Bay Laurel

Bay trees grow terrifically over winter indoors in a sunny windowsill and they put on lots of new growth in later winter and early spring.  Here's the base of my one of my pots of Sweet Bay Laurel today...

Bay is an herb and the leaves can be dried and used in cooking. I use mine in soups, stews, and sauces. They add a delicious flavor throughout the dish.  Once you're tried fresh Bay leaves, you'll never go back to store bought ones again.


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Today's Peeks...

My Geranium flower is continuing to bloom nicely today...

I also have some double petunia seedlings growing in my aero-garden. Here they are today...

Here's the 2nd one....

I have a maturing double petunia plant as well that should be blooming shortly...

This is my "Jigsaw" hot pepper plant...

My indoor Woodland Alpine Strawberry plant continues to produce fruits...

Alpine plants produce more berries in their 2nd year so my plant is just getting started...

 Alpine fruits are much more intensely flavored than larger berries.  These ones are very sweet with such a concentrated rich strawberry flavor...

Yummy!!! 

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Growing Geraniums Indoors!!!

January/February is the time for sowing Geranium seeds...

 

 

 

They usually germinate in 5-20 days in a sterile seed starting medium. Starting geraniums under fluorescent lights if possible, is ideal, as sunny windows early in life will cause plants to become too leggy.

Lightly cover the seeds, moisten and germinate at 21C. If you pinch the plants back, you'll encourage a compact, bushy shape. Here's a rose pink geranium I have blooming indoors right now...

Today I sowed a few pink geranium seeds. They make an excellent houseplant and they will bloom continuously all year round in a sunny or even partially sunny window.

Now's the time for sowing Geranium seeds, so happy planting!

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Flowers Indoors

Growing flowers indoors is fun and easy if you have some sunshine and warmth to offer. I love growing geraniums indoors best, as they continue to bloom all year round.  Here's are some pictures of my indoor blooms...

These are my daisy chrysanthemums...

All you need is a little bit of blooming fertilizer to help promote lots of endless flowers in your home.  Petunias are another great choice for indoor blooming plants and they smell great too...

These ones however, do not smell great.  Stinky Stars...

Celosia is another good choice for indoor flowers and they're easy-to-care-for as well...

More geraniums and pansies...

"Thumbelina" dwarf Zinnia in aero-garden...

Pansies are a terrific indoor flower as well. I grow them in my bathroom window throughout spring and sometimes Fall...

Gerbera Daisy...

I like to grow my blooming plants in windows with good morning sunshine but shelter from hot afternoon heat.  Lots of water is needed to keep flowers healthy and blooming.  I recommend a good quality, well-draining medium. I find flowering plants that are slightly rootbound tend to bloom a little more.  It's also a good idea to remove all your spent blooms to encourage the plants to continue to produce new blooms.  Leaving dead flowers on the plant will send a message to the plant that it already has blooms and no need to make anymore, so deadheading is a good practice indeed.

More on indoor flower growing soon...

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Aero-Garden Veggies

Here's what I harvested today. 


Chocolate peppers...

Hahm's Gelbe yellow cherry tomatoes from Germany...

Just took these shots today right before I harvested the fruits.  Thought you guys might like to see what you can do with an Aero-Garden!!!

I also have swiss chard germinating in one of my systems as well.  The strawberries are thriving too!

More soon...

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More Peeks of my Aero-Garden Plants

"Little Blue" hot pepper...

Strawberry seedling...

"Thumbelina" dwarf Zinnia seedling...

Micro Tom seedling. Smallest tomato plant in the world...

More soon...

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One Amazing Houseplant

"Jerusalem Cherry"  Solanum Pseudocapsicum

Although this plant belongs to the deadly nightshade family, unlike tomatoes and eggplant, it is poisonous and should be kept out of reach of small children and pets. 

If you don't have a lot of sun available, this is the plant for you, because it prefers bright, diffused light.  The seeds are inside the cherries and they germinate easily. This plant enjoys being pruned and shaped and it thrives in a pot.  It usually gets about a foot tall and tends to trail down the pot in an attractive sort of way.

The secret to it's success is misting...which this plant loves.  The plant produces little white tomato/pepper-like blossoms, followed by green fruits that ripen yellow through orange.

This plant used to be grown a lot in the 70's and if you watch old 'Three's Company' episodes, you'll see a lot of Jerusalem Cherry plants.  This plant is also sometimes referred to as "Christmas Cherry". It's one of my favorite houseplants because of it's charming appearance. It's easy-to-grow and please.  A plant that should be grown more than it is today.


Don't be put off because it's poisonous.  So are poinsettias and we bring them into our homes every year.  Just be cautious and it will make a wonderful addition to your houseplant collection.


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