Growing Herbs Indoors
- On November 30, 2011
- By Meleah
- In Container Gardening, Herbs, Indoor Gardening
- 0
One of the things I love most about summer is having an herb garden right outside my back door. Oregano, basil, dill, tarragon, sage, lavender, parsley and several kinds of thyme are right there ready to snip and toss into soup, salad or whatever we’re making, anytime. Sadly, having fresh herbs at the ready is just a six-month pleasure here in the Arctic, so in recent years I’ve been trying to grow herbs indoors once the weather starts to turn cold. I say “trying” because, honestly, it has been a bit trying, literally. But I’ve worked out some kinks and I’d like to share what I’ve learned with you now.
By far, the biggest challenge when growing herbs indoors is lighting. I’ve read, and people have told me, that it’s possible to grow some herbs fairly well in a sunny window. I say those people don’t live in Minnesota in the winter — or maybe they try to see the good in spindly plants where I’m more in the “off with their spider-mite-infested heads” camp. There is one exception: chives. Chives do last a long time when grown in a sunny spot, and you can snip off what you need for months as long as you leave at least 2 inches of growth on the plant.
Read More»Growing Cacti and Other Succulents Indoors
- On March 26, 2010
- By Meleah
- In Indoor Gardening
- 0
I grew up in Phoenix, so I thought I’d had my fill of cactus. (Picture being a Girl Scout and taking camping trips in a desert filled with inhospitable plants covered with spines and barbs.) But this past year I’ve really gotten into growing cacti and succulents indoors. Maybe that’s partially due to the fact that the mere sight of them makes me think of warmth and vacations. If you’ve always wanted try growing houseplants but needed something incredibly easy to care for, these are the plants for you.
Before I jump into how to care for cacti and succulents, let me first explain what these plants are. Simply put, succulents are plants that are good at storing moisture in their stems, leaves and/or roots so they do well in hot, dry conditions. All cacti are succulents, but not all succulents are cacti. A few succulents you’ll probably recognize right away are jade (Crassula arborescens), aloe (Aloe barbadensis), flowering Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) and, of course, the Christmas cactus, which is both a cactus and a succulent. (FYI: Christmas cacti have very different needs than other cacti and succulents, so don’t go by what I say in this article when caring for them.)
Read More»Poinsettia pointers
- On November 21, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Indoor Gardening
- 0
There are close to 200 varieties of poinsettias on the market today and though they’re only sold during the holidays, they consistently rank as the top-selling flowering, potted plant in the country. That’s kind of an amazing statistic when you consider that poinsettias were in no way related to Thanksgiving or Christmas before the 1920s.
The poinsettia is actually native to southern Mexico and Central America where the warm climate encourages the plant to grow as a shrub, sometimes as tall as 10 feet. It was Joel Roberts Poinsett, an amateur botanist and U.S. ambassador to Mexico from 1825 to 1829, who introduced the poinsettia to America. Taken, no doubt, by the plant’s rich, red blooms (which are not flowers but leaves, known as “bracts”) he had a few of them sent back to his home in South Carolina. There, in his hothouses, he propagated the plant and sent some to friends and to botanical gardens. By 1833, the first “poinsettias” were for sale in local nurseries.
Read More»Creating an Indoor Garden
- On April 12, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Indoor Gardening
- 0
This month’s column idea came from Southwest Journal editor, Sarah McKenzie, who’s been wondering for a while now how to create some kind of indoor garden in a sunny spot in her condo. Being a mostly outdoor gardener, myself, I called botanical artist and all-around passionate plant person, Shauna Moore for help, after seeing an ad announcing a talk she would soon be giving at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum on this very subject.
The beauty of growing houseplants is they aren’t Minnesota specific, says Moore, who earned her horticulture degree from the University of Minnesota, where she currently works as a campus gardener. “Since you don’t have to worry about climate, you can use fabulous tropicals like jasmine, bougainvillea, gardenias and orchids,” she explains.
Read More»Starting Seeds Indoors
- On March 16, 2009
- By Meleah
- In Annuals, Indoor Gardening
- 0
Summer is still a dream, I know, but I sure am glad to be starting up my column again and, at least, beginning to think about gardening. Last year, about this same time, I devoted half of my column to starting seeds and I got so many questions from readers on how to tackle specific things, I’ve decided to write on the subject again. This time, though, I’ll go into more detail. (Of course, you’re still welcome to e-mail questions if something seems confusing, or you want to know more.)
If you’re looking to save some money on plants, growing at least a few from seed is the way to go. While perennials can sometimes be a little finicky, annuals are usually easy to grow — even if you’ve never started seeds before. One thing I really appreciate about growing my own plants is that it allows me to have some things in my garden that I just can’t find in stores, such as love-lies-bleeding (Amaranthus caudatus), sea holly (Eryngium spp.) and Chinese lanterns (Physalis alkekengi).
Read More»Growing Orchids
- On November 05, 2008
- By Meleah
- In Indoor Gardening
- 0
By now, you’ve probably noticed that you can buy orchids just about anywhere. Stacked up with all the other impulse-buy items not far from the checkout lane at places like Target and Home Depot — even the grocery store — amazingly beautiful orchids can be had for just a few bucks.
Take one home, though, and you may quickly find it wizened to a shadow of its former self, or maybe even dead. Before you start blaming yourself for your orchid’s fate and vowing never to try growing one again, consider the problem may simply be that you chose one that’s tougher to grow than others. Orchids are fussy about light, water, temperature and many other things. Knowing which orchids to buy and how to care for them will not only save you from that horrible feeling that you’ve got a brown thumb, it also may make orchid growing so much fun that you wind up cultivating a real passion for the exotic beauties.
Read More»