Plants for indoors

Dress ups

There’s nothing like a festive home environment to keep spirits high during the busy build up to Christmas.

By the time the partying, shopping and Christmas baking is done, it might feel like there’s no time left to deck the halls, but let’s not make it hard for ourselves. Dressing up the décor, or creating a gift for someone special, has never been easier!

Garden centres are filled with everything you need to make your home look loved. Colourful houseplants offer a quick and easy way to add instant freshness and glamour, but don’t just stop at the plant. A wide choice of decorative ceramic pots offers something for every colour scheme, and it’s a low stress way to add your personal touch to a gift.

Don’t mess about repotting. Simply choose your favourite plant and a pick out a pot to slip it into. Build a collection of cheerful ceramic pots to have on hand so that you will always have something ready to dress up a flowering plant. Used with florist’s foam, they also make great vases.

When the plant you were given for Christmas stops flowering, don’t wait for Mother’s Day for a replacement!  Think of flowering plants as very long lasting, value for money, cut flowers. When they stop flowering, don’t stress. Just buy a new one! Beautiful flowering plants are available in garden centres all year round.

Holiday houseplant tips

Before you go away on holiday take some simple steps to protect your plants from heat and water stress.

• Thoroughly soak plants about a week before you leave. Submerge the pots in a sink filled with water until the bubbles stop rising.
• Move all houseplants to a cool south facing room where they receive only indirect light.
• The day before you go, water the plants thoroughly again.
• If security allows, leave a window open for ventilation.
• Water storage granules help both indoor and outdoor container plants survive summer. Poke holes a few centimetres deep in the mix and drop three or four granules into each hole. Cover them with potting mix, then water. Ideally, this should be done a few weeks before you go away.

Classey choices include those pictured

• Bromeliad
• Begonia
• Anthurium
• Gerbera

Other options

• Elegant moth orchids, Phalaenopsis, are among the easiest orchids to care for indoors. Place them in bright indirect light. To provide the humid conditions they love, sit plants on a dish of decorative pebbles with water. Choose from a wide range of mouth-watering colour combos.
• Indoor Roses were bred to bloom with lower light levels, but unlike many indoor plants they will thrive in direct sun and are great for pots outdoors. Keep plants well watered and feed with liquid fertiliser to encourage continuous flowering.

 

Look for these products, tips and advice at a Go Gardening Store near you.

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Feature article from Rainbow Park Nurseries. For further information and more inspirational planting ideas, visit www.rainbowpark.co.nz

Bromeliad
Colourful, funky bromeliads are a refreshing new look for indoors and will flower for months. Place them in bright indirect light and water via their central vase.

Begonia
Begonias are available in a range of gorgeous rich colours including white, lemon, pink, red and vibrant orange. They add instant cheer to a living room, out-flowering cut flowers by many weeks.

Anthurium
Classy Anthuriums are long lasting and multi-flowering. Simply place them in bright indirect light and allow the potting mix to dry out bewtween watering. Pick from a range of gorgeous colours.

Gerbera
Cheerful indoor gerberas flower for months. Their compact size makes them ideal as table centrepieces, indoors or out. Place them in sun and feed with liquid fertiliser to encourage further flowering.