Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Houseplants on Beds of Moss

For the New Year we were up in the Northeast, visiting relatives of Mr. Red House.  My mother-in-law is a gardener and has a beautiful collection of houseplants.  I love seeing them, especially since I don't currently have any houseplants, mainly due to a cat who can't resist munching on anything even remotely green.  (You should see the begging that goes on in my house whenever I eat a salad.)


I love my mother-in-law's exquisite collection of containers.  She keeps an extensive container garden outside during the summer months, but then brings many of them in for the winter.  Looking a little closer, the plants are made even more beautiful by her overwintering habit of covering the soil with soft pieces of woodland moss.


She does this as a mulch to keep moisture in and prevent the plants from drying out too quickly. 
(Thus one would not want to do this with succulents and other arid plants.)


The moss even kept enough moisture in for some seedlings to grow, such as these impatiens that grew up out of the moss.


I just love the beds of moss because they look beautiful.

Even a dead plant looks pretty good when it's nestled in moss in a beautiful container!


Honestly, just a container of moss looks good. 

Cup o' Moss
Can you tell I love moss?  If I ever get a houseplant again, I'll have to plant a bed of moss at the base.


Do you think my plant-munching cat would try to get into a terrarium?

14 comments:

  1. I love the moss and beautiful pots! What a great idea...I use decorative pebbles/rocks on my succulents and pinecones and wine corks on some of my other house plants. I highly recommend a terrarium! Maybe your cat will just stare at it (like a fish bowl)?!

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  2. Cats and houseplants...sheesh. My cats are notorious for digging in them. I keep most of the moss outside, but the birds are the ones digging it up. They look for bugs under it. I do like her use of moss. She has pretty containers too. The only houseplants that I have with moss are my bonsai and they are where no cat can go.

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  3. What a beautiful way to finish off a container plant! I usually use stones! (Can't kill them!) Maybe you should consider growing your cat some grass - they sell little packets of it at pet stores.

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  4. Found this and thought of you...
    http://brianfey.com/terrarium-kitties/
    xxx

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  5. Beautiful! Everything looks better with moss.

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  6. Indie, what a wonderful idea your mother-in-law has! Thank you for sharing it with me.

    Our daughter has cats also, and doesn't keep house plants due to the practice of the kitties munching at will. That is such a shame; she loves plants, too.

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  7. You are a moss lover after my own heart! I think your cat would stare into the terrarium and wish there was a way in! I have dreamed of having a lovely terrarium with a woodsy, mossy scene inside.

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  8. I don't know which ones to love more - the pots, the moss or the plants? Where does she get all these beautiful containers? I don't find them anywhere. Lovely collection.

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  9. Your mother-in-law makes those houseplants look even more beautiful with the moss at the base. I use moss for indoor bulbs, but I have not tried it for this purpose...great idea!

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  10. I don't have any houseplants either. I can't seem to focus on indoor and outdoor plants at the same time. I think I love moss in any setting.

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  11. Those pots are just beautiful. You're so right about the moss looking great just on its own, and it makes a great mulch as well. A lovely collection of pots and potted plants.

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  12. Karin - I love pebbles as well around plants! I've never seen pinecones or wine corks, though. Great ideas! Maybe someday when I have houseplants again :)

    gardenwalkgardentalk - Moss with bonsai sounds beautiful! I don't have a lot of moss in my yard, sadly, as it's too sunny for it. I'm trying my best to make a moss garden area, though!

    HolleyGarden - I've grown grass for my cat a couple time, which she loves! It tends to get pulled over a lot, though, and then put up and neglected. I really need to get a heavy shallow container for some. At the moment the cat has to be satisfied with begging for salad, sadly.

    Jane - Very funny! My two cats would love it. I actually keep an empty cardboard box in my closet for one cat, since he loves sleeping in there so much.

    Denise - Thank you! I totally agree!

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  13. Debra - Glad you like it! I always had houseplants, too, ever since a kid. I'm definitely looking into a terrarium or something, though!

    Debsgarden - I love all the moss in your garden! And that's exactly what I picture when I think terrarium - something lovely and woodsy!

    KL - She says she gets them from a local Asian store. I need to check out our Asian store in the next town! The pots are so pretty!

    Sage Butterfly - I love the idea of using them for indoor bulbs! I wish I had more moss around here, there are so many great ideas to use it for!

    GirlSprout - I don't know if I've had both indoor and outdoor plants at the same time, either. I always had indoor plants when I lived in apartments. When I had my own house and garden is also when we got cats!

    Bernie - Thank you! They make me wish for a collection of pretty pots myself!

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  14. What a great idea!! I just did a post on moss -- just wishing I could grow it! I looked back at your previous moss post -- gorgeous!!! Have you seen the Moss & Stone Gardens website? I have a link to it on my moss post. You will LOVE it if you love moss :-)

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