Decline and Fall--Not Necessarily

As I've noted before, I don't put very many of my non-succulent houseplants outdoors. I try to choose plants that will do well indoors year-round, so I can always have a house full of plants. I might have mentioned this before, but one of the saddest things I've ever read on the Garden Web forums was a post by a woman who was lamenting that she had to bring her plants indoors in the fall. They had been doing so well outdoors over the summer, and she was dreading having to watch their inevitable, dramatic decline over the winter. But a major decline is not inevitable if one chooses houseplants wisely in the first place. A plant that is happy with the available indoor conditions will not need to go outside, and if it does, will not decline drastically when brought back indoors.

That said, I do put a few houseplants outdoors in summer. A couple are just out there for decorative purposes, like my Norfolk Island Pine:

Araucaria heterophylla dressing up my front porch

Others I put outside because, I admit, they are exceptions to my rules. A couple aren't well-suited to my indoor conditions, despite my best intentions, and need a rejuvenating vacation outdoors. There are also a couple of plants, which despite being okay with their places inside, are "problem" or ailing plants. For those, a bit of natural rainfall, fresh air and summertime humidity will usually turn them around.

Hedera helix, Fatsia japonica, and Dracaena reflexa 'Song of India.' The ivies and the Fatsia are outdoors because I think that fresh air and cooler night temperatures discourage spider mites. The Dracaena is just there because I like how it looks.

This Aspidistra elatior variegata was in the ailing plant category. I was perplexed by its failure to thrive, which I couldn't attribute to poor conditions or insects, so I put it under a tree and hoped for the best. It seems to be doing better.

In one of my earliest blog posts, I recounted the tale of "Foxy," my Asparagus myersii (Foxtail Fern.) Well, Foxy also spent the summer outdoors, in the hopes that it will continue to bounce back after its major pruning last fall. Maybe someday, it will regain its former size and beauty, and I'll have to start the process all over again.

Above, two pictures of Foxy, the Asparagus myersii.

Another small Asparagus that I cut back, and is now rejuvenating itself

Alpinia zerumbet variegata. I admit to abusing this poor plant this past winter, shoving it under lights in the basement, and frequently allowing it to get too dry. It has also recuperated nicely, and I've promised it a favored spot in a west window this winter, and plenty of water.

Tradescantia pallida, hanging around in my maple tree, just because. It was fine indoors, but I decided to put it out last month for its decorative value.

As autumn approaches, I will, of course, be bringing them back in. The Asparagus, Fatsia and Hedera helixes will stay out for quite some time yet, as they can handle a touch of frost. But when they do come in, I do not expect a dramatic decline from any of them.

Odds and Ends and Updates

Well, now I know which of my unidentified Hibscus rosa-sinensis plants received the hard pruning described in my post of January 8. It was the yellow-flowered one. I know this because the red flowered one bloomed today!

NoId Hibiscus rosa-sinensis

Now, if I'm smart, I'll put a label in the plants so I'll know what's what from now on.

Foxy, my rather brutally pruned Asparagus meyersii, has put out another new "frond." I think I'll declare this experiment a success.

This new branch has a fairly loose growth habit, due to the fairly weak winter sunlight. I think that it is pretty, anyway.

I wrote on January 27 that I would post a picture of my Sansevieria gracilis/ballyii/whatever flowers when the buds opened. Well, some of them opened and closed and fell off before I remembered to take a picture, but here is the bloom stalk with at least some open flowers.

Sansevieria flowers

From that same post, I noted that my Sinningia speciosa was re-sprouting , and posted pictures of its tiny new leaves. Here they are today:

Sinningia speciosa (Florist Gloxinia) leaves, considerable larger than in the original post

Finally, yesterday, I said that I had decided not to post pictures of heart-shaped leaves for Valentine's Day. But I like these pictures of Peperomia incana, so I decided not to let them go to waste.

Heart-shaped Peperomia incana leaf, silhouetted against the snowy outdoors...

...and here, showing the fuzzy texture of the leaves.

Updates, We've Got Updates

I really thought that my Hippeastrum 'Benfica' flower, the subject of this post, would be open by now. It, however, has other plans. I am consoled by the appearance of a second flower bud, seen peeking out from behind the taller stalk. I will post pictures when the flower finally opens.

Hippeastrum 'Benfica' as of this morning

In other news, I am sad to report that while several of my coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides) plants are doing fairly well under my light set-up, (see posts here and here) popular favorite 'Tilt-a-Whirl' is no longer. The plant lost quite a few leaves, then just sort of rotted out.

"Foxy" my Asparagus densiflorus 'Meyersii' is still hanging in there, and has put out a second new frond. (Original post here, a previous update can be found in the second coleus link above.)

Weekend Update

Or perhaps, it should be weakened update. I thought I'd let everyone know how a couple of plant experiments I wrote about last month are going. Let's check in first with "Foxy", the Asparagus meyersii I had to root prune with a saw:

"Foxy" with browning fronds visible

Well, not only did poor Foxy lose a couple more healthy fronds that were loosened away from the roots during the pruning, but it suffered quite bit of browning from the trauma as well. I would be thoroughly disheartened if I hadn't noticed the following:

New growth! Maybe Foxy will pull through after all.

