Tuesday, May 23, 2006

The Plantetorium



We're in a north facing apartment, so we don't get a ton of light. Some late afternoon sun on the balcony, sure, but not much else. We do, however, have a sky light, and under the sky light grows the plantetorium. The plantetorium started with just a couple of manky plants, but an inherited big blue pot (thanks Marie!) and a crush on the fiscus at the corner store got us our first big one. Then I moved the jade I inherited from Jenn P. (much to the dismay of Kimmie, who got all of her other plants) under the sky light, and gave it a bigger pot, and man has it taken off. Various trips to Ikea and Wonderbucks for shelves, pots, and plants, and a memorable field trip to the Vancouver African Violet Society's annual show brought more and more green to the plantetorium. Those old ladies at the African Violet show sure loved Kimmie (but who wouldn't love a beefy 24 year old guy going ga ga for AV's?). Kimmie and I also became plant pirates, trading clippings with each other, picking up leaves and bits of plants from the street, raiding other plants in the office for trimmings . . . many of the plants in the plantetorium have been acquired in this nature. This past weekend a friend who is leaving town for a while brought us his babies, and now the plantetorium is starting to look like a jungle!

(note to self: acquire some non-ugly pots for new large plants, and stat!)

(Next weekends plans involve going shopping for my balcony plants! Horray!)

5 comments:

Rebecca said...

I'm crap at keeping plants. They all die. Even the easiest ones to look after (water once a month, light is optional types)...they die.

Anyways after having our place reno'd my interior deigner friend Lee-Anne assured me that she had the perfect plant that was idiot proof. So i said yes and she bought it. I named him Frank in an effort that if he had a name i'd not be as inclined to kill him. 4 weeks later..he is still alive.

Christa Giles said...

Ooh, congrats. I'm pretty bad with houseplants.. keep forgetting to water them. BUT, today I just planted all the flowers n foliage I bought at Mandeville yesterday with my folks, so my hanging basket at the front door is ready to rock, and a nicotiana will hopefully do well in its own pot, to provide some lovely evening fragrance :)

Have you considered getting your dad to build a planter box, in which to set your various pots propped up on things to bring them up to the top of the planter? Might be easier than attempting to make them all match.. ./shrug

X.

Katie said...

I'm not trying to make them all match. They're all in different pots, except the new ones which are all in these ugly white plastic planters with the original plastic planters still inside. I want to give them some bigger, prettier, more permanant homes.

kimberley said...

I need you to help me with my plants! I have no idea what any of them are (several from IKEA, several inherited), and I have no idea what to do with them. They're alive and growing like crazy, but I think they need new pots and I have never re-potted anything in my life! AHHHHH! SO HELPLESS!!!!

Katie said...

We need to go to Wonderbucks. So many great cheap pots. Or the pot place on 10th and Alma, but much more expensive there.