Finally! A Plant I Can Manage!

I will admit it freely: I am notoriously bad with plants of any kind.  Indoor, outdoor, in a pot, in the ground - it doesn't matter - it won't live long in my care. 

My past experiences seem to have no effect on my perpetual need to have something green around the house.  So earlier this spring I headed off to the Home Depot and grabbed 12 cute little hot pink geraniums for just $0.88 each.  I bought two planters to put on the front porch and a couple of smaller pots for my office and the kitchen.

Here's what they look like now:

Geranium in my office.  At least it still has SOME flowers, right?

(Here's a link to the cute robin's egg blue pot in the photo above, just in case you were wondering.)




Geraniums Beware!

 

My biggest problem has always been remembering to water them.  I am usually really good about doing it for the first 2 - 3 weeks and then they're on their own.  I occasionally remember here and there, but I've just never been able to adhere to a watering routine.
Like everyone else in the design world right now, I've been seeing terrariums everywhere.  These are just simple plantings in glass containers with a few succulents and some rocks.  Finally something I could manage, since succulents are arid climate plants and only need to be watered every two weeks.

The instructions I used to plant my terrariums are from Martha Stewart's website, which you can find here.

Martha's Terrarium

Below is a picture of my terrariums when I finished planting them:

3 Lovely Terrariums!

And here is a closeup:

I already had the largest vase, and picked up the other two for less than a dollar each at a thrift store.  I decided to go with all cylinders, to keep the shapes similar, but to vary the height, knowing that I was going to put them in a grouping together on my coffee table.

For the river rock, I used actual stones I gathered from the Little Miami, about two blocks from my house.  But you can buy river stones from the garden center at Home Depot.  I used Miracle Gro's Cactus, Palm and Citrus Soil, also purchased from Home Depot.  I used a comination of Echeveria and Mimicry species.

These little beauties have lasted all summer long with very little watering.  They are also an idea for an easy hostess or housewarming gift.