The Coleus Experiment seems to be going a bit better. I did lose two plants (both NoIds) which just sort of dried up, despite my keeping up with the watering. Several other plants have nice colorful growth on their upper leaves near the lights, but have lost leaves and have leggy, bare stems at the bottom. And a few, like Tilt-a-Whirl, continue to do fairly well:

Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Tilt-A-Whirl.' There has been some leaf loss leading to a bit of legginess not visible in this shot, but it is still looking much better than some of the others.

Close-up of Tilt-A-Whirl foliage

S. scutellarioides 'Dark Heart' is also doing well

I will post more updates as things develop.

Asparagus Adventure

Six years ago, I was browsing through one of the local nurseries and came upon a plant I had always wanted, Asparagus densiflorus meyersii, aka Foxtail “Fern.” I purchased it, and it grew vigorously for me. I usually placed Foxy outside in the summer, and would make it part of a container arrangement. The first year, I put it in a pot with an Iresine herbstii, and some red Impatiens. The next year it was much bigger, and I surrounded it with Dahlias. As it grew bigger I just used it by itself.

Foxy with Ivy wreath, 2008

After a certain point though, the damn thing got huge. Gorgeous, but huge. It was always a struggle to bring Foxy back inside. Last year, after being moved to a 20-inch pot, it was so heavy that we could no longer carry it upstairs to the spare bedroom. That room had the optimum conditions for it; it was bright and, more importantly, cool. (We keep the rest of the house rather warm.) So Foxy spent the winter in my living room, where it shed cladodes (the proper name for the needle-like foliage) like crazy.

So this year when I put it outside, I decided I would leave it there in the fall, and let the frost get it. (Actually, I’d have to let a hard freeze get it; Asparagus ferns are quite hardy.) I even bought a (small) replacement for it.

Foxy on Saturday, before I got started

But a freeze is forecast for tonight, and I had a change of heart. So I decided to do what I had to do to get it inside.

Tools used during this little adventure:
Big saw, little saw, trowel, fork, pruners, and dowel

First, I examined the plant and trimmed off all the dead fronds and those with bare stems at their bases. Then I placed the pot on its side, and removed as much soil as possible, using the trowel. I then plunged the fork into the pot, and rocked it back and forth as much as possible, which wasn’t much.

View of some of the unsightly fronds before pruning

First round of trimmings

I tried to get the plant out of the pot. It wouldn’t budge. Okay, Plan B. I dig around and remove more loose soil. I then attempt to move the root ball by pushing the dowel through the drainage hole. It wouldn’t budge.

Okay, Plan C. Since I planned to severely prune the root ball anyway, I ask my husband, Bob, if he has any long thin handsaws. Of course he does. Woodworking is one of his hobbies, and he has lots of tools of almost every description. He shows me the small saw pictured second from the left, above, and the wider saw. I tell him the ideal would be something as narrow as the small saw, but as long as the wider saw. He didn’t have anything like that, so I took what he had. I sawed around the inside of the pot with the small saw to get started, then used the large saw. I put the pot back on its side, and pulled. Still wouldn’t budge. I called Bob for help. I figured that I could pull on the plant, while he stood on the other side and pulled on the pot. We tried it. Still wouldn’t budge. Bob suggests that maybe we could just cut the pot apart. In addition to hand tools, he has lots of power tools, and he loves to use them. I decided that I didn’t want to do that, since it’s a fiberglass pot, and fiberglass is not a pleasant material to deal with.

So he took the handsaw and sawed around the inside of the pot again for me, getting deeper than I had before. The plant still won’t budge. I thanked Bob for his help, and he went back inside. Just then, I have a moment of inspiration born of frustration. I decide to put the pot on its side again, and bang it against the walkway. Amazingly, there is movement. I turn the pot around, and bang it again. More movement. A strong pull, and the plant is out of the pot.

Out of the pot, at last

Next chore is to saw off a large section from the bottom of the rootball. Asparagus roots are tough, I’m pretty sure they can take it.

Severed rootball. Oh the humanity! (Or plantaceaity, or something)

Original pot, plus round pot I was going to use.
It is the same size (14") as the square pot I ended up with.

The next step is to fit the plant in a new, smaller pot. I lift the plant. Too wide for the pot. I saw off some roots on the sides. Still too wide for the pot. I saw some more. At this point, if there were anything to the notion of plant perception, (link to the wonderful series by mr._subjuntive at PATSP) I would be charged with violating the Geneva convention. But it was still too wide for the pot. Also, at this point, all this manipulation had caused several of the healthy fronds to break off. I knew I would have to prune off some more top growth, to balance all the root hacking, excuse me, pruning, I was doing. I had wanted to be a bit more selective, however. C’est la vie. Finally, with a little more sawing, and some clipping, and a lot of huffing and puffing, I get the plant into its new pot.

In the new pot, ready to go inside

After all this, I hope Foxy survives my attempt to save it.

I’ll keep you posted.