Last week my Mom and I visited the Oak Park Conservatory. It had been over a decade since the last time I was there and it was a lot of fun to go back with her. [Read more…] about Oak Park Conservatory
Indoor Garden
Stapeia Gigantea – Giant Toad Plant
Stapeia gigantea, commonly called Giant Toad Plant, is a cactus like plant native to south eastern Africa. The greens of the Toad Plant have four angled deep ribs with toothed edges. They are clump-forming and can grow up to 8 inches long. The 5 petal star shaped flowers are pale yellow with thin red wrinkles, covered in a fuzzy hairs. These giant flowers can grow up to 12 inches wide and emit a deathly carrion odor. [Read more…] about Stapeia Gigantea – Giant Toad Plant
The Gift of Plants
For a person who loves growing plants, the gift of a new sprout is always such a lovely surprise. I’ve been lucky enough find this out first hand this past week and also times before. At the end of a particularly draining work week, my dear friend Shannon came over to hang out on the patio and she brought a wonderful surprise of a baby ‘Pilea peperomioides’ commonly known as a Chinese Money Plant. It’s got to be one of the cutest baby plants in town. [Read more…] about The Gift of Plants
Growing Ginger at Home – Part 1
I’ve always been a big fan of Ginger, so we seem to always have some on hand at home. While we do use it a lot in our cooking or to make teas, sometimes the root sits on the counter a little too long. This month we have neglected our ginger root and instead of shriveling up, the root has been sprouting into what looks like a beautiful start to a plant. This will be the first time I have bothered to attempt to grow my own Ginger roots at home. [Read more…] about Growing Ginger at Home – Part 1
Chopping Down the Pencil Plant
Over the years my Pencil Cactus ‘Euphorbia tirucalli’ has grown rather tall, so tall that it barely fits in a single image. Instead of growing as a thick pencily bush, my plant has grown upwards in spurts creating a lanky tree over four feet tall. As the soaringly high limbs began to droop over, I knew it would only be a matter of time before this plant could no longer hold it’s own head up. The decision was made – it was time to chop it down and propagate some new Pencil Cactus plants. [Read more…] about Chopping Down the Pencil Plant
Maple Tree Bonsai Forest
Okay, so over the winter some of my potted plants seem to suffer a little bit due to lack of sun or mis-watering, luckily most of them pull through and quickly thrive again as the days get warmer and longer. This year however, I had one major loss, like kind of devastating. Both of my Maple Tree Bonsais did not make it…
Bishop’s Cap Cactus
The Bishop’s Cap Cactus is a spineless cactus usually comprised of 5 ribs, although it can be anywhere from 3-7 ribs, which form a starlike globular shape. Down the center of each rib grows flocked trichomes, generally brown or white in color. More ribs may grow as it ages, it can grow up to three feet long. The flowers are generally pale yellow followed by a red fruit. [Read more…] about Bishop’s Cap Cactus
Tending to the Indoor Garden
My birthday is on April 11th, and while I tend to shy away from making a big deal of the day, the one thing I do really like to do is take some time to tend to my indoor garden and treat myself to a new plant. In Chicago the weather is generally just starting to warm up, it’s a perfect time to begin moving my houseplants out to the back porch for their summer vacation.