We’re in the dead of winter with no chance of growing any flowers soon, but the question is, what does a gardener do in the meantime?
If you don’t already have a menagerie of houseplants that share your living space year-round, now’s as good a time as any to pick up one or three. Your local garden store (or, if you must, Home Depot) will be selling a ton, since that’s about all they can sell in the plant department at this time of year. I’d recommend one (or all) of the following:
- A fern, or other hanging plant. These are great to suspend over your kitchen table, in a hallway, or anywhere else you might want to add a bit of green to your home. Best way to water them? Place an ice cube into the pot every day or two. The ice will melt slowly, allowing the water to absorb into the dirt without having excess drip onto the floor (or whatever else lies underneath). As an added bonus, you can hang your fern outside once the weather improves. (My grandfather did that, and the fern lived a good 20 years, and hung five feet long by the end of it).
- A cactus, obviously, wouldn’t be hard to keep alive. They like sunlight, so keep them near a window, but they, unsurprisingly, don’t need much water. I keep mine on my bathroom counter. With all the steam in there, the cactus hardly ever needs a drink.
- I keep an aloe plant right next to my cactus. It’s the same family, needs a similarly low amount of water, and as an added bonus, I have a ready supply of aloe if I ever burn myself.
- Any small tree or shrub can help pick up a living space, if you have a big enough pot. Small trees are standard, but why not try something else? Maybe even a berry bush in your kitchen.
Whatever you decide to grow indoors, make sure you feed it regularly with your preferred plant food, you keep it in the sun, and you don’t forget to water it if needed.
