Houseplants bring life to any room - and in any season of the year.
I love container plants, and whenever I am home I always like to keep a collection of interesting specimens on my enclosed porch or in my kitchen where I can see them every day. Most of my potted plants are kept in the greenhouse, so they can be maintained properly. Earlier this week, my gardeners brought in a small selection of potted Rhipsalis, Dracaena, Haworthia, button ferns, Echeveria, and other succulents.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
I feel so fortunate to have such an amazing collection of extraordinary potted plants. Not only do houseplants enhance the overall appearance of a space, but they’ve also been known to increase creativity, reduce stress, and eliminate air pollutants. My gardeners, Ryan McCallister and Brian O’Kelly, brought this selection of plants to decorate my Winter House porch.
Whenever I decorate with plants, I use silver, copper, or glass plates, purchased from tag sales or antiques fairs, under the pots to catch any water. I find them more decorative than the clay saucers that come with the pots.
Ledebouria Socialis plants are geophytic succulents from the subfamily Hyacinthaceae. It is also known as Silver Squill, Violet Squill, Wood Hyacinth, and Scilla.
It is a popular bulb succulent that makes an excellent houseplant with its thin leaves and green and silver leopard print pattern.
Senecio is a succulent plant grown for its decorative foliage. Senecio is a genus of flowering plants in the daisy family that includes ragworts and groundsels.
The leaves on succulent Senecios are generally thick and fleshy. They can be deep green, bluish, or even striped, but there is considerable variation in the leaf shape. Some are round, some are banana-shaped, and some stand upright.
Echeveria is a large genus of flowering plants in the stonecrop family Crassulaceae, native to semi-desert areas of Central America, Mexico and northwestern South America. Echeverias are some of the most attractive of all succulents and they are highly valued by plant enthusiasts for their gorgeous colors and beautiful shapes.
The leaves are also fleshy and have a waxy cuticle on the exterior. Often the leaves are colored and a firm touch can mar the skin and leave marks. The echeveria plant is slow growing and usually doesn’t exceed 12 inches in height or spread.
Succulents are best planted in clay or terra cotta pots with proper drainage holes because the vessels dry quickly, and prevent water from building up.
Succulents grow in so many different and interesting formations. I often bring succulents into my home when I entertain – guests love seeing and learning about the different varieties.
If you like growing plants, but don’t really have the time to care for them properly, I encourage you to consider growing succulents. Succulents are so easy to maintain and are able to survive prolonged drought because they store moisture in their fleshy stems, roots, and leaves.
This is a button fern – a dependable plant that grows well indoors with little care. Button ferns are small compared to other fern varieties – they only grow 12 to 18 inches tall, making them ideal candidates for small spaces.
It has arching fronds densely covered with small, round leaflets that grow more oval in shape as it matures.
Dracaena has strap-like leaves that emerge in a fountain-like cluster from a thick woody stem. This plant can grow as much as six feet in height when grown as a potted plant. In outdoor settings, it has been known to grow up to 20 feet.
Dracaena’s narrow foliage may be completely green or may include stripes or edges of green, cream, red, or yellow.
Haworthia is a large genus of small succulent plants endemic to Southern Africa. Like the aloes, they are members of the subfamily Asphodeloideae and they generally resemble miniature aloes, except in their flowers, which are distinctive in appearance. Hawthorias thrive in bright indirect to direct light.
The plant is characterized by its rosette-shaped, tightly packed leafy clusters. Some are firm, tough, and dark green, whereas other species are softer and even translucent. Those of the firm, dark green variety are typically dotted with white spots and can turn a rich hue of purple-red when exposed to full sun.
Also on this porch – a potted rhipsalis, native to the rainforests of South America, the Caribbean and Central America. Rhipsalis is a cacti genus with approximately 35 distinct species. I have many types of rhipsalis growing in my greenhouse. Rhipsalis specimens have long, trailing stems making them perfect choices as indoor hanging plants.
Here’s a closer look. Also known as chain cactus or mistletoe cactus, the thread-like succulent stems on the cactus are narrow, green and in can grow several feet long.
Kalanchoe is a genus of about 125 species of tropical, succulent flowering plants in the family Crassulaceae, mainly native to Madagascar and tropical Africa. This one is sitting in the corner of the porch near my desk.
The leaves are fuzzy silvery green with serrated edges. Kalanchoe grows quickly and can tolerate extended drought. It is a popular house and office plant.
The next time you want to decorate a space or spruce it up for entertaining, consider using houseplants – they are sure to liven up any room. What are your favorite container plants?
This time of year is always fun at my farm because there’s so much to harvest in the vegetable garden.
It's important to check the garden every other day - one never knows what will be ready for picking. Yesterday, we picked okra, eggplants, cucumbers, artichokes, corn and trays and trays of delicious, juicy tomatoes. I always look forward to having farm-grown produce to use in my summer cooking and in salads.
