Easy Care Houseplants For Winter

Spider Plants, Wandering Jew, Croton, Dracaena, Ficus, Dieffenbachia several varieties of ferns and ivy, many specimens of Cactus and Succulents require minimal care over the winter and reward you with color and their ability to freshen and clean the air.

Our main greenhouse is brimming with these and many other varieties of foliage to brighten your home during the drab days of winter.

A few basic rules about houseplants during winter: do not transplant, since plants are semi-dormant and little root growth occurs. Wait until spring to re-pot, or do it early in the fall. Cut water and fertilizers by 2/3, again because the plants are semi-dormant. Very little uptake by roots will occur in a semi-dormant plant, and the fertilizers can burn foliage if not digested.

NASA's Fresh Air Houseplants Checklist

According to The National Aeronautical & Space Administration (NASA) in Houston, many plants actually clean the airspace we live in better than any others, based on their closed environment research chamber tests.

We carry many here at John Shelley's Garden Center & Nursery. Visit us soon and take a few home.

Orchids from Hawaii

Our orchids from Hawaii are getting ready to bloom for the holidays. They are on display in our Main Greenhouse. Easy to care for with blooms that last for many weeks. We currently carry Dendrobium, Oncidium, Vandaceous and Phalaenopsis varieties that offer beautiful color and some that are highly fragrant. What a wonderful and unique gift for that special someone this holiday season.

Winter Color and Fragrance

As winter hits with snow storms and cold, and all color seems drab and dreary, color becomes all-the-more-important in maintaining our perspective on our place in the world.

Sometimes we can't remember what the other seasons are like due to the severity of the one we're currently in, yet they all balance out.

Stop by our greenhouses for an eye-and- noseful over this winter; we've got lots of color and scents galore to perk up your dreary winter days.

Forced Narcissus (paperwhites) and Hyacinths can be had all winter long if you put them in some in dishes in a cool, dark place; then simply bring them into a warm room and they bloom (call us for exact forcing instructions). Then throw them into the compost bin afterwards; they'll make great compost in the spring, since they won't re-bloom. Likewise for tulips that are forced, they're spent and also make good compost material.

Amaryllis, on the other hand, live gracefully for many years and get better with each passing year. To cause blooming, keep in a dark cellar, water and fertilize, then bring into a warm room. After blooming, allow the leaves to stay and ripen off, cut off the flower stalks, summer over outside in direct sun, water and fertilize and start the simple procedure all over again. So easy. And so worth it during the winter when color and fragrance is at a premium.

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