It's the dead of winter. I want houseplants. I'm cheap. Help!

[mamabear]

So I would really love to get some green in this house. I recently visited a homeopath's house locally and was stunned at the beauty of the place (talk about the ultimate hippie house, only perfectly decluttered and neat! - of course her kids are grown). She had houseplants everywhere. I was struck by how most of them grew, literally, as weeds in my yard in Florida. Tradescantia zebrina (known by the not so cool name of Wandering Jew) grew everywhere in my yard, carpeting the garden beds between the plants. If only I could take a piece of it and stick it in a pot!

So, I don't have pots either. I don't mind plastic because I really can't afford all terra cotta or ceramic pots. I don't have anything...and I want to get nice-looking houseplants on the cheap. Do you have any ideas for me? I just want the basics, a bunch of hanging pots with lovely greenery draping down, some ferns, maybe a peace lily in a pot. I think the house comes with a big pot of mother in law's tongue, but I know it's poisonous and I am a little afraid of Jake eating it, I have to look up how poisonous, as he sometimes gets silly and nibbles on plants while pretending (great habit, I know).

I'd love any thoughts or ideas! Thanks! I feel silly posting this, a little...but I want green!

[calicohemp]

If you have patience you can buy 3 different houseplants and just take off shooters (or whatever they're called) and put them in water until they root then plant them. It will take a while for them to grow but they're free.

For pots...I'd go to thrift stores and see if they have some and baskets to put the pots in to make them look pretty.

[qtkitty]

instead of just plastic pots you can also use HUGE seashells.. or glass fish bowls you can get from the dollar store.. Mugs .. tea pots.. large decorative serving bowls.. The unexpected can be soooo interesting .. and when people notice they are like WOW CHECK THAT OUT.. My grandmother actually had an old metal bathtub with the lion feet that she used to put her potted plants in so they would not drop water all over .. it made a very tropical area too * nods*

If you are living in Florida watch the trees often times there will be orchids growing ..

and spagnum moss .. take it down bake it as low as you can til its dry to kill off the bugs .. and then use it to put in the metal basket to hold in dirt and plant in.

[Sontanned]

Are there any flea markets up where you are? What about looking in the classified section of the paper? I suppose yard sales are out of the question up there in January, lol.

[~Meeshi~]

We have a ton of plants and almost all of them came from cuttings gleaned from friends, restaurants, waiting rooms... A few were purchased at the hardware store, but not many.

I'd get little snippets and root them in water and the stick them in dirt. Around here, terra cotta pots are really cheap, like less than a buck a piece at the garden stores. Or I find ceramic planters at thrifts and garage sales.

If you want them super sheap, I would suggest placing an add in the paper, looking for cuttings. I am always pruning back my plants and have cuttings going all over the place. I've given to all of our friends and would love to find another place to get rid of them.

Hey, if you come to NY at all (for the camp out maybe?) I will hook you up with more plants than you can manage.

[mamabear]

Thanks everyone. Maybe I should just ask the homeopath for some cuttings, then, huh?

I'll have to look at the garden supply place nearby. In Florida it seemed all we had were the big chain stores and they wanted at least $5 a pot, or $8 and up for a houseplant.

I love the bathtub idea! We're sooo tight on space, that may be a bit much for now, but cool idea. I'm thinking lots of hanging plants because of the floor space issue, maybe just one or two in pots on the floor. I love the idea of wrought iron hangers coming off the wall; I have a beautiful hand-hammered heart shaped wrought iron hook, and the house is solid log, so I think that will be a good look. The ceiling is really, really high; in the homeopath's house she had posts and beams so the plants were hanging off the beams. We have tons of beams, and tons of floor space here - but won't in the new place, have either!

Meeshi, seriously, now that we are not actually building this summer, we're on target to drive to your place for the campout in May. I'm really excited. I'm not sure if dh will be able to make it but I just might do it with me and the kids. Not sure dh can take off work then if it's exams. Hopefully we'll be all moved and settled by then.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone! Sometimes it's just hard to think clearly...all I can see is my yard back in Florida overflowing with all these things and whether I can smuggle them on the plane, LOL. And I don't know that many people here yet (though I do know two who have lotsa houseplants!) and no, there are no yard sales, or flea markets, this time of year. There are a couple of garden shops nearby though. I think I'm going to invest in a few houseplants and some pots and/or baskets from the garden store or Salvation Army. I can definitely macrame or braid some hangers for the pots.

