I choose the houseplants we carry with home decor in mind. Not to be fancy and difficult but to add “sparkle”, and luxury, and pop to your home with something unique but simple. At the same time, the benefits of caring for and having live plants in your home, add so much to more than decor, but your overall well-being, some of those benefits include; reducing stress and fatigue, boosting moods, productivity, and concentration; plants add life to sterile spaces, increase humidity, clean the air by absorbing toxins and producing oxygen plus, they are therapeutic to care for. A lot of the plants we carry are sometimes hard to come by I order when I’m notified of what’s in. I will list on this page what plants will be available every couple of weeks with a brief description and why I chose them.
** Please note that pre-orders are accepted, however, we have to charge full price upon ordering to keep inventory levels on par.
The first time I saw this beauty was in a garden center I managed. I was visiting the Greenhouse to check in with the manager. Before I reached her, I was greeted by a cascading veil of delicate tiny white flowers, gracefully falling over the plant, a cousin of the Wandering Jude. This pretty girl hung above me in the full indirect sunlight. What stopped me in my tracks wasn’t the gorgeous deep dark greens and purples that made up its succulent-like leaves, but the tiny white flowers that seemed to be sprinkled over the foliage, literally creating a veil. Like most women, this girl loves the light, indirect, but does not like the heat. Her succulent-like leaves keep her hydrated, only needing to be watered once every 7-9 days. She prefers dry soil, I used a mix of regular potting soil and Epsoma’s cactus mix (available at most garden centers and Home Depot) She is most beautiful standing alone on a pedestal or in a hanging basket at eye level.
I brought her home that day. Finding the perfect container to enhance her beauty but not take away from it was key. I found one of my old vintage cement Pedestal urns to showcase her fullness and that cascading veil. I keep her inside during cooler months and out on the deck, out of direct sun in the warmer season. TIP: hang (any of ) your baskets low. The idea is to view the plant and its flowers in their entirety, NOT the bottom of a white or green plastic container.
This unique houseplant is special to me, I rescued one in the basement lunchroom of a garden center I worked in. It sat alone behind a salt and pepper shaker set, on the round lunch table, like a stray dog that gets looked over at the pound with a sign that read, "Free to good home", it was a 3", barely standing leaf, or at least it looked like it was just a leaf. There was one fuzzy leaf weighing down a tiny stem, in a 1" diameter terracotta pot. I had no idea what the plant was, I was new to the garden world. Because my mom was a self-taught Master Gardener and knew everything about plants and flowers. I thought I could bring this back to life. No clue what I was in for. That was 2017, 3 re-pottings later, I have discovered this cousin of the African Violet, not only grows beautiful fuzzy short green stems and leaves but springs out these thread-like shoots throughout the plant, that cascade out and over. I thought when I first saw these shoots, the plant was dying, the shoots are reddish-brown. Because I didn't know, I didn't do anything but wait and watch. A couple of days later, the most beautiful, Concord grape-colored flowers popped out of the end of each of the shoots. Today, 6 years later, my "Strep" lives in a 17" glazed container on my glass table. Soaking up 6-8 hours of dappled sunlight. I water it once a week-10 days. I've propagated stems a few times and given them as hostess gifts, they are always a hit! These lovelies come in the purple shade I mentioned, red, and white.
Because I grew up in Maryland, I spent many years on the Eastern Shore; ocean, bay, marsh, sun, heat, humidity, locally caught seafood, standing on a dock with a chicken leg tied to a piece of rope, dangling in the water, a net in hand in hopes of catching a crab; walking along the beaches collecting seashells of all shapes, sizes and colors...We are in a prime area that has a wide gardening zone range, which means I have access to many options of plants and flowers, in all shapes, sizes, and colors. Being surrounded by coastal landscapes and water, the Golden Oyster plant is a perfect fit for any in or outdoor decor, especially in coastal homes. These plants have a lifespan of up to 25 years, are adaptable and easy to care for. The colors are golden with sometimes an ombre plum hue combined on a variegated leaf. They are also known as "Moses in the Basket" because of the way the leaves cradle the small white flowers inside of their joints.
The Aloe became one of my favorite plants when my mother gave me the one she had for over 25 years! I took it home not knowing how to care for it. I placed in the house, where there was very little sun, overwatered, under watered, moved outside, and back in. Nothing seemed to be working. Summer was approaching, so I repotted her with regular potting soil and mixed in some succulent soil. Placed her in a spot on the front stoop where the sun hit directly for at least 6 hours. Literally, by midsummer, she was, and I am not exaggerating, about 3' in diameter and 2' tall. She was in her glory. The growth continued until I brought her inside, which was fine, but she wasn't in the same light or heat, I overwatered her and honestly ignored her a bit. Her leaves started to dry out and turn brown, wilted a lot, and weren't as "succulent" as they are meant to be. One day the cable guy was at the house. When he was leaving, he said, "I can help your Aloe." He took out a pair of wire cutters and started clipping the aloe all the way back to the nub of each leaf, he moved her to the sunniest spot in the house, added some new soil, and gave her a bit of water. She was a sad sight, not one of her long beautiful full shoots was left, just a thick stubby root with rough edges. The cable guy was leaving and said "Trust me, she'll come back". Honestly, I didn't believe him, he was 21, and my Aloe was completely unrecognizable. He was right I followed his instructions to just leave her alone, only watering once every 10-14 days. It took a while, but she came back and she is gorgeous again, that was 3 years ago.