Plants Inside the House for Inside the Heart

House plants are good for the soul. They brighten up rooms with color and living energy. In a room of plants I feel calmer and more optimistic. I feel like a nurturer, like the gardener God made me to be. You know, we are supposed to be tending to His garden. There are also health benefits to having house plants. They clean the air, decreasing dust and increasing humidity. Seems like I owe a lot to these plants. Here are some of the plants that make our home a cozy place to be!

This is our little coffee tree (Coffea arabica). It's a slow grower for 2 reasons. It should be at 4000-

5000' in elevation with a low temperature of 55°F. Right now it's at 2116' and lows around 40°. The lower temps are easier to combat now with central heat in our new house. I miss the wood burning stove, our coffee tree does not.

These are the plants sharing the window sill with the coffee tree. These came from my mama's house, where they lived happily in her kitchen window. My mama loved to "pinch" off of other people's plants. These are all little cuttings that she had taken from various places. Tradescantia pallida is the purple plant to the left, more commonly known as Wandering Jew or Purple Heart. It is a species of spiderwort. I have yet to identify the creeping succulent that it is sharing the pot with, but it's been fun to watch grow. To the right is a tiny ruby begonia which has gotten an even smaller bloom on it since I took the picture. I can't wait until this thing gets bigger, they are so beautiful and really remind me of my childhood.

Here is the beautiful mini-mum that Aj brought home for my birthday. Living plants are some much nicer than cut flowers! They last as a reminder for so much longer. The flowers on this plant will fade, but the greenery will continue to grow until blooming season next year.

Here's a little spud that's growing in a jar in the kitchen window. A pretty red organic potato. About time for him to be outside, but it is just so much fun watching them grow. This is a cool thing to do with kids, but don't forget to change the water or you'll stink up the whole house (even more than the kids already do)!

This is another plant that was mama's. I have not identified it yet, but it seems pretty hardy. I'm glad to have these plants as memories of my nature lovin' mama!

A nice group photo. Here you can see that we have aloe plants too! Aloe is a handy plant to keep in the kitchen for burns. So far they've tolerated being pinched off of very well. The jade plant (far left) is one of my favorites. You can get jade plants for affordable prices at Cochran's Nursery in Bryson City.

Don't forget to water! Let the sunshine in! They even love to hear a song or two. Yes, we talk to them. They're great listeners!