Indoor Plant Care - How to Houseplant Care

House Plants at Gate C7 - Airport Adventures Sure a lot of people that really like to  ‪#‎ grow‬   ‪#‎ houseplants‬ !  I was at the local international airport on Friday, taking care of plants and replacing some #Pothos with Hoyas. The new plants were so full that I had to drastically prune them to fit in their new containers.  I left all of the cuttings on my cart on the concourse and when I came back there was a woman stuffing all of the  ‪#‎ Hoya‬  cuttings into one of her pieces of luggage. I just had to laugh.  Nice to know that so many people  ‪#‎ love‬  #houseplants.  Hope she made it to her flight on time!

Rhapis Palm with Insect Problem Indoor Potted Palm Problem A recent email from Ernestine about a plant problem that needs a solution...  My Rhapis Palm has mealy bugs as there are white masses on leaves and stems.  I have sprayed with Confidor two or three times, but, the palm still has white areas on leaves and stems.  Could you suggest a better solution for me to attack this pesty little beast!!! Thank you for reading my notation. Ernstine, It sure looks like mealy bug but could possibly be some kind of scale. I personally would just wipe this off with a sponge or rag with some water/alcohol mixture or water/soap mixture. Another option is a hard spray from a hose to just rinse them off. This is best done outside, of course and must be repeated. Mealybugs are hard to get rid of and the only other things I might use would be Safers Insecticidal Soap or 1600 X-clude. Don’t know if they are available where you live but if you do use them, make sur...

Do you love to  ‪#‎ travel‬  and also love  ‪#‎ plants‬ ?  Love to visit the local  ‪#‎ botanical‬  gardens when you visit someplace new? If you happen to be in the vicinity of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, you might want to set aside a few hours to visit  ‪#‎ LongwoodGardens‬ .  The grounds of Longwood Gardens encompasses over 1,000 acres of woodlands, meadows, gardens and fountains. Spring and summer are great seasons to visit as many plants and flowers will be in glorious bloom! Longwood Gardens, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania The largest conservatory in the U.S. is located at Longwood Gardens with 4.5 acres of wonderful plant life to enjoy. And please don't miss the Orchid Room in the conservatory, a grand collection of more than 9,000 plants. Sounds like a wonderful trip! And if you visit in September, plan to take in the 30th Annual Mushroom Festival on September 12 and 13, 2015. Known as the mushroom capital of the world, this ...

Beautiful Blue Orchids Everytime I go into the local home improvement store, I automatically gravitate to the greenhouse area. It is my favorite area to walk through and enjoy all of the displays and the lovely plants. Even though I spend all day caring for tropical plants on commercial accounts, I still love to browse through the tropical potted plants and the orchids are some of my favorites. But I guess everyone loves orchids , how could you not?! You can grow these beauties in your home and they add so much to any room for such a small tropical plant. If you find you have brought one of these blooming beauties home and now wonder how to care for it, well maybe I can help out. If you are thinking of acquiring an Orchid, it is handy to know some things to look for when you buy. When your Orchid arrives home, you should place it in a window, if possible. East or West facing spots are ideal but be sure to protect it from hot afternoon sun. Direct sun, especially through...

To attain peace and harmony, you need only accept them into your heart... Such a simple concept, it is hard to understand why there is so much unrest in the world today.

Cute, unique decorative planters... Saw these cute and quite interesting planters while browsing around the internet. While they may not be ideal for all indoor plants, as there are some that really don't do well when they get water in the leaves, they certainly are more fun than just pouring some water into the soil. Maybe use them on your deck, in the sunroom or on the patio?? What do you think of these planters? Would you use them? What would you plant in them? See more about these unique, decorative planters ...

Warneckii A recent letter from a PlantAndFlowerInfo.com visitor: "Hello. When I purchased this plant it was distressed and about 1 foot tall. It is now 7'2" tall. Is it a type of Dracaena? It's in an 18" pot. It does not have a woody looking stem. The leaves are 20" long, and are dark green down the center, with a small white stripe on each side of the dark green, and then a lighter colored green on the outside of the leaf. I would like to know the name of the plant. Can I cut it shorter? Can I plant the piece I cut off? Any advice you can give me would be greatly appreciated. Attached are 2 pictures - one is a full view and the other is a close-up of a leaf. Thank you very much. Hortie" Close up of Dracanea Warneckii leaf At first, I had not received the attached pictures and replied that it sounded like a Dracaena Warneckii. Eventually the pictures confirmed that it is a Dracaena Warneckii .  Yes, you can cut or prune the stalks back ...

