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Interior Plantscaping
| Article
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19094 |
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Section : |
LIFE
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| Issue
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1 / 1991 |
1,995 Words |
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Karen Karvonen
Karen Karvonen is a garden writer based in Denver. |
The most stunning houseplant I ever met was an eight-foot dieffenbachia named Fred that dominated the living room in a high-rise residence in St. Paul, Minnesota. Its owner, a spry seventy-year-old, introduced the plant as if it were a family member, which I suppose it was. Fred had been with her for over twenty years. However, lately her plant had begun to worry her: The dieffenbachia's towering stalk was rapidly approaching the ceiling, and she had no idea how to prune it.
Not everyone develops such a close rapport with plants, although many of us dutifully water and mist our leafy brethren. Some of us even talk to our ferns and ivies. According to one survey, 75 percent of Americans own houseplants.
Much of today's fascination with indoor greenery stems from our Victorian ancestors' avid interest in growing parlor plants. According to Tovah Martin, author of Once upon a Windowsill, nineteenth-century glassmaking techniques enabled the creation of larger windows that let in more light. Then, the more efficient wood stove replaced the colonial open hearth, keeping nighttime temperatures above freezing.
"At the same time, the United States was entering a period of urbanization," explains Martin. "People were leaving the farms and wanted to bring a symbol of nature with them. They brought houseplants."
Oddly enough, the advent of central heating wilted the houseplant industry. "Houses stayed too hot," says Peter Loewer, a North Carolina horticulturalist whose numerous gardening books include Indoor Window Gardens. "The best thing that ever happened to the nursery business was the first oil shortage in the 1970s. It got people to turn their thermostats down to fifty-five at night, which most plants prefer because it's most like outdoors. You see, their rhythm of photosynthesis changes at night when it gets cooler."
The Sensitive Kind
The kinds of plants you select for your home will depend to some extent on your indoor environment. Before you buy a plant, make sure its lighting needs match your home's exposures. Northern windows create a low-light environment; eastern sills provide medium light; southern or large western windows offer the brightest exposure. You can always decrease the intensity of the light a plant receives by setting it farther from the
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