Our kitchen window looks out into our patio area. The windowsill outside the kitchen window has a wooden shelf underneath it, and both the windowsill and the shelf seem to be attractors to all sorts of junk (imagine paper towels, cleaning products, gardening gloves, watering cans and other random paraphernalia).
I recently decided that if I wanted stuff to stop accumulating in this spot, I would have to put something there as a physical deterrent! And what did I decide on? You got it - plants :)
Off I went to Bunnings (again!) in search of some flowering plants that liked full shade. Short of buying African Violets, there wasn't much doing - it seems most of those plants flower in spring (huh - who would've guessed! Lol) So I started looking at shade loving plants with interesting foliage instead. I loved the look of the bromeliads - nice and tropical which suits our yard with all the palms - but I'm not wild about the fact that bromeliads like their water in a little pool inside its leaves (it's like a little well in there that holds it)… The mozzies take hold really quickly where we are so we can't leave any water pooled anywhere or we're instantly over run… So with a perfect pool inside the bromeliad for mozzies to breed in, I moved on!
Off I went to Bunnings (again!) in search of some flowering plants that liked full shade. Short of buying African Violets, there wasn't much doing - it seems most of those plants flower in spring (huh - who would've guessed! Lol) So I started looking at shade loving plants with interesting foliage instead. I loved the look of the bromeliads - nice and tropical which suits our yard with all the palms - but I'm not wild about the fact that bromeliads like their water in a little pool inside its leaves (it's like a little well in there that holds it)… The mozzies take hold really quickly where we are so we can't leave any water pooled anywhere or we're instantly over run… So with a perfect pool inside the bromeliad for mozzies to breed in, I moved on!
I was just about to give up when I came across a display that had a bunch of tiny little plants for indoors…. There were lots of plants, but the ones I chose in the end were parlour palms and mini crotons - so cute! And still in keeping with the tropical theme of our yard. I wandered back inside in search of two long rectangle plastic planters, and came across these ones - perfect colour to match my shelves outside (more on those to come) and self watering! Even better. So a bag of potting mix was thrown into my trolley too, and I was on my way.
Once home, I planted my little seedlings into the planters and gave them a good watering. I then put them in place on the windowsill - and they look great!
I also added this gorgeous pair of elephants I got on sale from Freedom (they're currently having a floorstock clearance - bonus!) I'm loving the look…. aren't they beautiful?
In terms of the self-watering thing (because these planters can harbour perfect conditions for mozzies too) I used the labels that came on the planters and stuck them over the opening. I can still peel them back to add water, but in the mean time the mozzies can't get in there to breed - take that blood suckers!!
Overall I'm pretty happy, although that wood shelf really does need a good sand and stain! Oh well - another day!
Not only am I loving the little bit of something tropical it adds when we're outside, it's a lovely view from the kitchen window also.
What do you think? Have you done any planting lately? I've done heaps, but you'll be hearing all about that soon...
Bye for now :)
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