The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
()
About this ebook
A windowsill is among the best possible places to put a plant, it provides ample sunlight, brightens the look of your home from the outside, and adds what amounts to a filter to the air coming in and out of your home. In winter, they can add a touch of color to an otherwise drab view, and in summer they thrive. This book will guide you through the steps needed to select the perfect plants for your windowsill and cultivate them to both fit in with your space and to survive the conditions, whether inside or outside. You will learn everything you need to effectively plant windowsill plants and improve how your home and your windows look to the world outside. You will learn, through a series of detailed charts, which plants are best suited to the cramped space of a windowsill. You will learn how much light each plant needs and how much water and food they need and whether you need to supplement natural provision of these resources. You will learn how to care for your plants while keeping away pests and animals that may eat the leaves or dig up the dirt. Top experts in gardening have been interviewed and their insights will help you learn what works and what doesn’t work for your windowsill plants. From first planting, whether by seed or potted plant, you will have every resource you need to keep your windowsill plants alive and thriving in their new environment with this book.
Atlantic Publishing is a small, independent publishing company based in Ocala, Florida. Founded over twenty years ago in the company president’s garage, Atlantic Publishing has grown to become a renowned resource for non-fiction books. Today, over 450 titles are in print covering subjects such as small business, healthy living, management, finance, careers, and real estate. Atlantic Publishing prides itself on producing award winning, high-quality manuals that give readers up-to-date, pertinent information, real-world examples, and case studies with expert advice. Every book has resources, contact information, and web sites of the products or companies discussed.
This Atlantic Publishing eBook was professionally written, edited, fact checked, proofed and designed. You receive the same content as the print version of this book. Over the years our books have won dozens of book awards for content, cover design and interior design including the prestigious Benjamin Franklin award for excellence in publishing. We are proud of the high quality of our books and hope you will enjoy this eBook version.
Read more from Angela Williams Duea
The Complete Guide to Food Preservation: Step-by-step Instructions on How to Freeze, Dry, Can, and Preserve Food Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5How to Open & Operate a Financially Successful Pet Sitting Business With Companion CD-ROM Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Related to The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants
Related ebooks
Happy Plant: A Beginner's Guide to Cultivating Healthy Plant Care Habits Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouseplant Handbook: Basic Growing Techniques and a Directory of 300 Everyday Houseplants Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Beginner’s Guide to Houseplants: Easy Tips and Techniques for Growing Houseplants in Your Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Guide to Keeping Your Houseplants Alive and Thriving: Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhat Is My Plant Telling Me?: An Illustrated Guide to Houseplants and How to Keep Them Alive Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGardening for Geeks: All the Science You Need for Successful Organic Gardening Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsYates Top 50 Indoor Plants And How Not To Kill Them! Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Never Put a Cactus in the Bathroom: A Room-by-Room Guide to Styling and Caring for Your Houseplants Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5From Container to Kitchen: Growing Fruits and Vegetables in Pots Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHouseplants for Beginners: A Step-By-Step Guide to Choosing, Growing and Caring for Houseplants. Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsChesapeake Gardening and Landscaping: The Essential Green Guide Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plants for Free: Seeds and Cuttings to Fill Your Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Growing Trees & Shrubs Indoors: Breathe New Life into Your Home with Large Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFirst-time Gardener Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAir Plant Care and Design: Tips and Creative Ideas for the World's Easiest Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Home Farm Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Plant Science for Gardeners: Essentials for Growing Better Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGrow Fruit Indoors: The Ultimate Advanced Gardening Guide on How to Grow Exotic Fruits Indoors Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Complete Guide to Companion Planting: Everything You Need to Know to Make Your Garden Successful Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Indoor Gardening: 33 Keys For A Successful Indoor Garden. Enjoy Your Favorite Fruits, Veggies and Herbs for the Whole Year Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHomegrown Vegetables, Fruits & Herbs: A Bountiful, Healthful Garden for Lean Times Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHow to House-Plant: A Beginner's Guide to Making and Keeping Plant Friends Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Companion Planting: Organic Gardening Tips and Tricks for Healthier, Happier Plants Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Gardening with Perennials: Lessons from Chicago's Lurie Garden Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pocket Guide to Houseplants: Over 240 Easy-Care Favorites Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsGardening: The Complete Guide: Growing Secrets & Techniques Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings50 Simple Indoor Miniature Gardens: Decorating Your Home with Indoor Plants Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
