Flowers

Bringing the outside in breathes life into a space, cut flowers or potted plants, in my opinion, are as essential to making a home feel good as paint, furniture and window treatments.
I'm caring for three potted orchids, one yellow, one magenta and one peach color, a hearty green plant (don't know the name) that I bought at Ikea, some Narcissus from my mom, and a rotating cast of cut flowers.
Learning how to keep them happy is a very rewarding practice. Admittedly, I'm not a natural green thumb and sadly more than a few plants have suffered my learning curve. But I'm much better now, having learned that every plant is different, some are more temperamental than others and that patience and careful observation pay off. Some day I hope to branch out (sorry) to outdoor gardening. My mom and my aunt are amazing gardeners, so was my grandmother - much to aspire to.
For now, I'm focusing on the great indoors. My two new favorites: Chrysanthemums and Ranunculus. Chrysanthemums last a long time as cut flowers and look really pretty in single bud vases. It's also a great way to extend a bouquet around your entire home, a single bud for each room - on a desk, at your bedside. I keep them out of direct sunlight, change the water often and re-cut the stems at an angle each time. I especially like Ranunculus because their light green stems and leaves of remind me of celery.

Do you have a favorite indoor plant or cut flower? A plant-care tip? Please share by posting a comment.