Enjoy these photos.
At long last, our tomatoes are ready! We grow about 100 tomato every year. Most tomato plant varieties need between 50 and 90 days to mature. My head gardener, Ryan McCallister, harvested many, many wonderful tomatoes over the last few days.
And the time goes quickly. Here are the tomato plants in early July when they were barely knee-high.
They grew several more inches by mid-July. This is when the plants were staked with tall bamboo poles to give the growing vines more support.
In early August, gorgeous green fruits began to grow.
Everything was well-supported by the bamboo and strong netting I saved from the old deer fencing that once surrounded the farm. I save everything I feel can be reused, and because these structures are outdoors, it is important that they are strong and secure, so they could hold the weight of the plants and fruits, and any strong winds we may get during the growing season. This netting works perfectly. Another key to keeping a rich vegetable garden is to rotate the tomato bed between a few spots in the garden every year to diminish the risk of soil-borne diseases such as bacterial spot and early blight.
The vining branches are also secured to the net and bamboo stakes using jute twine.
So many of the tomatoes are now ripe for the picking. Tomatoes are heat loving plants, so all the hot weather we’ve had has really helped our crops – the tomato vines are laden with fruit. These are ‘Pink Ponderosa’ tomatoes –
an indeterminate heirloom variety, rich, thick, and meaty. These are delicious sliced or canned.
Tomatoes are an excellent source of beta-carotene, vitamins C and K, calcium, potassium, folate, and of course – lycopene. This variety is called ‘Moskvich’ which fruits early and ripens o a deep red. Rich in flavor, these are also good sized at about four to six ounces per tomato.
‘Polbig’ has red, meaty, six to eight ounce globe shaped fruit. These will be ready in a couple more days. It’s always a good idea to grow a range of varieties, including at least one or two disease-resistant types, since, of all veggies, tomatoes tend to be the most susceptible to disease. And be sure to grow the right types for your area.
And these are ‘Big Beef.’ These tomatoes are perfect for slicing and adding to sandwiches. So many gorgeous tomatoes – all of them still suspended on the vine and looking perfect.
Planting can also be staggered to produce early, mid, and late-season tomato harvests. These are called ‘Wisconsin 55’ – refreshing, scarlet-red, round, mid-size slicing tomatoes.
These tomatoes start off dark purple and ripen to a dull purple-brown. The inside will be a pretty red-orange. Another clue is that the bottom of the fruit, which often remains green, since sunlight doesn’t reach it, will turn red. And, like other tomatoes, these fruits will soften a bit when ready to pick.
We’ll be harvesting tomatoes for a couple of weeks – a little bit every couple of days.
Ryan also harvested several eggplants. I prefer to pick them when they are smaller – this one is perfect. And look at its color – an almost gray variety.
Pick eggplants when they are young and tender. Picking a little early will encourage the plant to grow more, and will help to extend the growing season.
I love okra, but for some, okra is too slimy when cooked. Okra is very healthy, however – it’s high in fiber, vitamin-C and full of antioxidants, so give it try!
Okra or Okro, Abelmoschus esculentus, known in many English-speaking countries as ladies’ fingers or ochro, is a flowering plant in the mallow family. Okra flowers begin to appear 50 to 60 days after planting.
Harvest okra when they are still small, about three-inches long. A common mistake is harvesting the pods when they are six to eight inches long, when most will have a woody taste.
Corn is ready for harvest about 20 days after the silk first appears. At harvest time, the silk turns brown, but the husks are still green. Each stalk should have at least one ear near the top. And make sure it is in the “milk stage.” Puncture a kernel and look for milky liquid inside. If it’s clear, the kernels aren’t quite ready. If there is no liquid, you’ve waited too long. Ryan harvested a bucket of corn on the cob – these look excellent.
Here’s a tray of tomatoes and a few artichokes. The globe artichoke, Cynara scolymus, is popular in both Europe and the United States. Artichokes are actually flower buds, which are eaten when they are tender.
We also harvested an entire bucket of cucumbers. Cucumbers require a long growing season, and most are ready for harvest in 50 to 70 days from planting. The fruits ripen at different times on the vine, but it is essential to pick them when they are ready. If they are left on the vine too long, they tend to taste bitter.
Many of the tomatoes are eaten fresh and used for sandwiches and salads. Every summer, I also save lots of tomatoes to make homemade juice and sauce. Not only are they delicious and nutritious, but they can be stored in containers in the freezer for any time the craving hits.
Everything is brought into my Winter House kitchen and placed neatly on the counter. What a gorgeous bounty of beautiful produce. What shall I eat first?
There's always something beautiful blooming at my farm - this time of year, it's the big, white hydrangeas.
