2014 January

Working with interior plants, my friends assume that I must also be a florist. This is flattering, but not the case. Floristry is an exquisite profession that I have not mastered (but definitely something I may peruse in the future).

Anyways, when a best friend asked me to help decorate for her baby shower I was thrilled to put my creative touch on a room filled with lots of pink and girliness. Although, since I was not using cut flowers as center pieces, I turned to my trusty succulent plants!

As a busy and practical person, I saw one of the main advantages of using succulents as center pieces was their resiliency. Succulents could be planted well in advance and would sit pretty for weeks or months before the event! This is not the case with cut flowers. Succulents were obviously the best answer!

I used grey clay pots that I had in my garage. Rose-colored reindeer moss to add a pop of soft girliness and of course pinwheels to keep in the baby shower theme. Making the pinwheels was something I was also able to do in advance. I used a great step by step website to create these adorable decorations.

Who knows, maybe ENVIRONMENTS BY MIKO needs to add party decorating to it’s list of services. An Interior Plant Service Business with Interior Party Decor Services! I like the sound of it!

Other fun decor ideas we incorporated into the party, as well as a pic of the Mama-to-be shown below:

Other than the trusty Orchid and trusty Bromeliad plants, clients always ask me what blooming plants we can bring into their homes and offices. Interior spaces typically do not have ideal conditions for most flowering plants, but there are a few that I love. I would recommend trying one or a few of them to see which does best in your indoor space. Most of these plants will live for years if you care from them properly and give them the conditions they need. Some of them will bloom year-round, while others bloom for a season.

My first Blooming Interior Plant has beautiful green succulent foliage year-round with the bonus of delicate flowers in the spring and/or summer. It is the Hoya Plant. This is by far one of the most interesting of the blooming interior green plants indoors because of it’s glossy succulent leaves and it’s unique flowers. There are many varieties of Hoya Plants, they are also known as Wax Plant or Star Clusters. Some varieties have variegated leaves, some have delicate thin leaves and some even have clusters of hanging branches that resemble rope!

They do great in hanging baskets in bright indirect light or on a shady patio. The flowers only bloom once a year and you won’t want to miss the bloom! They look like little pink candies on an often furry star all clustered together. Probably one of the cutest indoor plants with flowers!

Another Interior Blooming Plant I love is the Lipstick Plant. It’s name is a great descriptor of it’s flowers. When the flowers first emerge they start as a purple lipstick case, then as it matures, you’ll notice the RED LIPSTICK coming out of the center part. It’s definitely one of the coolest blooms I’ve ever seen.

The Lipstick plant does great in a hanging basket or in a bowl on a table where it’s arms can hang down. It loves bright indirect light and blooms typically in the Spring and Summer. I feel especially bonded to this plant because growing up, my Mom had one growing in our bathroom for years and since it had a perfect environment, it seemed like it bloomed year-round!

A tried and true blooming plant that seems to last forever is the Anthurium Plant. These beautiful plants sit upright and come in Red, White, Pink and Purple. Florists use them for their long lasting blooms. The leaves and flowers have a glossy, almost waxy sheen. I love finding unusual colors and sometimes I come across flowers with color combinations!

Keep your anthurium on the dry side and give them bright indirect light. I’ve had anthurium plants that live for years and bloom all year!

I can’t leave out one of the most common used interior blooming plants on the market, the Spathiphyllum Plant aka Peace Lily. This beautiful blooming plant has dark green glossy foliage and elegant white blooms. It LOVES water and will talk to you if you don’t water it enough!

Spathiphyllums come in different varieties with different size leaves. Typically, the smaller the leaf, the more blooms you’ll get. So, although the large leaf varieties are gorgeous just for their leaves, if you’re looking for flowers, then choose a variety that has smaller leaves and you’ll get flowers most of the year.

One plant that you really can’t ignore despite that fact that your Grandmother or Mother had a collection of them in a bay-window throughout your childhood, is the African Violet Plant. When this plant is happy it blooms all year-round! And you can’t deny that the flowers and furry leaves aren’t adorable. I just love the bright purple varieties.

African Violets don’t like their leaves wet, so they prefer to be watered from a saucer or self-watering container. They love the morning sun. So find a window that gives good morning sun and they will thrive forever!

Lastly, a discrete bloomer, the Goldfish Plant. It has small orange flowers year-round! It’s nice to have a plant that blooms consistently with glossy healthy leaves year-round. Many people buy this plant just for the foliage and then the flowers are an extra perk! I love how low maintenance this plant is because although it drops flowers, it’s easy to maintain. Initially it will grow upright, but eventually, the arms will sprawl and crawl.