Growing Indoor Flower Gardens

Who says flowers have to be grown outside? Certainly, most homeowners have a spring ritual that involves buying flower bulbs and seeds and planting them outside to create a stunning display of color. In certain environments, they can even enjoy their outdoor flower gardens all year long. But, what if you live in a cooler climate and want the same enjoyment? Fortunately, you can grow flowers indoors. It just takes a bit of preparation and dedication. Here’s how.

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This isn’t as difficult as it may seem at first because you control the environment inside your home where your flowers will be growing. This means with some temperature, lighting, and humidity adjustments, you can grow just about any flower inside that you can grow outside. Of course, if you don’t want flowers that are fussy or difficult to grow without a special environment, you’ll want to choose hardy plants like miniature rose bushes, African violets, geraniums, purple shamrock, and begonias, among others.

If you’re not quite ready to make the leap to flowers that require a bit of maintenance, choose a species of cactus that blooms, like the Christmas cactus, which produces gorgeous red or pink flowers for four to six weeks. Cactuses are very low maintenance and are a good starter plant for indoor flower gardens.

Pay close attention to the type of environment your flower choices thrive in. For example, geraniums and purple shamrocks love the sun and will flourish in a south-facing window that receives several hours of direct sunlight every day. African violets and impatiens, however, need filtered light to grow well, so exposing them to an east-facing window where they only get sun part of the day will set them up for success.

Try not to choose a location that is drafty because flowers don’t like to be exposed to the cold. Additionally, if your plants grow too tall without flowering, they probably aren’t getting enough sun. The good part about growing an indoor flower garden is that you can usually move your pots to a new location to get better results.

A great part about growing flowers indoors is that you get to choose their containers so you can easily integrate them into your interior design style. You just need to make sure that the containers you select allow for adequate drainage. You want the soil to dry out somewhat between waterings because this is when plants use the nutrients in the soil to grow. You do not want the flowers’ roots to be sitting in standing water because they will rot.

If a container doesn’t already have holes for drainage, you can usually drill or punch holes into wood, metal, or plastic containers to create pots out of some truly unique items. To avoid damage to tables, floors, and other surfaces, be sure to place a drip tray under your containers to catch any water that filters through the soil.

When summer ends this year and your outdoor flower garden once again goes dormant, don’t despair. Try these tips to grow an indoor flower garden and bask in the beauty of blooming plants all year long!

Published in: Ideas | Author: Patrick