For a Beautiful Living Decor, Rotate the Plants

Any indoor decor looks better with the addition of a few artfully placed foliage plants, but… the sad truth is that few rooms are well enough lit for plants to be happy anywhere but near the window, where the light is brightest. So, over time, the plants that aren’t near the window slowly decline and that “straight out of House Beautiful” look is lost. But there is an easy way of keeping up an indoor green space going almost indefinitely.

The secret is to buy two identical plants. Place one in the “decor” and the other near the window in a well lit room, then… change the plants every two weeks. (If the plants are heavy, remember that there are trays with wheels you can push from one room to another.) Foliage plants will remain in perfect condition almost forever if they receive basic care (even watering, reasonable humidity, and the occasional pinch of fertilizer) plus at least 2 weeks of good light per month.

Great for Foliage, but…

This works fine with foliage plants, but is not so effective with flowering plants. Yes, rotating even a flowering plant from its role as a decor item into good light every 2 weeks will keep it blooming for as long as possible, but, once it finishes blooming, this regime will rarely stimulate it to flower again. For this, just cheat a bit: every two months or so, buy 2 new flowering plants in bud or in bloom and then move them back and forth, from decor to light, every 2 weeks.