Ooh, pre-move nesting! So fun! I haven't been motivated to nest in this house, knowing we are moving so soon; it's a gorgeous place, just waiting to be loved up a little. Some plants will help that a lot.

[~Meeshi~]

If you're thinking you're coming, I will start some plants for you now. I have a ton of variteties, so I could send you home with a little box of green for the new place.

[elsie]

Try freecycle- poeple give plants away on ours all the time. And I think just askign folks for cuttings would be just fine!

I get baskets and pots for work all the time at goodwill- 50 cents to a dollar a piece.

This is inspiring me- I usually kill houseplants, but I may try again!

[herc]

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/exchind/ oht

ok, not oht anymore-- i would def ask the homeopath for clippings! Most people w lots of plants are thrilled to share. My gma ALWAYS had 3-4 diff varities of houseplants started in the window at any given time. Oh potato vine is something pretty and free :P

[mamabear]

Thanks Meeshi! I plan on talking with Matt about it today...you are too sweet to think of doing that for me!

Sigh, freecycle is really slow up here. I've joined two different ones. There just are not that many *people* up here! LOL!

I went to a flower shop and bought a $6.25 started plant in a 4" pot. I had to get SOMEthing. I'm going to search around next week, after I get our mortgage papers in order, for pots and go to the worm compost farm nearby to see about soil and maybe pots too. I think I can manage to scrounge some stuff together, and I think I will ask the homeopath for some cuttings. Problem is, she is an hour away and I don't know when we'll be going there next.

See, I love living in the country, but we really are incredibly rural. There *is* no home center. The flower shop is the only place within a half-hour drive that has plants. It's really different from where I've lived before - even in Fairbanks, the big box stores were all in town (not that I like to shop at them, I hated that Fairbanks is so dominated by them as far as choices). Here it is the opposite - there are dozens of small farms, tiny shops, or just people you call for certain things, but it takes time to suss them all out and know who has what. Bigger stores are an hour away or more.

[~Meeshi~]

I am pretty sure you can grow certain "outdoor" plants, like Coleus, indoors as well. You can start those from seed.


Yes, there are definately plusses and minuses to living so rurally. Around here, we have to drive a half hour to the closest "small city", but they have hardware stores that carry small houseplants at 2 for $5.

If you guys go to a restaurant or waiting room that has plants, you can always snip off a cutting of what you like. Even a 3" or 4" inch cutting will sprout roots if set in water for a week or so.

I was trying to figure out, last night, if I could ship you a few small jade plants. I'm sure they'd survive a few days without light or water, but I'm not sure how to package them. I'll have to think about that.

[mamabear]

Yes, the equivalent "small city" would probably be Burlington at 1.5 hrs away. Montpelier is okay, but pretty small, at about 1 hr away. Littleton has a Home Depot and is almost an hour.

I just remembered that I have a $40 merchandise credit at HD...hmmm...might have to organize/plan a trip to Littleton. No sales tax is a bonus, LOL.

[Alohamelly]

I have fake ones.

[~Meeshi~]

We just got back from grocery shopping and I realized something. Nearly every grocery store in the area carries a few plants. Sometimes they're tucked among the flowers or produce.

I'm sure fake plants look nice, but there's something about live plants that makes me feel "at home" in a house.

[momadance]

Originally Posted by )O(Meeshi)O(

I am pretty sure you can grow certain "outdoor" plants, like Coleus, indoors as well. You can start those from seed.


Yes, there are definately plusses and minuses to living so rurally. Around here, we have to drive a half hour to the closest "small city", but they have hardware stores that carry small houseplants at 2 for $5.

If you guys go to a restaurant or waiting room that has plants, you can always snip off a cutting of what you like. Even a 3" or 4" inch cutting will sprout roots if set in water for a week or so.

I was trying to figure out, last night, if I could ship you a few small jade plants. I'm sure they'd survive a few days without light or water, but I'm not sure how to package them. I'll have to think about that.

How about wrapped in wet paper and then ziplocked?
Walmart has 2 plants for $6. They are a decent size too.

So I could clone these by just snipping any old piece and plunking it in h2o?