Gardening For You
The Alchemy of Herbs - A Beginner's Guide: Healing Herbs to Know, Grow, and Use Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Lost Book of Simple Herbal Remedies: Discover over 100 herbal Medicine for all kinds of Ailment, Inspired By Dr. Barbara O'Neill Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Cannabis Grow Bible: The Definitive Guide to Growing Marijuana for Recreational and Medical Use Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Medicinal Herbal: A Practical Guide to the Healing Properties of Herbs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Self-Sufficient Backyard Homestead Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsHerbal Remedies and Natural Medicine Guide: Embracing Nature’s Bounty for Holistic Wellness Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Animal, Vegetable, Miracle - 10th anniversary edition: A Year of Food Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Back to Basics: A Complete Guide to Traditional Skills Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Cunningham's Encyclopedia of Magical Herbs Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Gardening Hacks: 300+ Time and Money Saving Hacks Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mini Farming: Self-Sufficiency on 1/4 Acre Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Year-Round Indoor Salad Gardening: How to Grow Nutrient-Dense, Soil-Sprouted Greens in Less Than 10 days Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When I Come Home Again: 'A page-turning literary gem' THE TIMES, BEST BOOKS OF 2020 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Language of Flowers: A Definitive and Illustrated History Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midwest-The Lost Book of Herbal Remedies, Unlock the Secrets of Natural Medicine at Home Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Well-Gardened Mind: The Restorative Power of Nature Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Self-Sufficiency Handbook: Your Complete Guide to a Self-Sufficient Home, Garden, and Kitchen Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Native American Herbalist Bible: A Handbook of Native American Herbs Usage in Modern Day Life and Recipes for Aliments Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBe Your Own Herbalist: Essential Herbs for Health, Beauty, and Cooking Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsEdible Wild Plants Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Green Witch's Garden: Your Complete Guide to Creating and Cultivating a Magical Garden Space Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Artisan Herbalist: Making Teas, Tinctures, and Oils at Home Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Companion Planting - The Lazy Gardener's Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Complete Kitchen Garden: An Inspired Collection of Garden Designs & 100 Seasonal Recipes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Big Book of Backyard Medicine: The Ultimate Guide to Home-Grown Herbal Remedies Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsBackyard Homesteading: A Back-to-Basics Guide to Self-Sufficiency Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Magical Herbalism: The Secret Craft of the Wise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants
0 ratings0 reviews
Book preview
The Complete Guide to Growing Windowsill Plants - Angela Williams Duea
The Complete Guide to
Growing Windowsill Plants
Everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
By Donna M. Murphy and Angela Wiliams Duea
The Complete Guide to Growing windowsill plants: everything You Need to Know Explained Simply
Copyright © 2011 Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc.
1405 SW 6th Avenue • Ocala, Florida 34471
Phone 800-814-1132 • Fax 352-622-1875
Web site: www.atlantic-pub.com • E-mail: sales@atlantic-pub.com
SAN Number: 268-1250
No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission of the Publisher. Requests to the Publisher for permission should be sent to Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc., 1405 SW 6th Avenue, Ocala, Florida 34471.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Murphy, Donna Marie, 1965-
The complete guide to growing windowsill plants : everything you need to know explained simply / by Donna M. Murphy and Angela Williams Duea.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60138-346-4 (alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-60138-346-0 (alk. paper)
1. Window gardening. 2. Indoor gardening. 3. House plants. I. Williams Duea, Angela, 1966- II. Title.
SB419.M9843 2010
635.9’678--dc22
2010025852
LIMIT OF LIABILITY/DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY: The publisher and the author make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this work and specifically disclaim all warranties, including without limitation warranties of fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales or promotional materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for every situation. This work is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional services. If professional assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought. Neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. The fact that an organization or Web site is referred to in this work as a citation and/or a potential source of further information does not mean that the author or the publisher endorses the information the organization or Web site may provide or recommendations it may make. Further, readers should be aware that Internet Web sites listed in this work may have changed or disappeared between when this work was written and when it is read.
TRADEMARK DISCLAIMER: All trademarks, trade names, or logos mentioned or used are the property of their respective owners and are used only to directly describe the products being provided. Every effort has been made to properly capitalize, punctuate, identify, and attribute trademarks and trade names to their respective owners, including the use of ® and ™ wherever possible and practical. Atlantic Publishing Group, Inc. is not a partner, affiliate, or licensee with the holders of said trademarks.
