Make Container Plants Stand Out

There are, many ways, infinite variations and combinations you can use to set up an indoor garden, but basically it comes down to three main approaches when arranging houseplants:

• Individual pots which can be moved around - Everything from Palms, Orchids, Ficus trees, Dracaenas and more…

• A tray or windows box arrangement where a number of different plants are grown together.

• Terrariums - only small plants grown in almost a greenhouse environement

For the beginner, the easiest and best method is individual pots. Each plant can be given complete attention with its likes and dislikes catered to, and the chances of success are the greatest. The possibilities for arrangement are unlimited.

There are any number of containers, pottery, holders and shelf arrangements on the market designed to help arrange your plants to show them off to their best advantage.

Starting with individual pots rather than with a windowbox is safest, cheapest, and probably in the long run the most satisfying way to start enjoying plants, the colors and textures inside.

No Restrictions on Growing and Displaying

Don’t forget, you are not restricted to displaying plants in the same place you grow them. For instance, a sunny kitchen window may be an ideal spot for growing plants, but not much of a display area — there is no reason you can’t grow them until they flower and then “display” them into the living room.

A pot of trailing ivy on either side of the mantle, brighten up the dining-room with two or three plants. Nothing adds to the charm of a room like plants. A flowering Phalaenopsis orchid in the guest room makes your home a much more attractive place to visit.

For the more experienced gardener, a really striking display can be made with a decorative pot or planter and mixing different plants together, in individual pots, or in one large windowbox or tray - Bromeliads gardens are especially attractive this way.
These displays can consist of anything from specially built boxes which go under a picture window or on a sun porch to a small garden growing in a attractive container. By grouping plants you can really achieve some interesting looks, and with a wise choice of the plants you can make a indoor garden which blooms all year round.

For more permanent displays remember plants placed together must live under the same physical conditions of sun, humidity and, to a certain extent, water supply. These problems are, of course, not hard to overcover since the range of plants that can live together is broad.

Terrariums are a completely different approach to houseplant culture. Back in the middle of the 19th century an English botanist by the name of Nathaniel Ward discovered by mistake that many wood plants will grow and posper with little or no care if kept in a sealed container.

Terrariums growing moss, ferns and lichens can provide a woodland in miniature for your home, and almost any glass container can be used, from a fish bowl to a cocktail glass. From the point of view of home decoration, the difficulty with terrariums is that the plants that will grow in them are relatively few, and because they are enclosed don’t add the same kind of color to a room as do potted plants.

It doesn’t matter if you have room for just one or two plants or a veritable flower garden indoors. The pleasures from growing plants are tremendous. And the pleasures are not just your own but shared by everyone who visits, sees and enjoys them.

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