I’ve always loved plants, specially flowers. I’ve always been in awe of Nature in general but for some reason I find plants and flowers mesmerising and incredibly interesting.
Last year I discovered succulents and cacti, they were quite the trend in interior styling blogs and all of the sudden you could see them everywhere (and on everyone’s Pinterest boards). I personally like them because they add a touch of greenery and they can be quite masculine. I used to say that the reason why I love them is because they take little to no work. But I’ve already had two die on me. I know it’s not rocket science, but I’m pretty sure that living in a small studio in London didn’t help them one bit.
By now, you should have guessed that being a plant lover and living in a small studio are things that do not go hand by hand. I’ve had my share of plants living in it with me… specially herbs. Last year, my boyfriend got me a bonsai for Christmas, King Bob. And he sits next to the one and only window in my flat. For some reason I’ve found that taking care of Bob (the bonsai) is way easier than taking care of my succulents. When one of them died (believe me it was really dead), I realised that perhaps it was my studio that didn’t provide with very good living conditions for them (specially in the winter, when it’s really cold during the day and warm during the night when I get home from work).
In terms of flowers, I grew up in a household where my mom would always tell my dad that flowers were a waste of money. In a way I understand where she was coming from but on the other hand, flowers have become much more available nowadays. Supermarkets sell them for as little as £2.50! Which makes for a nice little treat every now and again.
One of my favourite places in London is the Columbia Road Flower Market in East London. Even though it can be pretty expensive, I love spending time looking at plants and learning about them. You can buy almost anything and if you can’t resist the temptation you could be walking out of there with £20 worth of flowers.
This past summer I found this beautiful jasmine for my mom’s garden and my boyfriend bought me some peonies for our anniversary. Having to travel all the way back to West London with such a big plant wasn’t exactly great, but it smelled glorious. Those peonies where the most beautiful flowers I’ve ever had the pleasure of having in my home.
I’m looking forward to learning more about plants and flowers, if you have any recommendations or tips when it comes to cacti and succulents (specially) let me know on the comments below! Meanwhile, find me at http://www.julietoscaryankee.com or follow on twitter @JulietOyankee
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gwenniesgarden
Beware of cati and succuents cos before you know it you are addicted to them ! What they need is light, bright light and a bit of sun but don’t put them on a windowsill in full sun as they’ll burn ! and they need very little water. The problem with cacti and succulents you buy is that they rarely are in the correct soil (cos the shops want to sell you another one when yours is death !….) so give them the right soil if you can = normal soil and one third of sand, give them a pot with a hole in the bottom ! you can put it then in a beautiful pot without a hole in, 5 minutes after watering look in te pot to see the cactus is not sitting with its roots in water. Good luck !
Julieta Lucca
Thanks Gwen! Those are some great tips! I did change the soil already and in terms of lights they are getting a bit of it but not too much because I only have one massive window in my flat :/ But I’ll give those all a go! Thanks!
gwenniesgarden
there are “daylight lamps” you can use for your plants, you just use these lamps instead of an ordinary lamp, you can ask about it in the shops or in gardencenters.