Plants are essential to apartment living, but finding ones that will live in your place can be tough. Mike or Danny at The Plant House will help you. There are a number of attractive, unusual plants that will do very well with very little care, and there are tons of others that you can step up to when you are ready. The Plant House are open 7 days a week and will pot and deliver your new children the same day.
Problems? One reader has had a bad experience with a plant that died two months after purchase: "I tried treating the plant as they said, but now, months later it is all but dead. They would not give me my money back, had a horrible attitude when I confronted them. Sara" Yikes! If you want extra help choosing plants, check out this post.
Not sure about this shop, but that posting for low-light plants is one of my favorites. A good amount of info in one place. Half the battle is getting a plant that will enjoy the amount of light/environment you have.
When you buy a plant, you are also paying for a bit of advice and care. I know that many florists are happy to help anyone with an an ailing plant, but all that I have spoken with agree that it only helps if you bring it in early on. They cannot turn back the clock and undo a dead plant.
One florist mentioned (and I am not saying this is the case in the above instance) that over the years he has seen many instances when a plant is just not watered. Then, the client would give it a soaking and bring it in and ask for help/a new plant. This, for him, is a very frustrating situation. He wants everyone to have success with plants, but cannot be responsible for the care the plant receives once it leaves his hands.
I am amazed at the generosity good florists do extend to their clients, however, to ensure a good plant experience. I think the best advice for anyone is to develop a good, long-term relationship and overlook the occasional plant deaths that may come along. The payoff is immeasurable.
That said, treating a customer well and being polite, no matter your policy, is just good business. I hope that it is not the norm for the Plant House to have a horrible attitude.
I also can't speak for the store, but I'm always glad to see posts that validate my extreme plant addiction! Well, alright, I have an indoor garden, so my love for plants would probably be overkill for most other people. But it's more than decor for me; it's my hobby.
Not knowing how to care properly for a plant can cause many problems, it's true. It's more than just remembering to water it once a week! :)
The best book I've ever had on caring for plants is The Houseplant Expert by D.G. Hessayon. I see from looking on Amazon.com that there's a follow up called The Houseplant Expert Book Two. I'll be picking that up on payday (from a local bookstore, of course, and not Amazon.com!). Anyway, my copy is dog-eared. I've read a lot of plant books but this is the one that's taught me everything - I started 11 years ago knowing NOTHING about plants, and now I have nearly three dozen very healthy, very lush, indoor plants.
Dorianne -
That is very inspiring! Is there one plant that was the easiest to care for/adapt to your apartment? Do you have a favorite (or will the others get jealous if you name one?)? If you ever get brave, I bet others would love to see your successes. Now that AT does not post the e-mails, I suppose I will have to put it here: mattnoiseux@hotmail.com - would love to hear/see more on what your 11 years has yielded.
dorianne, that is inspiring indeed. and also frustrating. how do i get from current situation (every plant i ever had died -- though the last two were not my fault) to yours? i need a support group or a houseplant expert willing to make housecalls or something. any suggestions for plants which are hardy AND fragrant?
just like the "organizing/decluttering" businesses have been cropping up everywhere, i wish "plant dr" businesses would crop up, esp since many plants are not the size to bring in to a shop, or the vendor may be far away.
Dorianne!
agh. i'm still battling with my jade plant. which i bought because they like light and dry heat, which my apartment has a lot of year round, they're low maintenance desert succulents that ideally only need water once a month, etc. etc. seemed perfect. until my baby's leaves started shrivelling up and withering away, even under what everyone told me was overwatering. so i went back to the plant guy at the farmer's market.
who told me that, with this batch of jade plants, he'd been watering them a couple times a week to get them growing faster. ok, could you PLEASE warn me to water my jade plant more than usual BEFORE i almost kill it by following the conventional wisdom for this type of plant??? now i'm watering once a week and things seem ok, though it's growing so fast i'm starting to worry that it's rootbound and needs to be transplanted already.
I too am a habitual overwaterer! In my old apartment, which got zero sun besides but had a spot perfect for a large potted plant, I could never keep anything for more than a year :-(.
The few tips I learned (although obviously they were of limited use) were:
-Choose plants with woody stems, that seem more hardy; I had marginally better luck with rhapis palms as compared to a swiss cheese plant
-Choose the kind of plant with multiple different stems in one pot instead of one big stem/trunk since if the small ones die, you can trim them but will still have some plant left
-Buy one of those probes that tests how much water is in the soil - particularly for large pots, the top can seem dry but water can still be pooled in the bottom.
-Adjust watering for seasonal factors. My cycle went like this: Buy plant in February or March, looks great through the whole summer, takes a turn for the worse in September/October/November when the weather gets colder then the heat goes on, completely dead by January/February, buy new plant! I think the plants were going into a more dorman stage in September and the amount of watering that worked previously became too much, then the heat threw them for another loop :-(.
-Make sure your plant has the right kind of drainage. If water pools, as above, you'll kill the plant as the roots rot from the bottom; if it drains out too fast you'll have to water the plant too frequently, as is currently the case with the herbs on my windowsill - they dry out completely in around two days.
So far I've had the best luck with umbrella tree plants, which my mother brought to my new apartment unasked since she felt they were the only things I would not kill. I have a lot more sun now and they look great so far, we'll see what happens in September!
i bought a 5 plants from the plant house for my home and my store and i paid a good amount of money for them and less than three weeks they are almost dead and i am just watching them dried up right in front of my eyes i am sure it is not a lack of watering i just dont know what to do and they were no help and my apt is not too hot or cold and these are indoor plants i wish they could be of more service or have more advice for people when they purchase plants
i bought 5 plants from the plant house for my home and my store and i paid a good amount of money for them and less than three weeks they are almost dead and i am just watching them dried up right in front of my eyes i am sure it is not a lack of watering i just dont know what to do and they were no help and my apt is not too hot or cold and these are indoor plants i wish they could be of more service or have more advice for people when they purchase plants
Yes, plants are great...indoors and out.
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I trained at the New York Botanical Garden in the Bronx for 10 years and won the NYS Arborist Tree Climbing Championship in 1996. I'm fully licensed and insured.