house plants

Easy, Low-Maintenance Houseplants
Inspiration

5 Beautiful, Foolproof Houseplants

We love having houseplants around, but they never seem to last very long under our care.
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We love having houseplants around, but they never seem to last very long under our care. In honor of black thumbs everywhere, we've rounded up five (very) low-maintenance options that will take more than a little neglect to kill.

Jade Plant Peace Lily Aloe Vera Spider Plant Christmas Cactus
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Exterior House Paint Colors
Link Time

Link Time: Foolproof Paint Palettes and Dreamy White Bedrooms

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Growing Tropical Plants in Cold Climates
Marketplace

Make Seasonal Plants Last Year-Round With Oversize Pots

Today, Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary posed with their children outside Grasten Castle.
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Today, Denmark's Crown Prince Frederik and Crown Princess Mary posed with their children outside Grasten Castle. The castle grounds are lush and lovely, but come Winter, it will be quite a different scene. Chilly temperatures and snow cover often mean that gardeners give up on planting favorite shrubs or vines that prefer a more temperate climate. In areas like Denmark, New York, Vermont, and other colder climates, jasmine, palms, and other favorites won't deal well with being outside year-round. Take a tip from the Danish royals and plant your favorite mild-temperature-loving outdoor plants in oversize pots. This way, you can move them indoors when the seasons change. To make things easier on your back, make sure to borrow a hand truck to transport plants from outdoors to indoors at the first sign of frost. Keep reading to see what famous Midwestern designer has used this same gardening technique.

Decorating With Orchids
Poll

Do You Decorate With Orchids?

For years, my experience with orchids was spotty at best.
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For years, my experience with orchids was spotty at best. Oftentimes they died shortly after blooming, and I never had any that rebloomed. But three years ago I was given an orchid that has, since that time, rebloomed eight times, and just this past week, another orchid displayed three new flowers. When I met with gardening expert Flora Grubb last week, she told me that the real secret to orchids is to leave them alone: don't repot them, and once they find a sunny spot that they like, leave them there. Apparently I'd been heeding this advice through simple laziness. Hey, if it works, why change?


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Do You Sing and Talk to Your Plants?
Poll

Do You Entertain Your Plants?

Have you ever whispered sweet nothings into the ear .
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Have you ever whispered sweet nothings into the ear . . . of a plant? If you're sheepishly nodding your head, you shan't be shy because chances are, you're not alone. While studies have shown that entertaining growing shrubs with music proves to liven their roots, it seems talking to them also does the trick. Our little green buds may not have a heart or blood pumping through their veins, but perhaps chlorophyll and bulbs need the same TLC that a newborn baby gets.

Time to 'fess up — do you entertain your plants or do you let them grow on their own?

HydroSpikes Water Your Plants When You're Away
product reviews

Casa Beta: HydroSpikes' Worry-Free Watering

Returning home after a fantastic vacation is disappointing, especially if you're greeted by a house full of dead plants.
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Returning home after a fantastic vacation is disappointing, especially if you're greeted by a house full of dead plants. For an upcoming trip, I'm planning ahead and instead of troubling a friend or paying someone to water my house plants, I picked up a product that seemed to be the perfect solution: HydroSpikes. I gave the automatic watering system a trial run to see if it really does the trick. To find out if I was impressed or not, just read more

How to Keep Your Indoor Plants at the Right Temperature
house plants

Casa Quickie: Evade the Drafts

Houseplants tend to be comfortable with the same temperatures their owners prefer.
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Houseplants tend to be comfortable with the same temperatures their owners prefer. They can handle the daytime heat, the nighttime chill, and, of course, room temperature. But just as you shrug your shoulders when brushed with a burst of chilly wind, houseplants can be decimated by a cold draft. So, you shouldn't keep yours near a drafty window, a door that is constantly opening and closing, or a window or wall that's poorly insulated. If need be you can make a draft blocker for your window or learn to fix a leaky door. Just remember to put yourself in your indoor plant's shoes.
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Cool Idea: I.V. Self-Watering Plant Pot
house plants

Cool Idea: I.V. Self-Watering Plant Pot

I once showed you how to make a self-watering planter from a recycled soda bottle, and while the DIY was pretty easy and inventive, I will admit it wasn't the most handsome pot I've ever seen.
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I once showed you how to make a self-watering planter from a recycled soda bottle, and while the DIY was pretty easy and inventive, I will admit it wasn't the most handsome pot I've ever seen. I'm not someone who thinks we should need to make sacrifices when it comes to good design, so I kept my eyes peeled and was silently hoping for a sexier alternative. Then came the Vitamin I.V. Self-Watering Planter ($375), an ingenious pot that comes with a refillable I.V. bag that regulates the flow of water to your plant with its drip feed. The lightweight fiberglass pot has a sleek, modern conical shape that's a far cry from the do-it-yourself look of that surgeried soda bottle. Unfortunately, I.V. is quite large (as is its price) at 12.5 x 21.25 inches, and is really meant to hold a tree, so now I'm not-so-silently hoping Vitamin will release a mini version for more petite plants.

Plants That Purify: Bamboo Palm
house plants

Plants That Purify: Bamboo Palm

We all could benefit from a cheap and beautiful way to improve a home's indoor air quality.
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We all could benefit from a cheap and beautiful way to improve a home's indoor air quality. That's why I'm bringing you an ongoing series on house plants that are particularly good at purifying the air.

Next up in our series is the bamboo palm.


To find out more about this hardy house plant, just read more