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
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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
Favorite Begonia Houseplant
Thanks for visiting our weekly Plant Exchange Blog. We hope you’ll enjoy this topic and will find many others of interest. Thank you for “Likes” and our loyal “Followers.” A plant needs to stand out from others to be a favorite here at Plant Exchange. This Begonia acetosa has shiny green leaves with red undersides. … Continue reading
November and Seasonal Transition
Welcome to November at Plant Exchange Blog where we visit about plants and the people who grow them. Today is cloudy and above freezing so far. We have an inquisitive visitor outside our window. A small plastic greenhouse helps us transition plants from summer outdoors to indoors in winter. Camellias can’t take the South Dakota … Continue reading
Houseplants Ready for Spring
Welcome to our weekly Plant Exchange blog. Spring is here! Green haze on trees and first bold color of tulips and daffodils are announcing spring these rainy days. It’s a fine time to give houseplants a hard look before we’re outside most days. While the red-backed glossy leaves of a favorite houseplant are beautiful, it’s … Continue reading
Why Isn’t My Houseplant Thriving?
At Plant Exchange, we find some of our houseplants are challenged by lack of sunlight, low humidity and uneven temperatures. While some of our houseplants have problems, this favorite continues to thrive, even under reduced light and other winter conditions. Dr. David Graper, horticulturalist at South Dakota State University, suggests how to find out what’s … Continue reading
