The Herald - The Herald Magazine
GARDENING
Think outside the pot when buying Christmas gifts for the home
HOUSEPLANTS come into their own around Christmas but if you’re buying them or giving them as gifts it’s best to look beyond Twelfth Night. Don’t try to bring cheer to a dull corner by filling it with a fleeting blaze of poinsettias. And you’d never want to see plants tortured like those I saw recently in a well-known DIY store. The 18th-century Mexican botanical artist, Echeverria y Godoy, would certainly turn in his grave if, like me, he had seen his beloved echeverias besmirched with glittering spray paint.
Plants should enliven a room for months or years to come, but they need to tolerate the conditions of your living space. There’s no doubt cacti and many other succulents, such as Madagascan kalanchoe, are best for the average warm and dry house.
Kalanchoe pumila, the flower dust plant, makes an excellent, compact table decoration and, like many succulents, it has blue-grey foliage to reflect intense sunlight. Haworthias, from southern Africa, enjoy dry, bright conditions and some, including Haworthia limifolia, have leaves with appealing horizontal white stripes.
Presentation is what it’s all about with minimalist arrangements. Small cacti and succulents are all too easily lost on a shelf or unit, which means wall displays are the way forward.
The Italian firm Kalamitica has a selection of magnetic boards, pots and prices to suit any wall and wallet. The boards come in standard and quirky shapes, have frames, engravings and some are even illuminated with LEDs. Thoughtfully arranged, they’ll bring a novel touch, especially in modern spaces.
The resourceful designer shouldn’t overlook increasingly popular air plants either. These can be mounted on magnetic boards, but for my money they’re more effectively arranged on a small piece of driftwood, emerging from the side of a log, or clasping a rock or sea shell. Try a good supplier such as Love Tillys. Bailey, with elegant curving stems and purple flowers, and filicodia’s clump of fine, thread-like leaves are two that caught my eye.
The plants couldn’t be easier to maintain. Firstly, use a special glue to attach them to a base, making sure the roots are kept free of the fixative. Then take them to a sink for mist spraying or feeding. To avoid any mess, you could do the same with magnetic pots.
Terrariums and mini aquariums add yet another dimension if you’re looking for something unusual. There are many forms and designs, including a goldfish bowl with access from the top or side, a mini greenhouse or almost any shape you can imagine. Most sit on a shelf, while others hang from a frame or wall.
Whatever you choose, a terrarium must be large enough to allow for good air circulation and room for soil. The minimum for this is 30sq cm. In other words, avoid any with fancy narrow or pointed tops.
As you’d expect, the enclosed atmosphere in a terrarium allows for very little evaporation. It’s so moist, you’ll hardly need to water the plants. Choose ferns, pileas, begonias, mosses or bromeliads.
Mini aquariums are the latest idea. James Wong, the writer and broadcaster, used a 30cm glass salad bowl to house the tiny helvola water lily. Wong planted the lily in a special aquarium planting mix and covered it with water to a depth of 15cm, adding oxygenating plants to keep the water clean. A standard desk lamp, fitted with an LED grow bulb, was placed nearby – if this piques your interest then you’ll find white grow bulbs at Ikea.