Odhora Alo: Operation Houseplant: Succulents

Operation living houseplant continues.

The few fake plants that remain fall into one of these two categories:

Fake Trees

Both the fake ficus I bought back in the 90s and the better looking (but still fake) potted, lighted tree I bought at HomeGoods a few years ago.

I keep these around because my kids? schools have always needed fake trees for something or other.

When they were young it was for Bible School staging or school play sets or transforming a gym into an 8^th grade graduation setting.

Now with one left in high school (and on Student Council) it?s more like decorating a Homecoming hallway.

In any event, I?m sure that the moment that I pull into the driveway from taking the last one to Goodwill will the exact moment that it?s needed for something. So for the next two years at least they?ll be around.

Wreaths

I can?t get enough wreaths. I hang them on doors and on mirrors and on wreath stands. And living wreaths just aren?t practical, so fake it is.

Although I have become pickier about the ones that I buy. The Smith and Hawken wreaths at Target are awesome.

Wreaths will probably be my last fake plant holdout for a long time to come.

I have, however, found a secret weapon in my quest to have more live plants in my home:

I used to think I didn?t like succulents because I associated them with prickly cactus plants and Southwest motifs.

But then succulents started showing up around blogland and I realized how truly pretty they could be.

So on my last trip to Home Depot (or was it Lowe?s?) I picked up a couple of pretty succulents for just a few bucks and plopped them in some thrifted planters.

Instant living houseplants!

Because they?re so small they?re easy to tuck in around picture frames or in groupings with other plants. Or you can plant several in a larger, shallow planter and call it a dish garden.

And I especially love the fact that on the labels of some of them it said ?drought resistant.? That?s code for ?lazy gardeners won?t kill these.?