Thursday, May 17, 2007

Bringing the Outside In

Bringing the outside in … you hear that phrase every so often these days. The concept is a pleasing one – bringing a small portion of nature, i.e. God’s beautiful creation into home – where it can become a part of our personal living space. I love that!

As I was putting together some of my container plantings the other day, I decided that I wanted to encourage you to add a few ivy plants to your list of plants this spring. They come in a variety of leaf shapes and sizes, and can be a beautiful rich green, or a playful variegated cream/green. They look wonderful draping down from containers curing the summertime, but what really sets them apart is their long lasting ability to thrive as a cutting in a vase.

Ivies thrive remarkably well for month after month in vases or bottles filled with water. I prefer simple green Perrier bottles, but I also have some vintage lab ware that they look great in as well. A bottle with a cascading sprig of ivy brings a gloomy corner alive with vibrant green freshness. At the moment, I have a still sprig of ivy in both bathrooms, but I’ve planted the ivy sprigs that had been sitting on my computer desk and kitchen counter into my summer flower containers. Soon they’ll be mingling with the flowers, and gracefully tumbling down the sides of the containers. In the fall, when my flowers are spent, I’ll take cuttings of all my ivy plants, put them in sparkling bottles water, and place them around my home once again. The outside will be in!

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2 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

Nice idea. I just wanted to add, if I may, that ivy is a real "good-natured" flower that does not ask for a lot in life. In fact it is a true "survival artist". I had one with a variegated leaf hanging in my porch all summer last year. That poor little thing got watered 1-2 times per week and believe it or not after a long, hot summer it was still alive. I planted it outside last fall and guess what, I can already see the little green leaves developing now. Fortunately, now it is not dependent on me anymore. The sprinkler system takes care of it now. I hate to admit it but I am not a very good "mommy" to my flowers when they are still plants. I am more used to working with fresh cut flowers. Please see my ideas on arranging fresh cut flowers (including ivy) in some of my blog posts at www.beyondblossoms.com.

On a final not, just as robust as ivy is any kind of sedum. If you are as bad as I am, taking care of plants in the house, you might want to get some:)

9:02 PM  
Blogger Elizabeth said...

Dear Gina,

Thank you so much for your comments, and for the link to your site.

Yes, sedum is incredibly tough as well, but I never thought of using it as a house plant - what an interesting idea! Thanks!

Elizabeth

5:35 AM  

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