Interior Gardening - What Exactly is That?

Gardening has been around as long as people started working the soil for food. Over the many thousands of years, it has become an important aspect of thousands of lives. Getting one's hands dirty in the soil is both rewarding and therapeutic. Having those wonderful growing things outside is only available to those of folks who live in more tropical climates. Here in the temperate zone it is seasonal. For those anxious to get out side and dig can have the same wonderful experiences during the off growing seasons as well. We can garden inside.

Even though it would be great to harvest those fresh vine-ripened tomatoes in January, without a greenhouse, this is a very difficult feat. That does not mean, however, that we cannot harvest other produce from plants grown in out living rooms and sun rooms; tropical citrus. Tropical plants are a huge business in Florida and California, where tropical plant growers ship specimens all over the country and even the world for interior growth.

I am one of those people that have the need to get my hands dirty year round. I have always been around growing things from the time I helped my Mom water the violets to weeding the tomato rows in summer. So, it was only natural that I become a Horticulturist for a profession.

My forte became interior houseplants, those tropical plants that can thrive in our not so tropical environments. Unlike most other gardeners I have known in garden clubs that spend all winter savoring the newest hybrid tomato or pepper pictures in catalogs, I keep growing all year long in my interior gardens. Even though many of these folks have houseplants, their main focus is on the outdoor beds. Many of the houseplants are just not a priority for their growing needs. All too often, those plants get put outside for the summer and are tended along with the vegetable and flower plants. Then at the end of the season, they drag the over-sized plants into a corner and allow then to maintain through the winter months.

There is a great difference in growing indoors as compared to outside. During the summer months, mother nature provides all the sun, water, humidity, and air circulation that plants need to produce that bounty at the end of each season. Inside, we have to provide all the light, water, humidity, soil, and air circulation for all the plants we decide to grow. The plants need our care to simply survive. If, however, you wish these plants to grew into large, lush specimens, why not show them off as you would that special flower bed that you put in last season?

In stead of keeping the plants in those plastic grower pots they came in, crowding them together in the area of greatest available light, planting them in decorator pots changes the entire appearance of the plant. Placing those potted plants in groups that show off their beauty is what gardening in side is all about.

When I purchase a new plant, I will make sure I have the right place for it in my home. I will also make sure I have the right size pot and the right color for where it will grow amongst the others in the collection. Because I have limited light in my home, I need to keep the selection of plants to those I know will do well in the location I intend to place them.

Interior gardening is not much different from gardening outside. The major difference is the plants, of course. The same processes used for outdoor gardening is the basis for inside gardening. Choosing a spot with a good amount of natural light, deciding the color scheme of plants and pots, bringing in non-live material, such as stands, to accent the plants, and arranging them in such a fashion to please the eye brings all the plants together to develop a theme that works with the interior of your home.

I arrange all the plants in my home in gardens located in front of windows, across the room from these windows, and in areas to accent a particular piece of furniture. They are focal points upon entering the room and create a therapeutic atmosphere full of life that can bring piece to an over-extended mind and body.

Like any garden, an interior growing space needs tending and nurturing. Diligence is the key to keeping any growing thing healthy and thriving. The plants need watering according to how much they need and when they need it. ( see Growing Houseplants according to What the Palnt Needs.) The plants need culling and pruning to remove dead flowers and foliage, fertilizing to grow lush and healthy, transplanting when they out grow their pots, as well as good humidity and air circulation to help their transpiration processes.

Creating an indoor garden is not really much different than making one outside. First, chose a space where plants will group nicely together and have enough light and space to grow as separate specimens. Choose only the plants that will tolerate the light levels in that space. If the space is in front of a large south-facing window that has tons of light all day, almost any plant will thrive with that amount of light. If, however, you have only limited light, as what is available in my home, the plant choices become more limited. That does not mean the only plants that will grow are the same philodendren as Grandma had in her kitchen. Today, the search for new hybrids of those common houseplants is as extensive as those for plants in the outdoor garden. The variety of the low light plants is far more extensive than it was 30 years ago when I began working in greenhouses.

The diversity of leaf color, texture, and structure play an important role in the appearance of any garden. The low light group of tropical plants has extensive specimens that give a wide range of variety of color and texture. Using different growing styles, heights, and sizes adds variety to the over-all structure of the garden. Using different size stands that color coordinate made with the same material, ties the structure of the space together. Using decorative hanging planters above those on the floor brings another dimension to the shape and style of the garden.

In my home, I have a more crafty appeal. I seek out stands and pots that fit into this theme. I use natural materials, wrought iron, ceramic, black chain, and earth tone pottery. The plants are in decorative containers that match the color of both the room and the leaves of each plant. I use stands of different heights, placing them in an asymmetric pattern that enhances the display. Flowering specimens bring out color. The all grow in harmony with each other. I recently added some non-live flowering plants in to the displays that would not normally grow as well in that particular area. These add color all year, never stop flowering, and can go anywhere within the display no matter what the light level. I just have to make sure my grandchildren don't water them alone with the other plants.

Finding a nice ceramic hanging pot is very difficult these days. There are many plastic look-a-likes, but they will never fit in with my natural theme. Because I cannot find any for sale for at an affordable price, I decided to change some of the ceramic pots and baskets I have in to hanging planters. In this way, I have a larger selection to choose from, and can match texture, style, and color to blend in with the theme I am using in that particular garden. (See the article "Making Your Own Hanging Planter".) I can choose what size I need to fill the space, and I can make larger ones from the same style when the plant outgrows the first one. I have been making hanging planters out of clay, ceramic, and wicker pots for almost 20 years. As long as the measurements are correct for drilling the holes in the sides of the pot, it will last for many years without the danger of cracking (unless, of course, you drip it!)

The look of beautiful, lush plants growing in ungainly plastic pots, even those that are make to look like ceramic and clay, takes so much away from the plant. Take that same plant and put I into a nice ceramic pot, and the entire visual aspect changes before your eyes. And it is this visual appeal is what interior gardening is all about.

Plants in the low light group ( thirving in 150 foot cadnles or highter) are;
The Dracaena group, the Philodendren group (with the exception of the very large-leaved specimens), the Sciundapsis group (pothos), Sansevieria (Snake Plants all varieties) dark-leaved ives only (the variegated varieties need more light), Chlororphytum (Spidrer Plants, all varieties), Zygocactus ( Christmas or Thanksgiving cactus only), Aglonemia (Chinese Evergreen). There are many new varieties of each of the above genius that help to define leaf texture and color enen in low light areas.