The Plant Lady-feeling Hyggely!

There actually was a day, many moons ago, that if you had known me then, you might have called me the “plant lady.” Popular back in the 70’s and 80’s but like everything, house plants kind of went out of style, and as mine slowly died off, because of my lack of desire to maintain them any longer, I simply stopped buying them. I had always had a bit of a green thumb, and had much success with my plants, but I lost interest. Even after house plants disappeared off the market, I was still full on planting outdoors. Gardening to me is like therapy, kind of like painting. Outdoors is different somehow, but that is an entirely different topic. Anyway……If you are anywhere online, Instagram, Facebook, or even Magazines and Catalogs, you have likely noticed that House Plants are gaining in popularity in the last couple of years. About 2 1/2 years ago I told my husband I wanted to get a few, and he was totally on board, and all about it. I wanted to take my time and only add in a few at a time. I didn’t want to turn back into the Plant Lady, just add in a few here and there. After all they are actually good for you, since they remove toxins from the air.

*Just a note -in case you didn’t know. Adding things from Nature into your home is very Hyggely. The Danish like to bring as many things from Nature as they can, into their homes. They are the masters of layering all these Hyggely things. Plants, pinecones, nuts, twig, branches, flowers, you name it, bring it in and layer it into your home, for a warm and cozy Hygge Home.

Anyway, we started going every weekend to pick up just a few at a time. I did find a few at Lowe as well. It was quite early in the season, January as I recall that this journey started. We went  to a local Garden Center, and even they didn’t have a huge selection. The sales girl, said the end of February to early March, there supply would start to build up stock again. But I found a few, and she was there to share some tips. I always used Miracle Grow Potting Soil in the past, but she shared that there were too many chemicals in that mix, to use on Houseplants. Outdoors was better for that, where the rain would come and wash away the chemicals, so they didn’t burn the roots. So we picked up some organic soil, she did say I could mix a bit of the Miracle Grow, 1-part Miracle Grow to 2-parts Organic if I didn’t have enough. I asked for her input on choosing the correct plants, and she shared that most House Plants fall into the category of needing low light. She suggested watering a little, every day. I will try this, but I tend to forget a day now and then, so we will see how that goes. Let me add here, that I now water most once a week on a Wednesday we will call it, “Water Wednesday” if I forget then its “Thirsty Thursday” and by Friday its “Fried Friday”, I do check in on my plants and if I see a need I take care of it, but it rarely happens. Just when I think I might need an early watering day, they seem to make it.

Let me add, that I love and adore Faux Plants, but they are really expensive. It might be a good idea to have a mix  of real and faux, that way if any die off, you still have something going on. Or use a few in an area that would be hard to reach to water but could use a little green. I have one on top of my Living Room Armoire.

***SIDENOTE Anyway, all that to say, here we are over two years later, thats right, I started writing this post over two years ago, then my life went upside down, you know how it goes. But I’m back and I am still buying plants. YIKES Let me add here, that I did run into an issue over the Holidays, I felt like my plants suddenly looked out of place, once my Christmas decor came out. I am thinking find a spot somewhere in a room out of the way, where you can group them together for a long winters nap. Well, sort of, you will still need to water them. I neglected two little ferns and they died. #badplantmom This year I will gather some in my Study in a large grouping, but some I plan to use as decor, so I will incorporate them into my Christmas decor. The truth is as my little plant family has grown I see them as being part of my home. Last year I scattered them and just lost touch, and I lost a few.

I have continued on my journey to crave more plants, and I’ve added a many more this year, ever since Corona virus came, I have been ordering like a crazy plant lady should. I am doing much better taking care to water them. I bought into the theme of #waterwednesday . Ha Ha I realized some of the plants I was desiring to own wouldn’t work in my home, and I had to let it go. You do need to consider your natural light, and your open space. You only need some basic knowledge to keep a plant alive. And now there are even a few online shops that ship right to your door. Consider the following, thesill.com and fast-growing-trees.com are both great online options, even Amazon.com offers Live plants for sale. But my favorite resource is probably Etsy, there is just such a good selection, and I love that you can build a relationship with the grower there, and even shoot them a question about care.

This is just a sampling of the plants I have, I also have a whole little collection of baby plants, and some sweet ferns in my bedroom, that I will share soon. I thought maybe you guys would enjoy a little more in-depth discussion about the care of these plants. Let me know here or over on Instagram @thecultivatedhome

Thanks for stopping by the Blog

Tammy Damore