Poinsettia Plant Every Christmas season  for twenty or more years, I have had hundreds of these lovely "flowers" in my care.They are delicate and fragile and you must use care when handling them. Place them out of high traffic areas and away from places where they might get a cold draft. If you are moving them during cold weather be sure to enclosed them in a loose fitting sleeve or plastic bag. Just be careful not to break them. They are quite fragile and easy to damage. When shopping for  your Poinsettia, be sure the bracts are well colored up. For maximum use of your flowering Christmas Poinsettia, the flower, small and yellow in the center of the bracts, should be.... read more about Poinsettias

Use beautiful greenery in your office space Adding plants to your office is something that every employee (and business owner and employer) should want to do. The benefits, both physical and psychological are evidenced in numerous scientific studies. The cost savings are also significant enough for any cost conscious  business owner to sit up and take notice. Many people working in an office environment surround themselves with reminders of home. That often includes house plants. Whether you bring your own and care for them yourself or engage the services of a local interior landscape company, every office should include beautiful potted plants. Improve your environment and help clean the air, add indoor tropical plants to your work space! Click through for more about why plants are good to have in the office. Then come visit us at  www.PlantAndFlowerInfo.com  to read about lots of different plants that you can put in your work place.

Welcome to the New Orleans Botanical Garden. From the 1930s to today, we're proud to offer the city of New Orleans carefully cultivated gardens. Open year round, twelve acres of gardens and art await you. Whether you are a local or a tourist, make sure to  take a leisurely stroll through our many gardens. We know you'll see something new each visit and always leave with a smile. After you visit the New Orleans Botanical Garden, come see us over at www.PlantAndFlowerInfo.com  to learn more about your favorite house plants...

Photo by WK Fletcher Doing some research on rare orchids, I came across a few news articles regarding the discovery of a rare orchid in 1987. Paphiopedilum rothschildianum, also known as The Gold of Kinabalu Orchid or the Rotchschild's Orchid is believed to grow in the wild in only one location. If you want to see this beautiful slipper orchid growing in the wild, you will have to visit the Kinabalu National Park in Malaysia. That is quite a journey from the east coast of the United States. Following is some information from Wikipedia about the Malaysian Park. "Kinabalu Park  or  Taman Kinabalu  in  Malay , established as one of the first  national parks of Malaysia  in 1964, is Malaysia's first  World Heritage Site  designated by  UNESCO  in December 2000 for its "outstanding universal values" and the role as one of the most important biological sites in the world with more than 4,500 species of flora and fauna, including ...

Beautiful Orchids Do you love orchids? I know that I do. Although many of them need a special environment that not everyone can provide, that doesn't mean we can't enjoy the unique beauty of these wonderful plants. We most often use Phalaenopsis orchids in our interior landscapes and that is the type I usually keep at home but there are thousands of types of orchids. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see many of these all in one place? If you live in the Santa Barbara, California area or plan a visit or trip to the area, you might want to consider stopping in at the Santa Barbara Orchid Estate . Check them out and be amazed at the scope of orchids they have on display and for sale. As an additional bonus , there is an annual orchid show in Santa Barbara. The 70th Annual Santa Barbara International Orchid Show will take place March 13-15, 2015. There will be an art show and sale, information on flower arrangement and exotic displays and, of course, orchids to see an...

Norfolk Island Pine The Norfolk Island Pine is a versatile plant. It can be used as a unique indoor potted plant, a decorative focal point on your patio as a container plant and it is often decorated with miniature ornaments and used as a holiday tree. Yes, the holidays are almost here. The poinsettias will soon be out and the Christmas trees and other holiday decorations will be showing up everywhere. Time sure does fly! The 2014 holiday season is about to begin... An evergreen tree native to Norfolk Island in the Pacific Ocean, the Norfolk Island Pine, or Araucaria heterophylla , is often used as an indoor live Christmas tree during the holiday season. We often give these out during the holidays to our great interior landscape customers.  Read more about the Norfolk Island Pine...

