Create the Perfect Centerpiece for Fall Gatherings

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Between the excitement of Halloween and the wonder of winter, fall can sometimes be pushed to the wayside. Not anymore.

 

While your fall decorating usually may be limited to a few gourds, this season, deck out your tablescape and call on family, friends and neighbors to come to your place. The table will make any meal special, especially when created with items from your home and garden.

 

Ways to build your centerpiece:

  1. Use your harvest. Build your own kind of cornucopia full of your hard work of the summer. Take a look at the items you grew in your garden and bring them to the table.

  1. Bring in the pumpkins. Whether you grew them in your garden or brought them in from the pumpkin patch, pumpkins aren’t finished after Halloween. Since they come in different shapes and sizes, you can have fun making a beautiful tablescape. Don’t like orange? Paint them in any color you desire!
  2. Make a flower arrangement. Your fall cutting garden is finally ready to shine. Make a wild flower centerpiece by mixing dahlias, golden rod, sneezeweed, coneflowers and more. Add branches and berries, too.
  4. Fall foliage. The trees in and around your home are putting on a show. Why not bring that inside? Grab colorful leaves, branches with leaves or even boughs of an evergreen shrub and bring inside to add texture.

    Photo courtesy of Costa Farms

  5. Don’t forget houseplants. Used on their own or with a mixture of other items, houseplants can steal the show. Take a houseplant you already own and repot it in a festive container. Refresh the soil with potting mix, first! Find a houseplant with fall colors, such as croton or aglaonema. Give them a bit of Indoor! liquid plant food a few days before the gathering to help perk them up.

 

Need some inspiration? Laura from Garden Answer creates a succulent arrangement that would be perfect for any table.

 

 

 

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Create a Spa in Your Bathroom

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Every room in your house looks cozier and more beautiful filled with houseplants. It’s especially true of your bathroom. Who wouldn’t want a lush, tropical, spa feel at home? In fact, your bathroom is perfect for tropical plants because they love a humid environment.

 

Research shows that having plants around makes people feel calm, happy, and relaxed. Making them perfect for some spa time. And some houseplants actually purify the air. Ivy can remove 75% of mold spores in a room, which is important if you have allergies. Plants can pull dust from the air to help you breathe easier.

Not sure about the bathroom spa? Find out which plants thrive in your bedroom, living room, and kitchen.

Here are our plant picks for your bathroom –

 

Nerve Plants – Small Plants for Low Light

Nerve plants have colorful foliage that’s so attractive they don’t need flowers. Try adding one to a shelf, the corner of the counter, or even hanging from a hook. Nerve plants grow best in medium to low light. If you have sheer curtains you could even grow them in full sun. Water when the surface of the soil is just starting to dry out. They like moist soil but not too wet. Feed them monthly with Indoor! liquid plant food to keep them healthy.

Peace Lily in bloom

Photo courtesy of Costa Farms

 

Peace Lily – Medium-Large Plant for Low Light

If you are lucky enough to have a lot of space in your bathroom but not a lot of light, you can go large and tropical. Try this easy-to-grow Jungle Queen. The more it grows, the more spectacular it becomes. It tolerates low light but will grow faster and larger with more direct sunlight. Water regularly to keep the soil evenly moist and feed once a month with Indoor! liquid plant food.

Beautiful spray of orchid flowers

Moth Orchid – Small Plant for Bright Light

Moth orchids have long, thin stems and large flowers that create a big impact in small places. They flower for an incredibly long time.  If you have the room, arrange a small group of them for a sophisticated look. These are the easiest orchids to grow, even if you are a beginner. Water well once a week, then let them drain completely. Feed regularly with Orchid! liquid plant food.

Majesty Palm– Big Plants for Bright Light

Majesty palms are the quintessential tropical plant.  If you have room for one of these, it will transform your bathroom into an oasis.  They thrive in the humidity and like to be kept evenly moist.  Fertilize regularly with Indoor! Liquid plant food for faster growth. These are easy palms to grow and don’t require any pruning except for an occasional old frond.

 

Is there low light in your home? Laura from Garden Answer tells us about low-light houseplants that you need to bring home.

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How to Care and Propagate Pilea Peperomiodies

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Pilea peperomiodies is becoming a more popular plant by the day. With the unique shape of its leaves, waxy stems and ease of propagation, it’s no surprise this houseplant is popping up everywhere.

Before they were popular in the U.S., Summer Rayne from Homestead Brooklyn brought home a pilea peperomiodies plant back from the Netherlands. She has been caring for hers for a few years and it is as happy as can be. If you aren’t sure what plant we are talking about, the more common names are Chinese money plant, UFO plant or friendship plant.

Here are a few tips to keeping your plant happy, healthy and ready to be shared.

Water and Sun Care:

Natively grown in a forest, the pilea peperomiodies doesn’t need a lot of water. It is best to let it dry out in between waterings. The waxy sheen on the leaves indicates that it actually holds its water well and prevents the water from transpiring too much. Summer usually checks to see if it needs water every 3-4 days so it doesn’t go too long without water.

It likes to be in indirect, bright light and will climb towards it. Summer has had success growing it in Northeast facing windows and a few feet from a southwest facing window. To even out your plant within the container, be sure to rotate the container evenly to allow the light to reach all parts of the plant.

Fertilizing Care:

Summer fertilizes her houseplants about once a month with Indoor! liquid plant food. But, now that autumn has arrived, she will stop for the colder months. Now is the time to feed your houseplants once last time to set them up for success for the upcoming months. Mix Indoor! with water in your watering can and use normally.

Soil Care:

Since the pilea peperomiodies likes to dry out in between waterings, the right kind of soil is important to keep it healthy. A typical potting mix, such as Espoma Organic Potting Mix would work well. Summer also includes perlite, which is a puffed volcanic stone, which is lightweight and helps regulate the water in the soil.

Propagation Tips:

Pilea peperomiodies are self- propagating plants, so you can cut off a small piece of the plant and grow another. They are rhizomatous, which means they will have little offshoots that grow under the soil. It basically clones itself in case it cannot find a partner.

You can take the little pups at the base of the stem and replant them elsewhere to create a new pilea peperomiodies. To do so without harming the plant, take a sharp blade and slice off the pup from the mother plant. Try to do it when they are still little, so you aren’t disrupting a fully grown pup. Then add Espoma’s Organic Potting Mix and Bio-tone Starter Plus fertilizer to a small pot. Put a little hole in the middle, insert your cutting and water well.

 

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