Temptation

I stopped at one of our local big box stores on my way home yesterday.  The parking lot was full so I had absolutely no choice - I had to enter through the garden center doors.  

This garden center orders their plants from a highly respectable nursery, so they are very nice plants when they first arrive.  And, they had just received a wide selection of cute little plants for Valentine's day.    Too cute to resist....

Well, I did resist for a little while.  I left the garden center with an empty cart, did the rest of my shopping and all was well.  But, then I had to walk right past all those cute little plants on my way to check out at the garden center register.  And, I still had room in my cart.  Now, when you have to stand in line behind several people before you even get to the cash register, there is just no sense in getting to the register with space left in your shopping cart.  It would be a waste of waiting time.

So, I came home with a silver leaf philodendron, a miniature scheffelera, and an orchid.  I'm good with caring for the philodendron and the schefflera.  I need to do some research on the orchid and I'll share that with you at a later time. 

The silver leaf philodendron is one of many philodendron varieties on the market with variegated leaves.  These are especially nice because, with their low light needs and the light colored variegation on the leaves, they do a nice job of lightening up darker areas of your home.  They will do well in a north or east facing location and will thrive even if located several feet away from the light source.  Mine is going to live on the table in the foyer, which is lit with a medium sized window in the east facing door, and I suspect it will do just fine there.

The miniature scheffelera requires bright indirect light so it is going to need to be placed much closer to a window than the philodendron.  The key with the scheffelera is to give it bright light but never direct sunlight, so while the perfect place for me to look at and enjoy my scheffelera is on the small table by the west facing patio door, it likely wouldn't thank me for that hot afternoon sun as we move closer to Spring and Summer.  So, instead, I'll place it directly on the window seat of the east facing bow window where it will receive lots of light but any direct sun it receives will be the cooler morning sun.

I'll watch them in their new homes to make sure they are happy there.  A plant will tell you if it's getting too little light by becoming tall and spindly with "wimpy" looking leaves.  It will tell you if it is getting too much light by showing signs of burning or scorching on the leaves, places where the color is leached out or where there are brown, "crispy" looking spots or edges.

And yes, I can find any excuse I need to find when I want to justify buying more plants.