The Plants at The Houseplant Journaler’s

It is with great pleasure that I share on the blog this next plant enthusiast’s house plants.  I discovered his House Plant Journal (blog) via Instagram and was blown away by his plant collection. I just love it when I meet other plant enthusiasts like me. Enjoy the tour and don’t forget to check out his blog.

Your name:  Houseplantjournal

Occupation: Business Analyst – I help clients solve their problems

Where you live: Toronto, Canada

Number of plants you own: At home – around 70; At church – 10;  At work – around 25

How long you have been into plants and how did you get introduced:
Growing up, I’ve always helped my mother with outdoor gardening. When we moved to a bigger house, she asked me to research and buy some plants to decorate the inside of our house. As I do with any hobby, I get really in to it – that was 2 years ago.

Where do your windows face (east, west, north, south) and what plants have grown best in your home or close to those windows?:

My bedroom is home to a trio of Sansevieria Hahnii plants.

My Bathroom gets a lot of light and a daily dose of humidity. Plants include: several pothos varieties, a big spider plant, staghorn fern, air plants, peperomia (watermelon, prostrata). This is also where I root my cuttings.

The upstairs hallway is lit exclusively by the skylight, which faces southwest. The shelves have a jade plant, wandering Jew, ponytail palm, Chinese evergreen, a spider plant (2nd generation from the one in my bathroom). By the railing: a different spider plant, Christmas cacti, fiddle leaf fig, philodendron selloum. At each stair landing, money trees!

The living room gets quite bright with the two big windows facing south. There are two big snake plants, a jade plant, several aloes, monstera deliciosa, and in the mini greenhouse – dendrobium and phalenopsis orchids.

At my church, I keep 2 philodendron Brazil baskets by the south window during the week.  On Sundays, I hang them in the main worship area by the French doors.  Other plants here: jade plant, several echeverias, marble queen pothos (cuttings from mine), and in this photo – a philodendron micans that is now dead from frost damage when the heater broke this past winter (fortunately, I took cuttings so I still technically have a philodendron micans!).

When the company I work for moved downtown, they wanted to decorate the space. Naturally, I suggested plants. They gave me a budget and I went to work! The office kitchen faces south but is partially blocked by a tall building. These window sills have several varieties of dracaena and peperomia, air plants, hoya carnosa, prayer plant, and pothos. My desk window faces north with another building right in front. This actually reflects the sun into my work area so it can be quite bright at times. I keep a zz plant there.

Name any benefits you get from your plants: Other than the obvious air purification and oxygen production benefits, seeing plants thrive and mature brings me great joy!

What kind of plants (genus, species or family) you like the most: I’m huge on foliage, hardiness, and longevity – I like plants that WANT to live indoors with me for the long run. My favourites: spider plant, any pothos, any philodendron, zz plant.

Can you share the biggest challenge you have had with your plants? :My biggest challenge is finding the right balance between owning a plant purely out of interest versus using it to augment the decor of my house. I mean, I’m perfectly fine with a bunch of plastic grower pots sitting on wire shelving in a brightly lit growing area but everyone else in my life sees plants as decor that requires maintenance. I’m always thinking of ways to make a plant both decorative and easy to maintain.

Can you share one mistake you made as a gardener?: Purchasing a plant purely because it looked nice and interesting in the store but then realizing that I could never provide the environment it needed to thrive.

If your plants were to be taken from you and you could only keep one (can’t bear the thought I know), which one would it be and why?: Definitely my peperomia prostrata and its planter I designed and built. I love how it’s a trailing vine with interesting foliage. The leaves go through several stages: tiny speck, flat with dark markings, filled water like a pillow. For me, the Peperomia prostrata has been the most fascinating plant that’s also easy to care for.

Best advice you can give about any aspect in taking care of plants: Plants are generally happy if their roots are happy. To keep roots happy, you need to ensure the soil is “just right” on the following characteristics (specific for each plant): moisture/nutrient retention vs drainage; loose enough to let oxygen in but tight enough for roots to anchor the plant.
If you have a blog/website/business/social media account, include the URL so others can find you?:
http://houseplantjournal.tumblr.com/
http://instagram.com/houseplantjournal/
I started a Tumblr blog about a year ago. I liked that I could post a series of photos (from my phone) along with an extended caption (including links). Virtually all photos on my blog were taken on my phone. I also like to use the tagging system to quickly find any posts related to a particular plant or place where I take care of plants. Blogging is a great way to see the progress of your plants as well as your own progress as a gardener! My Instagram blog is still quite new – I’m trying to find the best way to use it (I’m used to posting multiple pictures at once).

 Thank you HousePlantJournal for sharing your plants with us.

Would you like your plants featured here? Go to The Plants at Yours to learn more

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