Low Light Flowering Houseplant - Clivea Miniata

Clivea in Bloom

I love houseplants but my house is not the best for the kind of muted bright light most houseplants need to thrive. There is nothing like an east facing window to keep most plants looking their best. My largest window faces north east and is quite dim in winter when the sun light moves south. So I am always on the lookout for plants that like low light conditions. 

Clivea Miniata is a beautiful flowering houseplant that fills the bill. In order to get Clivea to flower, decrease the light and lighten up on watering during the winter. Cool nights are a help as well. The combination of these environmental conditions create a rest period so that the plant can store up the energy it takes to bloom. 

After a 6 - 8 week rest period, allow the plant to get a bit more light. Of course if Clivea is in a north east facing window, this will happen naturally as the sun "moves" north in spring. Increase your watering schedule and feed lightly with a weak liquid fertilizer. (I say weak because most fertilizers tell you to use more than is necessary) 

When you water any houseplant, use water that has been allowed to set out for at least 24 hours so that it can off-gass chlorine. (Funny how it's okay to drink the stuff)

The beautiful luminous flowers of the Clivea  remain in bloom for several weeks. After the flowers have faded, cut the flower stem off close to the plant. Even after the flowers are gone, Clivea is a wonderful plant with beautiful foliage. Dust off those deep green strappy leaves every so often. 

Clivea produces small shoots from its (rather unattractive) roots. Cut off a shoot and plant it. You may have to wait a few years for the new plant to produce blooms. This easy reproduction will give you the opportunity to have a plant to trade. I love free houseplants and trading is the cheapest way to increase your little houseplant community. 

Fixing Up Some Trash - My Free Settee

Settee found in trash

 I found this ugly little settee set out by the curb one day and carried it home thinking it would make a nice piece of extra seating when we had guests instead of the folding metal chairs with someone else's name scrawled in sharpie across the back.

It needed a redo, sad as it was, and I thought that I'd just cover the seat and give it a quick paint job. All sorts of fanciful ideas floated - silver paint with blue and gray fabric, antique white or French gray with a piece of grain sacking. Of course I put if off, stuck it in the basement with the rest of the projects waiting to happen.

Then a party loomed and I was in the mood! The fast, emergency chair redo went like this:

• Rummage through the fabric scraps to find something big enough

• Clean off the wood and caning

• Glue loose parts with wood glue (I just tied it all up with rope for support til the glue was dry)

• Cover bench seat - wrap like a gift, tack, and staple (whoops, the bench seat was cracked so I just filled the crack with glue then taped over it)

Cover the seat with fabric

• Spray the fabric with Scotch Guard

• Screw the seat onto the frame (through the screw holes below)

Once I popped the covered seat onto the frame I realized that it looked just fine without a paint job. The wood that had looked so horrible was now perfectly acceptable paired with the attractive new fabric. I was so happy with the quick change!

My family likes it too! They want to keep it upstairs instead of relegating it to the basement to bring up for company. My son no longer accuses me of stealing chairs from the people whose names were on the backs of the old ones. 
Instead of sitting on cold metal, ugly folding chairs left behind (or purloined) my honored guests can sit on a cute little settee that I pulled out of my neighbor's garbage!

Ice Candle

When the days are cold and the nights even colder, you can make one of these beautiful ice candles. Or you can make a lot of them. They are practically free! Brighten up winter nights or illuminate a pathway with these luminaries created with a block of ice and a tea candle. 




Here's how to make an ice candle:

• Grease the inside of a bucket. 

•  Fill the bucket with water.

• Set outside, away from the house (it's usually a few degrees warmer close to the house).

• Make sure the ice bucket will not be sitting in the sun.

• After 2 or 3 days (depending on how cold it is) upend the bucket. The water freezes from the top and sides, leaving a  hollow at the bottom. 

• Set the ice block on top of a couple of bricks, or raise it from the ground some way. You want it elevated so the fire gets oxygen.

• Set a lit tea candle below the concave bottom of the ice block. 

When the ice melts, water droplets follow the ice walls down and do not drip onto the candle. 

Of course, it must be below freezing for this to work. Temperatures just slightly above 32 degrees F during the day should not melt the ice. If the temperatures are not freezing, or in warmer months, you can do the freezing in a large freezer. Wouldn't that be pretty in summer?

Ice Candle