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. 

US Botanic Gardens Indoor Treats

It’s been a while since we visited the US Botanic Garden. We used to walk by and through it every morning when we lived on Capitol Hill. Since we moved to Virginia two months ago we visit the city every so often. We haven’t changed our doctor or dentist yet, and we like going to programs at the Library of Congress where I worked for ten years. With such a lovely day earlier in the week, we made an outing to the gardens because there was a new exhibit. But the inside of the place is always so pleasant to walk through. The main entryway and “great hall” was rather quiet - the fountains were silent. So we visited each section from where the dinosaurs hide, through the dessert and the succulents, to the tropical rainforest and orchids, and the medicinal plants. Everything changes with the seasons and this was a good time to visit. There were just enough visitors, school groups, and locals. We really enjoyed the walk and felt like “outsiders” after thirteen years of living in the neighborhood. Everything looked so much better - probably because we don’t see it every day. 

  

Succulents and Cactus

We have a lovely wall vase that I like to keep filled with fresh flowers. Or, depending on the season, it gets filled with holiday themed plants or branches with twinkling lights. Back in February we were searching for something to put in the wall vase and thought maybe a cactus or succulent might look okay. That, with an air plant might do the trick. So I put them in the vases, along with the dirt and stones, and they have been doing okay. But I didn’t like the look of the dirt in the clear glass vases. So we decided to move these plants to a low rise vase, fill it with rocks, garnish it with the same air plant, and move it to the other apartment where it gets a lot of light in the morning. We had to recently move the house plant that used to sit on the kitchen table out to the patio. So there was plenty of space for this arrangement. I don’t have anything to put in the wall vase at this time but will probably get some fresh flowers at the grocery store tomorrow. It’s nice that have a “live” wall arrangement. It changes with the seasons and usually looks nice - except for the succulents and cactus. 

American Plant Cactus, Succulents, Air Plants for the Wall Vase?

I never cared for cactus plants. But the wall vase was standing empty since the tulips bloomed, opened, and disintegrated so quickly that we thought we might try something different. So we took a ride to American Plant to see what our options were. At this time of year we have tried orchids, but they never seem to last very long. The heat from the duct seems to blow right on anything near that wall. For the cut flowers it doesn’t seem to matter that much, but I’m sure it doesn’t help them either. I also wanted something that cascades and has some color. So we looked around and came upon a nice looking air plant that was a great size, but certainly not cheap. That would meet the cascading requirement. Then we checked out the cactus and succulent plants and found one with pink tones, and then matched it with a tiny flowering cactus with a pink flower. I really didn’t want to put dirt in the clear vases - I was hoping rocks would do. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. Both of the plants require dirt. So I mixed in the rocks and “planted” the cactus in each vase, then placed the air plant on top. Today I filled both “pots” with water, and sprayed the air plant as instructed and moistened the succulent. I don’t have a lot of hope for this arrangement, but maybe it will do better than we think. After all it does get a lot of sunlight, but not for the next several days. 

The Smithsonian Garden Party

As the seasons change so do the plants and flowers surrounding the Smithsonian Buildings on the National Mall. The newly renovated Arts and Industries Building has undergone a huge transformation. Not only the building itself was restored, but the gardens around it have been totally beautified. On the West side of the building an entire outdoor seating area was added. The newly potted plants and flowers have not yet been placed in their final spots, but it looks very inviting. Along the secret garden path is a wall of succulents featuring an array of colorful varieties. Interesting baskets hang from the trees in front of the castle. It reminds me of the Chicago Botanical Garden we visited several times - and each time creative ways to showcase vegetables and plants was not lost on any of us. I never get tired of looking at the exotic and ever changing scenes on the mall. This is only a small piece of it - and such a pleasant one.