Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog on the Northern Plains! Our region is USDA Zone 4-5a and spring is in arrested development after heavy snowfall and freezing temperatures. Instead of what’s blooming here, let’s look at flowers at the United States Botanic Gardens in our nation’s capital. The Washington, D.C. area has had a mild spring. … Continue reading
Filed under houseplants …
Houseplants Add Pep
Too early to lounge outdoors here. It’s about eight weeks before the last frost when starter plants and houseplants needing rejuvenation are taken outdoors. What can we do with houseplants to add pep to our indoor surroundings now? Rearrange houseplants. Consider moving plants to different rooms where light is better as the angle of the … Continue reading
New Houseplant Now
If you’d like easy-care, low-input indoor plants to add greenery to your living space, consider succulents. These Echeveria succulents are fleshy plants that found naturally in dry conditions in well-drained soil. Succulents are available now in nurseries and big box stores. They grow slowly, retaining their design shape so that little trimming is needed. Plants were … Continue reading
For You, Reader
Holiday wishes of opportunity and good fortune for all. Thank you, readers, for showing up this year! Thanks to all the contributors that make reading the Plant Exchange blog worthwhile.
Change of Season
First frost reminds us that change of season is underway. Some leaves have fallen and others are changing colors in this last half of October. A few houseplants return directly indoors. This potted camelia already began blooming outdoors under the magnolia tree where it spent the summer. Some other kinds of camelia will bloom later and are … Continue reading
An Indoor Accent Plant–Fiddle Leaf Fig
Houseplants dress our homes like containers of flowers highlight an area or echo a theme outdoors. Trees and shrubs may be the anchors in an outdoor room, but indoors, large plants can assume that role. Fiddle Leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) can be the anchor for a room full of houseplants. Welcome to Plant Exchange Blog. … Continue reading
Add to Enjoyment With Plants
Evergreens planted so you can see them from indoors, like this upright mugo pine Pinus mugo ‘Tannenbaum’, are a pleasing contrast on a snowy day. Today we’ll consider a few common indoor plants that flourish in enough sunlight on the Northern Plains. Boston fern stays full and green in a Southern exposure. It receives a … Continue reading
Days of Solitude
One of the features of the Northern Plains is days of solitude. I started a stroll around the yard, feeling the burden of a snowy day. There lay the outline of yarrow in snow I had hadn’t noticed all winter. Silent birdhouse by one of the deer trails. Snow is heavy on the spruce, but … Continue reading
Gardening Can Be Unpredictable
Welcome to Plant Exchange where we try to garden but it doesn’t always work out! It’s the middle of April, and the spring weather is unsettled. Below is an idea which the writer implemented in mid-March. She planted three pots and waited. Crunchy pod snow peas are a favorite, but getting the garden ready soon … Continue reading
What’s Happening At Des Moines Botanical Garden?
A reason to visit the Greater Des Moines Botanical Garden, is that its outdoor gardens grow many of the same trees, shrubs and perennials that are found in this region. Des Moines is rated USDA Zone 5a and 5b and has an average of 9 more inches of rain each year and a somewhat less … Continue reading