A few years back we lost our beloved pet dog Bear, who was not only our best and dearest friend but also the Vice President of Sunshine
here at Atlantic Publishing. He did not receive a salary but worked tirelessly 24 hours a day to please his parents.
Bear was a rescue dog who turned around and showered myself, my wife, Sherri, his grandparents Jean, Bob, and Nancy, and every person and animal he met (well, maybe not rabbits) with friendship and love. He made a lot of people smile every day.
We wanted you to know a portion of the profits of this book will be donated in Bear’s memory to local animal shelters, parks, conservation organizations, and other individuals and nonprofit organizations in need of assistance.
– Douglas and Sherri Brown
PS: We have since adopted two more rescue dogs: first Scout, and the following year, Ginger. They were both mixed golden retrievers who needed a home.
Want to help animals and the world? Here are a dozen easy suggestions you and your family can implement today:
Adopt and rescue a pet from a local shelter.
Support local and no-kill animal shelters.
Plant a tree to honor someone you love.
Be a developer — put up some birdhouses.
Buy live, potted Christmas trees and replant them.
Make sure you spend time with your animals each day.
Save natural resources by recycling and buying recycled products.
Drink tap water, or filter your own water at home.
Whenever possible, limit your use of or do not use pesticides.
If you eat seafood, make sustainable choices.
Support your local farmers market.
Get outside. Visit a park, volunteer, walk your dog, or ride your bike.
Five years ago, Atlantic Publishing signed the Green Press Initiative. These guidelines promote environmentally friendly practices, such as using recycled stock and vegetable-based inks, avoiding waste, choosing energy-efficient resources, and promoting a no-pulping policy. We now use 100-percent recycled stock on all our books. The results: in one year, switching to post-consumer recycled stock saved 24 mature trees, 5,000 gallons of water, the equivalent of the total energy used for one home in a year, and the equivalent of the greenhouse gases from one car driven for a year.
Dedication
Donna Murphy:
To my family, who is a constant source of inspiration and comic relief.
Angela Williams Duea:
This book is dedicated to my mother Kathleen and grandmother Therese, who gave me a love of nurturing plants.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: Things to Know Before Selecting Your Plants
Chapter 2: Add Texture to Your Home With Foliage Plants
Chapter 3: Choosing Flowering Plants for a Splash of Color
Chapter 4: Freshen Up a Room With Fragrant Plants
Chapter 5: Spice Up Your Kitchen With Herbal Plants
Chapter 6: Creating the Optimal Growing Environment
Chapter 7: Plants Cannot Live By Soil Alone
Chapter 8: Container Essentials and Garden Designs
Chapter 9: Increasing Your Plant Collection With Propagation
Chapter 10: Protecting Your Plants From Pests and Diseases
Chapter 11: Continued Care forYour Plants
Conclusion
Appendix
Glossary
Bibliography
Authors’ Biographies
Introduction
My first houseplant was a small ivy plant, which I kept on a windowsill. It was a cutting from the English ivy that grew around my childhood home, and it reminded me of the garden I helped my mother create. Twenty years later, I still have a cutting from that original English ivy growing in my sunny south-facing window. The ivy’s pretty leaves, along with the foliage of several other plants and herbs, brighten my kitchen window.
A windowsill, the horizontal shelf or member at the bottom of a window opening, is among the best possible places to grow a plant — it provides your plants with the light they need, spruces up the look of your home from the outside, and improves the quality of the air in your home. In the wintertime, windowsill plants provide a green contrast to the cold, white world outside the window. In the summer, these plants extend your garden to the indoors. Whether you live in a studio apartment in the city or an old farmhouse in the countryside, a windowsill is a suitable location for growing some of your favorite plants.
Plants are Not Just for the Great Outdoors
Humans have been living with houseplants since the beginning of time. Archeological artifacts from the ancient Egyptians, Romans, and Greeks show paintings of potted plants in homes and atriums. People cultivated herbs indoors for year-round availability and used them for their natural medicinal and seasoning properties.
However, it was not until glass windows were widely available and homes were adequately climate controlled that it became practical to cultivate a variety of plants indoors. In fact, the popularity of decorative indoor plants did not rise dramatically until the Victorian era. No middle-class parlor was considered complete unless there were potted plants on a pedestal in the corner or on a small entryway table. At the same time, the affluent had heated and humidified greenhouses that allowed them to grow plants outside the range of normal climates or seasons. For example, they often collected and grew rare specimens like tropical orchids or cultivated strawberries and cucumbers when these plants were normally out of season.
