Take your gardening indoors

As the weather has finally become chilly, most homeowners likely aren’t thinking about gardening … at least not outdoors. But plants can flourish inside your home just as easily as they do outside of it. As we are putting together our Indoor Plants article for Atlanta Home Improvement’s January/February “green” issue, we came across these helpful tips for getting a jump-start on indoor planting this winter. Here’s a preview of what the experts had to say.

What’s Your Perfect Plantscape?
To incorporate foliage into your living area, first determine the area where you’d place the plants and take note of their light levels. Then, consider the following recommendations from Denise Eichmann, senior project manager at Ambius Inc.

Low-light areas
Try a grouping of bright ceramic pots filled with sansevaria varieties, such as laurentii, hahni and moonshine—a combination that offers varied size, shape and coloration.

Medium-light areas
The combination of large whorled-leaf schefflera, the broad, dark-green leaves of spathiphyllum and the variegated, two-tone silver and green leaves of Chinese evergreen offer great variety and contrast- to medium-light locations.

Brightly lit areas
Certain species of ficus, corton, Nofolk pine, cactus and succulents thrive near a sunny window of strong indirect light (western and southern exposure windows with six or more hours of sunlight each day).

Shopping Tips
Don’t know what to look for when shopping for plants? Check out these tips from Kate Wright, owner of Bloom’n Gardens and Mary Kay Woodworth, executive director of the Metro Atlanta Landscape and Turf Association (MALTA):

1. Consider your skill level and stick with plants that match it.
2. Match the plant to your lifestyle. Although all plants need watering, some can withstand longer periods of dry spells if you are out of town.
3. Consider space requirements. Choose plants that match your light level, and consider whether a potted floor plant or hanging ivy better fit your area.
4. Keep in mind that some plants can be toxic to four-legged friends or children.
5. Choose flowering house plants that can be replanted outdoors, including orchids, kalanchoe, flowering cacti, amaryllis, pointsettias, mums, azaleas and hydrangeas.