Bringing the Garden Indoors

No I don’t mean children and dogs trailing in wet leaves and mud from outside but how to look after your plants in the house over winter.

I brought my houseplants back indoors a few weeks ago before the autumn storms, along with bowls of bulbs to start into growth for Christmas and early spring flowering.

Finding the right place for each variety is crucial, south facing windows get most light but mine have the radiators positioned beneath them (not good for plants). Cacti and succulents most need the light and warmth.  Our centrally heated homes generally dry out the atmosphere so by clustering or grouping plants together on a tray creates a microclimate for their benefit. Humid bathrooms can be a good place – my brother has a cyclamen of venerable age in his that flowers every year. Shade tolerant aspidistra, and spathiphyllum (peace lily) will happily sit in the gloomier cooler north facing rooms.

If you have the space and grow lights to counteract the diminishing length of daylight it is possible to start off your houseplants from seed. From spectacular Bird of Paradise to the intriguing ‘sensitive plant’ mimosa pudica or the unusual cuphea ignea ‘cigar’ plant, cyclamen, cacti and lithops, the choice is yours. Coleus make excellent plants for the house, their vibrant leaves in glowing combinations of colours and patterns. These are just weeks old.  

Planting up bulbs for Christmas flowering is always tricky timing, but delightful when you get it right. There’s no reason why you should not plant all manner of bulbs for an early show, both indoors and out, in decorative bowls to weatherproof containers.  Amaryllis, hyacinths, crocuses and daffodils are in stock, others to add might be muscari, dwarf irises and anemones. (November is promoted as the best month to plant tulips to avoid fungal Tulip Fire)