I love hydrangeas and have been growing them for a long time. Hydrangeas are popular ornamental plants, grown for their large flower heads, which are excellent in cut arrangements and for drying. I have lots of hydrangeas growing in a border located across from my vegetable garden and chicken coops. I also have hydrangeas blooming on one side of my tennis court - the flowers are so big, they can be seen from the carriage road. Nearby, I also have a variety of lush plants and trees that are also looking so spectacular this year - the Styrax japonicus, the Osage orange, the hostas, and the crepe myrtles.
Enjoy these photos.
It’s hard to pass by these stunning white flower heads and not stop to admire their beauty. Hydrangea is a genus of at least 70-species of flowering plants native to southern and eastern Asia and the Americas. The Hydrangea “flower” is really a cluster of flowers called a corymb.
From a distance, one can see all the stunning white hydrangeas growing behind my tennis court. I started planting hydrangea shrubs many years ago and they’ve always bloomed so profusely from year to year.
The name hydrangea originates from two Greek words – “hydro” meaning “water” and “angeion” meaning “vessel” or “container.” Together, the rough translation is “water vessel” which refers to their exceptional thirst for water.
Most hydrangeas are shrubs, but some are small trees. They can be either deciduous or evergreen, though the widely cultivated temperate species are all deciduous.
Hydrangeas are long-lived, and extremely vigorous specimens that offer lavish and varied blooms.
In general, mophead and lacecap leaves are relatively thick and crisp, shiny, and often heart-shaped. They range in size from four to six inches long by three to five inches wide.
Here is a hydrangea that blooms with lovely lacecaps. The lacecap is very similar to the mophead, but instead of growing round clusters of showy blossoms, this hydrangea grows flowers that resemble flat caps with frilly edges.
Panicle hydrangeas are known for their cone shaped flower heads. These large blooms typically start white and may turn a slight pink. All the paniculatas are very cold hardy.
Other plants growing in this area include the crepe myrtle. Lagerstroemia, commonly known as crape myrtle, is a genus of around 50 species of deciduous and evergreen trees and shrubs native to the Indian subcontinent, southeast Asia, northern Australia, and other parts of Oceania.
Here’s a white crepe myrtle. Crepe myrtles range in size from dwarf, growing less than three feet tall, to several that reach upwards of 30 feet. They also come in many different colors, including white, lilac, and purple, many shades of pink and different shades of red.
Here is a medium pink variety. Crapes love the sun and are extremely heat tolerant. They should be planted in an area with at least six hours of sunlight per day. Some partial shade during the day is fine, but may result in fewer blooms – more sun, more blooms. They aren’t picky about their soil, but also prefer good drainage.
You probably recognize this – it’s pachysandra. Also known as Japanese spurge, this easy-to-grow plant reaches less than a foot tall and spreads quickly via underground roots. Pachysandra flowers with tiny white blooms every spring, but the plant’s evergreen, dark leaves that grow in whorls around their stems make it very popular in gardens.
Flanking both sides of the narrow road to the tennis court are these Styrax japonicus ‘Marley’s Pink Parasol’ Japanese Snowbells. These bloom in early summer with lustrous pink flowers and sweet, cotton candy fragrance.
White bell-shaped flowers cover the tight form from early spring through summer. The deciduous dark green leaves turn gold in the fall before dropping off. This tree is low maintenance and pest and disease resistant. It grows in full sun to part shade and enjoys moist, well-drained soil.
Behind the Styrax japonicus ‘Marley’s Pink Parasol’ Japanese Snowbells on both sides are Styrax japonicus ‘Evening Light’ – purple trees with fragrant, white, bell-shaped flowers.
The leaves are alternate, simple, broad-elliptic to elliptic oblong, and about three inches long.
Nearby is a row of Osage orange trees. These trees have grown so much over the years. The Osage orange, Macular pomifera, is more commonly known as a hedge apple, bow wood, or bodark.
And just in front of the tennis court is one of the many apple trees growing here at the farm. This one is a crew favorite with its juicy, tart green apples.
Hosta plants flower in summer, offering spikes of blossoms that look like lilies, in shades of lavender or white. The bell-shaped blooms can be showy and exceptionally fragrant, attracting hummingbirds and bees. Hundreds of hosta plants are growing in a bed just down the road from the tennis court.
Hostas love shade, so these are planted under a grove of dawn redwoods, Metasequoia. This variety is called ‘Francee’ with dark green, heart-shaped leaves and narrow, white margins. A vigorous grower, this hosta blooms in mid to late summer.
In all, about 700 hostas in a variety of cultivars including ‘Wide Brim,’ ‘Francee,’ ‘Regal Splendor,’ ‘Elegans,’ and ‘Blue Angel’ are growing here in this bed. Everything is looking so green this season. What plants are looking lush in your gardens? Share your comments with me below.
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