Weekend Review

We were so busy this weekend. To all of those that came by, thank you for shopping with us.

Frequently asked questions over the weekend were:

(1) How often do I water my interior plants? I water them on a regular schedule, usually Sunday, and fertilize once a month. I never re-pot them, see last blog post. Interior plants can get a little dry between watering, which is better than over watering.

(2) A lady came in with a sick looking orchid and wanted my suggestions on how to improve its looks. For the most part she was doing everything right, except the orchid was in a standard terracotta pot. She used orchid bark for the planting medium and orchid food. My answer, orchids are not like regular plants. In nature they grow in trees, not in soil. I recommended she use an orchid pot which has large holes all around the pot. This simulates the nature habitat of orchids. Second, at this time of year an orchid out of bloom doesn't always look so hot. I once visited a large orchid farm in the California Dessert, it was around Joshua Tree, and their orchids didn't look so great when they were out of bloom either. I think they perk up in bloom, but most bloom once a year. I remember seeing one orchid at the grower that bloomed for one day every 17 years! Out of bloom I thought it looked creepy.

(3) How many herbs can I plant in one pot? And then which ones can I plant together? If you looking to use your herbs a lot, you might want to dedicate one herb to one pot. Find an outdoor spot with tons of sunlight. Two herbs I always plant alone are Basil and chives. Basil because I want a lot of it and chives because I love the way they come back year after year, they're the first sign of spring, and then chive blossoms are adorable. If you're going to mix your herbs in a one pot, you might want to think of it as a collection with some sort of theme of how you will be using your herbs. Three herbs to a pot will make a pretty display. And use herbs with different color and habit to make it interesting: Thyme can trail down the side of the pot, sage and oregano come in different colors like purple, yellow and green, and sometimes tri-color. Your third could be something taller to serve as a focal point: how about flat leaf parsley??

One more thing happened.... God I feel sorry for the two guys that couldn't make up their mind about which containers to use... I must say, I loved what I pulled together for them. Nandina Domestica "Heavenly Bamboo" in a zen sorta asian square darkish glazed pot. It was perfect. One plant that had plenty of room to grow per container and modern because it didn't have a filled up mix of mess... hehe. And to top it off it was evergreen. In winter it would berry! The plant/pot combo had contrast in color and texture. It popped.

Please send me your gardening questions. I'll answer and post them if I can.