Modern home environments now provide better climate control to successfully grow a large variety of foliage and flowering plants. Consequently, indoor gardening is no longer limited to those who can afford temperature-regulated conservatories.
A Healthy Companion for Indoors
Today we recognize the physical and psychological benefits of coexisting with plants. We understand their aesthetic importance in interior design and decorating as well as their practical use for healing our ailments and spicing up our food. Most of us were taught in high school biology that plants absorb the carbon dioxide that we exhale, converting it to the oxygen we need.
We have suspected for centuries that many plants could filter unhealthy chemicals that are predominant in newly constructed homes and office buildings. Chemicals such as formaldehyde, benzene, and ethylene are found in carpeting, processed wood flooring, siding, and paint. Because a growing percentage of the world’s population spends 80 to 90 percent of their time indoors, researchers are investigating alternatives to improving indoor air quality. This research involves evaluating a variety of houseplants that have a natural ability to absorb and clear these poisons from our environments.
A 2009 Pennsylvania State University study published in the American Society of Horticultural Science’s journal HortTechnology found that there are three specific houseplants that have the ability to significantly reduce indoor ozone. The plants of choice — the snake plant, spider plant, and golden pothos — are quite popular because of their low cost, low maintenance requirements, and now their reported ability to reduce other indoor pollutants.
Researchers continue to uncover the numerous benefits of houseplants in homes and workplaces. These benefits have included:
• Reduction in eye irritation
• Improved concentration
• Reduced stress levels
• Increased employee motivation
• Reduction in air impurities
• Increased worked productivity
• Reports of less dry skin
• Positive effects on headaches, fatigue, and hoarseness
As research continues to reveal more about the many benefits of houseplants, you should already have ample reasons to cultivate a few on your own windowsills. You have windows in your home that face different directions and offer different light, temperature, and humidity levels; this allows you to experiment with a wide variety of plants that require various growing conditions.
Ideal for Renters or Temporary Residents
In some cases, gardeners do not want to invest the time, money, and materials that growing plants requires in a place that they will only live for a short period of time. With windowsill gardening, you can still grow the plants you want without having to leave them behind when you move. You are free to put the time, effort, and money into your plants without sacrificing your garden when your lease ends. Renters who do not intend to stay in a home long term, those who move often for their jobs, or college students who move regularly can plant in containers and take their plants along with them to their next home.
Bringing your windowsill garden with you when you move is often a welcome sense of continuity during a hectic time. Right after a move, you will instantly be surrounded by all of your beautiful flowers, herb plants, and foliage plants.
Aesthetic Appeal
In addition to all of the practical reasons for growing windowsill plants, there are a large number of aesthetic ones as well. Containers come in so many shapes, sizes, and colors that they can be just as attractive and decorative as the plants themselves. Your windowsill garden can add a bit of color, elegance, or quirky style to your home.
Creating a windowsill garden also presents a challenge to your creativity. You can choose a single plant for a simple splash of color, or you can dream up a complex windowsill garden with multiple plants. Plus, there is no need to stick to standard terra-cotta pots or purchase the latest plastic ones for your windowsill plants. Almost anything can be used as a container for a plant — from an old work boot to a gallon jug that you want to reuse. People who want to live a green
lifestyle can use recycled items as containers for planting. See Chapter 8 for advice concerning container essentials and garden designs.
Case Study: windowsill plants are more like an obsession
Cynthia Amrose, presidentThe Gardeners of Watchung HillsNew Providence, NJ
http://gardenerswh.home.comcast.net/~gardenerswh
I always wanted a real home, with flowers on the windowsill.
This lyric is one of my favorites from Carole King’s Tapestry album. I have also fallen in love with Mary Engelbreit’s artwork, which is characterized by colorful flowers and fanciful flowerpots drawn in every window of a cottage-style home.
When I was a child, I learned the basics of gardening from my grandmother, who lived in North Carolina. She showed me how to sow seeds, how to make cuttings from mature plants, and how to remove deadheads to stimulate growth and bushiness.
