Hibiscus

Hibiscus

January 8, 2015

Back in 2011, we had our last house on the market so I bought a couple of potted hibiscus from Walmart to grace the front porch.  We brought them with us when we moved.  The funny thing is, hibiscus is not tolerant to temperatures lower than 50°F so they must have been selling them as a seasonal item, likely brought in by mistake as they would not survive our winters if planted outdoors.  One of the hibiscus died but the other has survived, still rewarding me with beautiful showy blooms year round.  I have been moving it to the front porch for June through September then bringing it in the rest of the year. 

While we were away for October and five weeks spanning November and December, our thermostat was set to vacation mode (55°F).  It's a Nest so we checked the temperature in the house to be sure it didn't drop lower than 55°F.  The hibiscus was on the lower level so even though the main level stayed above 55°F, the lower level likely hovered right around 50°F.  Unfortunately, the cooler temperature affected a couple of house plants but I only lost one that was doing poorly before we left.  The cooler temperature did not affect the hibiscus at all!  The hibiscus needs a bit of TLC but weathered through our vacation nicely.

My First New Houseplant at Our New Home

First New Houseplant at Our New Home

October 12, 2011

The beauty of houseplants is aside of adding life and vitality to a room while softening the hard edges of the room is they can be used to camouflage those little room idiosyncrasies that can be a bit annoying.  When the Bell satellite television installer ran our lines he made the assumption we would place the television in the corner thus hiding the large switch box.  The problem was there was no furniture in the room.  We want the television on the end wall, not in the corner so my husband straightened the wires then we did a bit of camouflaging with an endtable and larger plant.

The main television room is open to the dining room so it can carry a larger plant nicely.  A couple of the local stores have houseplants on sale so I've been taking advantage of the sales buying houseplants as I find a spot for them.  The first houseplant I bought was this beautiful tropical.  It is in the palm family but did not have a tag for positive identification.  The palm is about three and a half feet tall.  It  does just what it was intended to do, looking quite happy in it's new home.  Now I need to find a nice decorative pot for the palm to sit in.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2011

Calla Lily (Zantedischia)

Calla Lily 

(Zantedeschia)

May 7, 2010

My husband surprised me with a Calla Lily on the weekend.   Calla lilies are not actual lilies but rather are comprise of 28 herbaceous flowing plant species in the Zantedschia genus originating in the marshlands of South Africa.   They are actually considered weeds there!  They grow from bulbs (rhizomes) that spread by producing more bulbs.  The new bulbs can be dug up an replanted in another location.  Calla lilies are quite hardy and will grow in most soil conditions as long as the climate is humid enough.  They can reach a height of 1 to 2.5 m tall with large leaves.  The inflorescence ranges in colours including white, yellow or pink funnel shaped spathe with a central yellow spa.  My calla lily have a yellow with reddish streaked spathe.  Calla lilies should be kept out of reach of children and pets as all parts of the plant contain calcium oxalate that will cause irritaion and swelling of the mouth and throat, acute vomiting and diarrhea.

The Calla lily is rather a low maintenance plant requiring little care.   The soil should be kept damp at all times but not too wet to cause the bulb to rot.  The nursery suggested repotting this calla lily into a larger pot.  It can spend the nicer weather outdoors if desired.  While the calla lily will survive a minor frost I will be bringing mine indoors before the threat of any frost in the fall.

Happy Gardening!

Garden Gnome
©2006-2010