Each fall, to add variety to winter windows, I pot a few annuals to bring inside before the nights become too cold.
First Gilliflowers
Last year, I potted an annual stock (gilliflower), which was a great success as a houseplant.
The first gilliflowers I ever saw were at an old abandoned farm in New Hampshire. The house and barn had burned down, and a thicket of brush and vines was obliterating the cellar hole.
But where the lawn had been, the air was fragrant with lavender stocks. With its unusual gray-green foliage, the stock was attractive even before it bloomed.
It flowered in February; the clear rose-pink clusters retained their beauty for many weeks. When it turned warm, I replanted it in the garden.
I also potted dianthus. It made a healthy foliage plant but did not bloom until spring after it was put out in the garden.
Spider Flower
Cleome (spider flower) makes a fine house plant with its showy heads of pink or white blossoms and exotic, appealing foliage.
Pinch the tip before the plant starts to lengthen. It requires plenty of water, so I mulch it with Japanese green tea leaves like my other plants.
(What’s good enough for me is good enough for my plants.) Burnet and parsley in a single pot add flavor and variety to winter salads.
Also, in a south window, which is where I grow all my indoor plants, is a tomato plant that produces small, deep red, line-flavored tomatoes.
Most Outstanding Plant
The most outstanding plant I ever raised indoors was a Scotch thistle grown from imported seed.
It was a magnificent plant with light gray-green, deeply serrated leaves covered with flat fuzz. But it did not blossom indoors.
Along with garden plants, I grow a few usual houseplants—fragrant sweet olive in constant bloom, gardenias scented and lovely, Easter lily cactus, Kalanchoe tomentosa ‘with plump leaves of silvery green edged with dark red.
Pelargonium – ‘Empress of Russia’
Pelargonium ‘Empress of Russia’ I, unfortunately, was treated like a geranium for a half year and deprived it of the water it required. The blossoms are deep red-edged with delicate pink.
The sturdy ponderosa lemon is usually loaded with creamy white, scented flowers and bears enormous edible fruit. It once had nine lemons on it.
During warm winter rains, I set all plants (except succulents) outside for a refreshing bath.
Watering of Plants
Gardenias requires extra moisture so I put them in the sink twice a week and water them gently from the top of the dripolator.
Sweet olive and lemon plants also benefit from an occasional sprinkling. In the winter I collect snow or rainwater for watering plants.
I keep it in a large vase in the dining room and it adds moisture to dry air and is always the right temperature.
City water can be used if left in a container, for chlorine evaporates as water stands. I fertilize sparingly with fish fertilizer or liquid compost, but not during December and January.
44659 by Devon Reay