As a young adult, I learned mostly by trial and error — killing plenty of plants and ruining many wooden windowsills along the way. Frustrated with one too many dead plants and warped windowsills, I began gathering helpful information from a variety of sources, including books, websites, blogs, local garden centers, county extension centers, the regional garden club — for which I serve as president — and Irma, my amazing über-gardening genius
neighbor.
For all of my adult life, I have had plants on my windowsills. In fact, just for windowsill plants, I had a long, deep shelf built around all three windowed walls of my sun porch. I use this shelf year-round, especially during the cold months when I bring all of the delicate, winter-challenged garden plants inside. With these plants indoors, my sun porch becomes a private nursery and closely resembles a greenhouse, especially with the rows of gardenia cuttings getting their start under pickle jars.
Living for decades in a series of apartments, windowsill gardening was my way of bringing the outdoors inside and surrounding myself with summer colors and scents year-round. I have a long history with two particular plants. Rosie, the tree philodendron, has been with me since 1974. I also have a peace lily that has been a trusted and patient companion since 1980. Both of these plants have traveled everywhere with me over the years. They have been frozen, crushed, and sunburned several times. These enduring plants have even been lost for three days in a moving van, and they still produce new leaves every spring.
Although I feel I have an average level of knowledge about windowsill plants, I know I still have much more to learn.
What is Your Gardening Style?
If you are new to gardening or caring for houseplants, or if you have had trouble nurturing plants in the past, start by evaluating your gardening style. Knowing the way you approach gardening can be helpful when choosing plants that will thrive with the type of care you are able to offer. The plants that are mentioned in this section are profiled in later chapters of the book. You will have access to a variety of species to choose from that match and complement your very own gardening style.
The over-nurturer
When I first began growing houseplants, my mother sent me a cactus garden of native plants from her home in Phoenix, Arizona. My gardening style: I nurture plants to death. I check them daily, pluck off ailing leaves, and water them every time I notice dryness. Though my mother told me to watch the news and only water my cacti when it rained in Phoenix, I could not help primping my plants. They died within weeks by turning into a brown, mushy mess. My gardening style is an overly involved one, and once I chose plants that craved that kind of care, they flourished more than anything else I grew. Some of my most successful — and needy — plants have been an umbrella plant, an African violet, and a wandering Jew. I also find that my kitchen windowsill herb garden thrives when I constantly rotate the plants in the sun and prune them for dinner recipes.
The fickle gardener
Some gardeners are rather fickle, planning elaborate gardens but failing to follow through with the care those plants need. Other gardeners are well-intentioned but are too busy to remember to water their plants or move them from a corner that has grown too cold or hot. Many plants wilt under neglect, but there are some plants tough enough to weather inconsistent care. Cacti, philodendrons, pothos, the jade plant, and the cast iron plant are ideal choices. They grow exceptionally well in sunny, dry conditions.
The plant collector
Finally, there is the plant collector. Many plant collectors tend to be obsessive about one species, such as special orchids or ferns. Others are enthusiasts about a particular garden landscape or plant environment. When a collector specializes in one type of plant, he or she is usually an expert in the species’ care, though someone can also develop a love for one variety and study on the proper care. Enthusiasts may not choose the most beautiful or well-formed varieties but may instead choose a new plant for the collection based on unusual features. The plant collector often chooses small or dwarf varieties of plants because a collection can easily take over a home. This is especially important to remember if you are cultivating a windowsill garden, where space is likely to be at a premium. Examples of favorite plant species for collectors include African violets, orchids, bonsai plants, ferns, and geraniums.
Traits of the successful garden
Regardless of your preferred gardening style, the key to any successful garden is effective planning and organization. Before you can have a great windowsill garden, spend some time considering the layout of the garden, the choice of plants, the season of blooms for flowering plants, and a regular maintenance routine.
To get started, decide what you want from your windowsill garden. Will it serve a practical purpose? Will the garden be maintained for aesthetic reasons? Whatever the reason may be, use the following time-saving routines to help you manage your windowsill garden effectively:
• Use a loose-leaf notebook to keep a monthly schedule of reminders for watering, fertilizing, pruning, and propagating.
• Allocate a certain amount of time, say 30 minutes, on each windowsill garden and then move to the next.
• Keep all gardening essentials — pruners, watering can, plant food, spray bottle, notebook, and gloves — in one central location.
Even though you may have never grown houseplants or planted a windowsill garden before, many of the plants in this guide are relatively easy to grow