Cute and simple way to display plants This interior design and architecture website has some interesting ideas for displaying indoor tropical plants. Believe it or not, there is one display that combines a dog house and plant container. Wonder if they make one for the cats? You could grow catnip in the planter. If you have lots of cats that could get kind of crazy! Take a look at these ideas, you will no doubt find something that catches your interest. Visit Homedit.com website for some plant display ideas. If you need help, advice or assistance with your house plants, you can come and visit us at  www.PlantAndFlowerInfo.com .... Let us know if you have an inventive or creative way to display your plants!

Dracaena Warneckii One of the easiest to care for indoor house plants is the Dracaena Warneckii . Besides being an easy care house plant it also quite attractive and will survive in lower light situations and tolerate some watering mistakes and a little neglect. Of course, you should not neglect your house plants and you should provide the best lighting and watering that you can. To illustrate my point I have a little indoor plant story or two to tell. I just love to tell silly plant stories! The first interior landscape company that I worked for as an interior plant technician was Tiffany's Decorative Plants in Fremont, California. This company no longer exists as it was eventually bought out by the larger interior landscape company called Ambius . Back to my Warneckii story... One of the accounts that I serviced for Tiffany's was a french restaurant called Papillon on Mission Blvd. in Fremont, California. Intended to be a romantic place to eat, the inter...

Hi New Plant People, Pothos Marble Queen Plant This is for the folks that are new to the business of interior plant care. I often receive emails from readers that are having problems with their indoor house plants. This is how they generally read: " I am new to houseplants and have just gotten my first indoor potted plant. It was love at first sight. I have never had a plant before so I was so happy to bring it home. I got her a new pot, some soil and potted it up as soon as I could. Now it is not doing so well. Can you tell me what is wrong with my plant?"  Just a few tips for starting in the fun of indoor gardening. It can be addictive and since most plants cost money it is wise to use a little common sense when acquiring new additions to the family. Indoor plants are something like a new puppy. Dog professionals will tell you that you need to research the dog breeds before you bring a new pup home. They each have different needs, energy levels, ...

National Orchid Garden-Singapore If you live in or are travelling in Southeast Asia and you are a plant lover, you might want to take in the wonderful flora and fauna at the Singapore Botanic Gardens . The botanic garden, an oasis in the highly urbanized Republic of Singapore, boasts a diversity of plant life for visitors to enjoy. There are many sections of the garden including the Rain Forest, the National Orchid Garden, Bonsai Garden, The Healing Garden and the Fragrant Garden. The  National Orchid Garden has over 1000 orchid species and 2000 orchid hybrids on display. Orchids have been associated with the gardens since 1859 and many of the Orchids are products of their orchid breeding program, which began in 1928. Showcasing over 400 medicinal plants, the Healing Gardens was designed as a tranquil respite. The main focus is on medicinal plants used traditionally in Southeast Asia. Come in and enjoy the peaceful serenity of the garden. Located near the Healing Gar...

Plants And Birdcage Carol at TheGardeningCook.com shows some attractive and inventive ways to combine birdcages and plants! Take a look at her website and join her as she cooks and gardens her way through life! Great ideas, Carol! The birdcage shown here uses quite a few succulents but there are many other ideas waiting to be discovered there. I wonder if the birds flock to Carol's place to get into her birdcages... Try some of these cute and creative ways to display your favorite outdoor plants. Come to think of it, this is a great way to display your hanging indoor plants too. If you decide to fill your birdcage with an  English Ivy , a Philodendron Cordatum or some other great indoor plant but find you are having some trouble with its care, stop in at PlantAndFlowerInfo.com for some houseplant care information and personal advice if you need it. Happy Tuesday, everyone!

Croton Petra - Codiaeum variegatum Croton houseplants  are one of the more colorful indoor tropical plants. It is hard not to notice this bushy, upright plant because of the vividly colored foliage. The Croton, or Codiaeum variegatum pictum , has leaves splashed with green, orange and red with the veins often yellow, depending on the variety. Sometimes referred to as Joseph's Coat  because of its many colors, Croton is a member of the Euphorbia plant family. One of its relatives is the  Poinsettia , Euphorbia pulcherrima. Read more about Croton plant...

With a working farm, childrens garden, Orchid and bromeliad displays and great nature trails for walking, you might want to plan a visit to Denver Botanic Gardens in Littleton, Colorado. And everyone loves a Corn Maze and Pumpkin Festival, part of the gardens fall fun. When you arrive home and find your indoor plants need some attention, come and visit  www.PlantAndFlowerInfo.com . But first  Enjoy Denver Botanic Gardens !