Yellow Bamboo

I don’t remember exactly when we got the bamboo plants. It was some time during the pandemic because we ordered them on line. They looked nice in the large vase on the sideboard in the dining room. I also added some sticks and a faux flower to jazz it up. At Christmas I always exchange the bamboo for greens, and the bamboo is moved to another location. About a month ago I noticed that two of the stems were starting to turn yellow. And then it got progressively worse - so much so that the stems could hardly stand upright. Some say the reason is dirty water or too much sun. I hadn’t changed anything from before and as far as I know these plants are basically indestructible. Perhaps the moving around caused the problem. But the yellow continued and it was not looking good. So yesterday the two shoots were extracted from the vase. I saved the leaves from the top and added them to the vase - just to see if anything happens. Then a few pothos type greens that I’ve been rooting were added for a trailing effect. They seem to survive well in just water and they also look nice in our wall vase. It’s a lot easier than switching out real flowers every week. So hopefully the fresh water and soon to be spring air will be all the bamboo needs. I guess we will find out in short order. 

Searching for House Plants at Ginkgo Gardens

It must be the time of the year. We are on the look out for flowering houseplants. They simply don’t exist. Two of the plants we have have definitely seen better days. Since everything is green, we wanted to add some color to the mix. The grocery store always had small rose plants, but they didn’t. American plant had primarily orchids, but nothing else with flowers. So we drove in to DC to our favorite plant shop on Capitol Hill -  Ginkgo Gardens. Let’s say it was more of a garden tour than a shopping stop. We parked next to an open field where a lot of tiny kids were playing soccer next to the school. Then we walked up the street snd saw some interesting garden sculptures, then started in to the store with high expectations. But everything was green, more green, and similar to the rest of the plants that we already have. It was a bit disappointing. So we drove back home and tried another flower and plant shop in the neighborhood - no luck. And as a last resort we went to an outdoor garden place near the house - no luck there either. So it looks like the plants we have that are doing poorly have another reprieve. It looks like the grocery store is our best best. Maybe next time we will have better luck. 

Flowers Close Up

Flowers are always so pretty. We usually try to keep the vase on the console table in the dining area, the tiny vase on the dining table, and the wall vase in the living space filled with some floral arrangement. Since we no longer have our tiny Capitol Hill patio garden and the balcony planters don’t have enough to pluck, we get bunches of flowers from the grocery store. But since we only get delivered groceries since March, the option for flowers has been limited. Recently Giant has added the option to get a bunch of fresh flowers so we tried it the last two deliveries. The first bouquet was pink shades and the last bunch was on the orange side. The first bunch lasted For more than a week while the last hardly lasted a few days. Regardless, what I find most interesting about any flower is the beauty of the detail you can see when you zoom in to the petals and the stems. They are lovely from afar but much more artistic close up. These days one takes more time to treasure the things around. This happens to be one of them. 

Crate and Barrel Air Plants and Succulents

We have a really nice collection of house plants in the dining room. They sit on a console table beneath a large sectioned mirror. It’s the perfect spot for the plants and we’ve had success. I’ve been rearranging the TV bookshelf area and brought a couple of the plants over and hope they will do as well. The greenery softens the space. They get a lot of light, but are also close to the heat vents. I’ve got water balls in the pots and check the soil moisture frequently to make sure they get enough water. But there are a couple of spots where we used to have air plants. For whatever reason they don’t seem to thrive in our hands. When we were in Crate and Barrel the other day to look at trivets and placemats we noticed the air plant and succulent display. When you mix fake plants with the real thing you can get away with it - as long as it’s just not so obvious. So we went back today to get two of the small air plants and placed one on a shelf and the other in the bookcase along with the scroungy air plant already in place. They do look nice. Last week we put the fake orchid with the real orchid leaves and it blends in. Hopefully the plant will bloom again but we don’t have a lot of luck with those either. I like having the plant stand, the wall vases, and the hints of greenery around the house. They do need care, and sometimes you need to give them some competition with the fake stuff. 

Flowers and Plants etc for Fillers

Because we don’t have an outdoor garden anymore, we brought the greenery inside the house. In the dining room under the monster mirror is a farmhouse distressed white console table that is filled with potted houseplants. They all seem to be doing well, but the ivy looks rather sparse - both in the dining room and in the bedroom. So rather than replace the ivy, we thought it might be better to fill in the empty space with something. We usually visit Gingko Gardens in our old Capitol Hill neighborhood for houseplants. Sometimes we go to American Plant, but less so since we no longer have an outside patio garden. Yesterday we tried out a new place and drove over to Flowers & Plants etc to see what they might have. The store is located just a couple of blocks from where we live and it’s always nice to support the neighborhood businesses. I suppose there is always something available at the grocery store these days too, but we wouldn’t be going grocery shopping until Saturday. It’s a nice little shop, but it had more cut flowers than houseplants. Nevertheless we were able to find what we were looking for. Not having an outside garden space or utility room makes it tricky when dealing with dirt, pots, and plants. So I made sure the kitchen counter was adequately covered with plastic, put on some disposable gloves, and went to work. Let’s hope the plants will survive the transition and like their new home.