Saturday, February 20, 2010

The Great Houseplant Census

This post is to contribute my 'data' to the Great Houseplant Census of 2010, sponsored by Mr. McGregor's Daughter.

Earlier in the month (or was it back in January?) I left my total in a comment on her blog, which many people have done. My Bloom Day post included these plants as well, but I thought I'd do a separate post to break down exactly what I have. [Not to mention the fact that I actually 'broke down' myself, two days ago--buying two more plants (Hyacinths, which are forced bulbs)--but MMD made it clear that these do indeed count in her census!]

*Note the green leaves poking up in the blue pot...is there another bulb in there?!

Okay then, here we have the 3 of the house plants that have survived a year, even with a cat. Can someone help me with ID's of the first 3? I seem to have forgotten. The first one looks like a Bromeliad...




Here's what's left of a Kalanchoe...


Oh, my poor Peace Lily! It looked like this right before my Bloom Day post,


Now look at it!  I love my cat, but...!


On the 15th, I posted my Paperwhite bloom and two bulbs that hadn't done much at all. Now one bulb has three shoots coming out of it and the other has two!  And to think I almost tossed them for being duds!

*There is actually a bulb that has finished blooming behind these two, which I am counting in my total.

I'm still holding out hope that my Amaryllis might send up another stalk. Nell Jean said they often send up 3 separate ones. So far, two others stalks have come up, each with up to 6 blooms. This could be the third, or it could be just leaves to provide energy and fuel for the plant while it goes dormant.  I like surprises!


So, my total is 11--give or take a hyacinth or two! Thanks for changing my total, MMD. I just had to have those Hyacinths;-)

--Today I am thankful for hyacinths on my windowsill .

*Update: Thanks, Rosie, for ID-ing the 1st photo as Dracaena & the 3rd as Chamaedorea. Still don't know the 2nd plant's ID...



Words and photos by Jan Huston DobleThanks For 2 Day.

19 comments:

  1. I'm sorry I can't help you with your ID, but wanted to say that I love hyacinths and can't wait to see yours in full bloom :^)

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  2. Oh Jan,

    It is Chinese/ Lunar New year, My husband is in Singapore, and you post makes me miss Singapore, not him, but the 100s of plants I left in Singapore when I came here to New Zealand 4 years ago.

    I sold a lot for my charity to the Deaf in kenya and I still left a lot of plats. i was the secretary of the Gardening club of Nanyang university. I inheritted a lot of plants of those Professors who left, and gave them a lot of TLC.

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  3. Jan I can almost smell those hyacinths. I never forced any this winter. Completely slipped my mind. You have such wonderful sunny windows for them.
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Lona

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  4. The first one doesn't look like a bromeliad to me. Hope you will be able to identify them soon.

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  5. I've seen those plants but can't identify by name. I bought a hyacinth a few weeks ago and the smell is heavenly, especially given the snow all around us!

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  6. I used to have so many house plants, not so much any more. I'm down to about six right now. Thankfully my cat leaves them alone. She loves flowers, but not the green plants.

    I didn't get around to forcing anything this year, I regret the now!

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  7. Eleven? I would have guessed so many more. I'm afraid to actually count, but I think I'm somewhere about 60 or 70, with more arriving weekly when I go out shopping. I'm hopeless!

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  8. I'm embarrassed to say that I have exactly three houseplants, one is a cactus, and none are in great shape! All my attention goes to my outdoor plants. I think yours are doing great considering the cat likes to play with them!

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  9. What is it with cats and houseplants? I don't know about you, but I have planted cat grass for my felines, and they ignore that and go straight for the beautiful lush houseplants, that are no longer lush or beautiful!

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  10. I have that first plant and I don't know what it is either. If someone lets you know that you are right about the name or gives you a name, I would love to know it. I just love hyacinths. the fragrance is so wonderful.

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  11. Great post Jan, my houseplant collection is seriously lacking, in part because of my plant eating kitty as well. I just added a norfolk pine though. I don't know if you got back to read my message to you on my blog, so I'll post it here as well. Please don't feel any pressure whatsoever to participate in the awards, they were not intended as a make work project, only as a 'thank you' for blogs that I truly enjoy. :)

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  12. Thanks for mentioning MMD's survey. I really like amaryllis. I recently offered a few pictures on one of my blogs. Try

    http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-get-word-out.html

    Eucharis grandiflorum is my favorite though. I am still looking for a good source for more bulbs and always ask for recommendations if anyone can help.

    Georeg Africa
    The Vermont Gardener

    ReplyDelete
  13. Ah, gosh...wish I could help but I'm not much of a houseplant person. The ones I inherited ended up dead due to lack of care, except the cast iron plant which is truly that! Good luck!

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  14. Dear Jan, As I may have mentioned, I am afraid that I seem to be the kiss of death to houseplants and have now given them up completely,

    However, like you I cannot help falling for Hyacinths grown in pots - yours look lovely - as the scent alone is so enticing.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Oh I can smell the scent of those hyacinths over here in Scotland by now Jan.

    Here's some id for you. The first one is a green Dracaena - can't remember the rest of its botanical name - but I've tended those in the past.

    The 2nd one I could not give a proper id without seeing the leaves myself.

    The 3rd I think is Chamaedorea the parlour palm

    Hope that helps
    Rosie :)

    ReplyDelete
  16. I'm adoring your vintage/retro pots, especially that red one. Pout!

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  17. Thanks for participating. You may think your Kalanchoe looks sad, but mine looks even worse. My theory is that if a plant can make it to March inside, it should survive to go outside some spring. Have you considered trying some hot pepper wax spray to keep the kitty from munching? I don't know if it would work, as I've not had cats. Either that, or get a cloche.

    ReplyDelete
  18. I appreciate all of your comments, thank you all;-)

    Thanks for help w/ID, Rosie. I need to be better about saving tags.

    MMD: You have my attention;-) I've never heard of hot pepper wax spray but you can bet I'm doing searches for it as we speak! (I've used red pepper in bird seed to fend off squirrels...but that didn't work)...haha (you probably already knew that as the proprietor of squirrelhaven)! A cloche sounds nice, but it'd need to be pretty big...for every plant!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Deb, don't be embarrassed! Many 'gardeners' don't have houseplants. By the way, I cannot get to your blog when I click on your name in my comments box. I like to do that because it usually takes me right to the commenters blogs. Is there something different on yours?

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for visiting and taking the time to comment! Please enjoy your TODAY and all of the gifts in YOUR garden of life!

Jan

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