I really love having houseplants. My grandmother always had a whole bunch of houseplants by the sliding door in her house, including the little cactus puff that I once tried to grab like a baseball- I ended up paying the price and learning my lesson on that one. Not trying to sound too granola, but bringing some nature into my home really boosts my spirits. Living nature! In my home! It's green, it's fresh, they clean and purify the air, and hey- they're pretty!
I'm a researcher by nature. So I researched beneficial plants, and cross referenced them with the
ASPCA list of toxic and non-toxic plants. Because Jack really likes to nibble on greenery, and Abby... well, I don't think she'd hesitate to eat pretty much anything. So while I might not know the names of all these plants, I do know that they are for the most part* non-toxic to the babies! All you have to do is google the name of the plant and ASPCA- for example, "aspca english ivy" and it will pop right up to their site and let you know. I have it pulled up on my phone every time I shop for new plants- and I have definitely gone through 15 different plants over half an hour to find the perfect one- for both appearance/care/needs AND non-toxicity.
So, here's a quick tour of the greenery in our home thus far!
When you first enter our home, you're greeted by our ponytail palm. This one is also our newest plant! We just picked it up this weekend, as I have been wanting a bigger plant for what tiny little entry space we have. With a split-foyer, we don't have much of a landing- and I've been really working on making it feel more welcoming. This plant, which is the perfect size to fit in the corner where the door can't knock it, perfectly fit the bill. I bought the planter from Target and just dropped the store's container right in. I'll re-pot it eventually, but the weather's about to take a nasty turn and it's too darn cold and rainy for that right now.
Next, we move to the living room. This space was featured a recently in my "
Favorite Spaces" post. Back then, this was an empty pot of dirt, because the African Violets that had been residing there totally croaked over the winter. This pot is recycled from our wedding- the raku centerpieces were made by my dad, and the white ones were used on the head table, so I'm happy to be able to re-purpose something so lovely and with such meaning. This plant is
Fittonia "Superba"- dudes, I don't know. I bought it from Lowe's and searched it on the website and it said it was good. It's low/indirect light and claims to be easy to grow so I'm down.
My hanging plants! I was so proud of these. The little copper planters came from Urban Outfitters and were a Christmas gift. These plants are Peperomia "Isabella"- again, another Lowe's find. I wanted something interesting and drapey, and these were perfect. It was one plant that I split after originally wanting to get two different plants and not being able to find two pet-friendly ones. These are medium light, so they are right in front of the window. They've been there for a few months now and seem to be doing great!
This hyacinth bulb* was an impulse purchase last year. We got it from the grocery store of all places- it was super cheap and seemed like a cool idea. It grew, it flowered, it smelled and looked great, it fell over from it's own weight, and then it died. Me, being the lazy person that I am, broke off the dead dried up pieces and left it on the bar all winter. Now- guess what- it being a bulb and all, it's growing back! How cool is that? The amount of roots in the bottom has probably quadrupled since the winter.
Succulents!* I gave succulents to my bridesmaids when I asked them to join my bridal party, and kept the remainders for myself- so two of these babies have been going for over a year and a half. The Jade Plant (far left) is the newest addition. Sorry but I have no clue what the other two are. These are sitting on the window sill in my kitchen, right above the sink. The pots were a small project a few weekends ago- before, I had them in a skinny glass dish thing and I decided I wanted something cleaner and crisper. A few coats of white paint later and voila. Exactly the look I was going for.
But wait, there's more.. kind of.
What's this? What on earth could that be?
It is, in fact, the saddest and most scraggliest spider plant that ever did live. This is the second newest plant, and the most pathetic. On a snow day last week (yes, we had snow days last week), I went over to my parents' house and stole some of their spider plant pieces. I put the pieces in this giant pot (I have high hopes) and put that inside a basket. I'm really hoping it will start to grow and thrive and thicken up and fill out that pot and the basket, and eventually drape down over the china cabinet. But right now, it hardly even pokes over the sides of the basket at all. I put it in front of the windows during the day so it can soak up as much sunshine as possible. Spider plants are supposed to be great house plants- they're low maintenance and filter a bunch of crap out of the air. Apparently they also grow little white flowers, so that's cute.
That's all we've got for now! I still have a running "wish list" of plants on my phone. Someday my house will probably look like the secret garden. That's the end goal, anyway.
*The hyacinth is NOT non-toxic- which means it IS toxic to animals. It was the very first plant thing that we purchased, and I didn't know about the ASPCA site at the time. I keep it up and away from Abby and on a surface that Jack has never jumped on. Succulents are toxic on a case-by-case basis- some are and some aren't. Again, I've got these placed where Abby can't reach and Jack is way more interested in dangly type plants and has not expressed an interest in them.
.JPG)
.JPG)
.JPG)
