT green ,they are Black :) So only the easiest of plants will do for me!

Lemon Tree

That's right I said Lemon Tree, we now have a bona fide, certified, genuine Meyer Lemon tree in our kitchen. I have been dying for a Lemon Tree forever. I know that sounds like a weird thing to long for, but I can pin point the exact moment I started my love affair with lemon trees. It was grade 7 and the movie Clueless had just come out, and Alicia Silverstone's character was making tea and reached out of the window and grabbed a lemon right off the tree growing beneath.

Now, since we live in Canada a real, grow in your backyard, planted in the ground Lemon Tree was pretty much out of the question, so on the back burner it went, until last weekend, when the little yellow thought came screaming back into my brain, during a quick trip to the garden center to buy orchid fertilizer. There they were, Meyer Lemon Topiary's. Lee saw the excitement in my face and quickly snatched up the little green fella while I went to find an associate to answer some questions (tip: use the garden center employee's, some of them are fountains of plant knowledge). Turns out our kitchen is the perfect spot for Larry (that's our lemon tree's name, Larry the Lemon Tree) anyways. . . . . we have a west facing window with lots of light, and because it's near the sink and dishwasher (although far enough away from the DW that the heat won't reach it) made it the perfect location.

Here's what you need to know if you want a lemon tree too:
They need a good deal of light (think west or south facing)

They like it outside in the summer but take them in at night.
They like to eat orchid food (it must be fate because we went in there looking for orchid fertilizer)

They like it humid, so misting and a pebble tray are necessities.

If you keep your Lemon Tree indoors all year round, you'll have to pollinate it yourself using a small painters brush or you can do what we are planning on doing,  placing Larry on the deck during the day and the bee's will do the work for you!

What more could I ask for, he purifies the air, provides us with  food, and looks amazing, if he were a man Lee would be in a run for his money! haha (just kidding Lee does all that. . . . .  minus the air purification)

Bonsai Tree

I've always loved the idea of a small library, with a big leather couch and huge wood desk. The entire room lined with leather bound books, a small bonsai on the table with one of those small rock and sand gardens on the desk. You know those little sand boxes you rake with the tiny rake. Well, I don't have a library, and I can't think of a place to put a sand box, so for now I have a Bonsai!

They are very hearty and very affordable. We took a trip to a specific bonsai store, we probably paid a little more for our bonsai then we would have if we bought it from a big box store but we get a bunch of extra's that we wouldn't have gotten from the big box store. For one, free re-potting for life, two, if our bonsai gets "sick" they will take it in and revive it and three, we have free trimming for life. Another bonus of going to the big box store was we got to pick out the color of our pot and the color of the rocks to make sure they matched our decor.

The cost was very reasonable:
The tree was: $12.99
The pot and tray: $9.99
The rocks: $2.99 (for added drainage in the tray)

The tiny Hut: $0.99
Total Project Cost: $26.96

 I Love house plants and this little guy is my new pride and joy. He's our new  beautiful, Green, air purifying accessory. You can't get much better then that.
Side note: Juniper Bonsai's thrive during warmer months outside. So for now our little fella is spending his time on the deck but come early fall he'll be making his appearance indoors.

Glass Terrarium

I have always loved the idea of a terrarium. I love the foggy glass with the water dripping down the sides. A happy little fern living under the glass. I have also never had room for a big glass bell or a huge glass vase. So I came up with a little version all my own. I was recently at my local second hand store and found a glass cover for $2.99, I think these types of glass lids use to go on little clocks (my mom use to have one and it looks just like it). I also found this little white ceramic soup bowl for a whopping 99 cents. I stopped by home depot on the way home and bought a little button fern for $2.48. Note: If you are going to use a container with no holes for drainage, place a layer of rocks on the bottom of the container, before the dirt. It should keep the roots from sitting in water and rotting. Unless you soak the plant then you're on your own!
Once assembled I had my very own Terrarium, for under $7.00. It now sits on my kitchen window sill, they way I get around the moisture ruining the paint of the sill is to prop open the bottom of the glass jar once a day. It still keeps it humid but lets some of the moisture evaporate.