Rhipsalis Hanging Plants – Gold Coast
Presented in cute hessian bags – these quirky rhipsalis or ‘mistletoe cactus’ are a great gift. They are quite hardy, and easy to maintain.
Posts
Air Plants are Back!
Air-plants are back, and you know that makes us excited – We’ve been air-plant tragics since before the craze came and went…
Limited number, super cute…
Come get some, people!
Hanging Sedum ‘Burro’s Tail’ now in stock
We have lots of hanging sedum ‘burrito’ or ‘burro’s tail’ now in stock.
Available from the online shop or pick up from our studio in Parkwood (part of Adam’s Garden Florist).
They are happy and easy-going little plants, low maintenance. We have them presented in cute hessian bags.
African Violet Plant – Gold Coast
African Violets are beautiful little plants – with one drawback – they don’t like to be watered from the top, nor be too soggy underneath. So how to fix the problem, but neatly?
One of the most common ways is to sit the plant’s container on top of a take-away container filled with water – with a thick thread going between the two to act as a ‘straw’ sucking water from the container below to the one above.
Here is another example of a way we have also used – sitting the plant’s container on top of fine pebbles, with the thread down amongst them. This way is a little bit more ‘gifty’ and neat, but provides the same function.
Chain of Hearts in Hanging Globe
We have always had a soft spot for chain of hearts plants, they remind us nanna’s and heritage backyards and all things good.
We have them in store from time to time – do check with us if you are after some!
New succulents – Crassula Undulata
We have added some new succulents to the shop – these funky curly-leaf crassula. They are pretty easy to care for, just a little water once a week, but they are ok if they dry out a bit between times.
We are loving the pairing of their grey-toned foliage with the concrete planters.
Experiment with plant forms and interesting containers
When choosing a plant or container, think about the style of the room where it will be.
Here at Little Plants, we particularly like the natural finishes – concrete, upcycled fabrics, jute, wood etc. And we love plants with contrasting shaped and textures.
Have you been in lately to see what we have? Check out our shop section online – but there is always more in-store than we have on the web, do contact us if you’re after something specific.
Planting aquatic plants in flasks and vintage bottles
A couple of years ago we started to experiment with small aquatic plants. The feedback has been great. The concept is really about making cute mini aquatic ‘terrariums’ (or really, mini aquariums – without the fish!).
We have used a variety of glassware, from vintage bottles to premium laboratory glassware. All seems to work well and be fairly low maintenance. The hardiest variety would have to be the hair-grass plants.
If you are planning to make one of these yourself, here are a few tips on what worked for us:
– make sure all bottles are very clean. (We washed ours with super-hot water and a little bleach before hand.)
– if you can get it, use aquarium-grade gravel, in a very small size. We have tried both ordinary gravel and aquarium gravel, very small and small, and the very small aquarium gravel was the best and easiest to work with.
– choose the best plants. Talk to the plant person about which are going to survive the best in the type of environment you will be creating. If your plant will be in a lot of light, or not much. If it will have a lot of room in your container, or not much (in which case you might need a slower-growing type of plant). All those types of things.
Happy planting!
What we love about Peace Lily Plants
The humble and ever-loved peace-lily, or spathiphyllum, gives you a lot of reasons to like it.
With varieties ranging from small leafed to large, this beautiful houseplant will give back much more in green-leafed-love than the little water it takes to keep it.
These living gifts will survive in light conditions from fairly low light, to bright windows, and they will tolerate some neglect
What we like most however, is that unlike some other plants which might do what we call ‘random spontaneous death’, these spathiphyllums will let you know if they’re really really thirsty, letting their leaves sag a little if they are dry, giving you ample time to notice and remedy the situation well before it is anywhere near to death. An early-warning alarm for plants – totally awesome.
Our stock varies a little, but we usually try to have them in store. Pick up available from Parkwood on the Gold Coast, or we can deliver for you to most local areas.
Plants in Pill Shaped Glass – They’re back!
Yep, yes, aha – our cute little plants in pill-shaped glass are back in stock. Woohoo!
How do we get the plants in there? you ask.
Chopsticks.
Yes, chopsticks.
Hold onto those fine tools after you’ve finished your sushi folks, because they are the best thing you’ll find for maneuvering little plants into these tricky places. Or, just let us do it, it’s all cool.
More different plants in store, remember you can always phone if you’ve got a question.
See you
x
LP team
New Fiddle Leaf Figs In Store!
Our new shipment of fiddle-leaf figs is totally awesome – get one now!
They are 70cm+ and super lush like a rainforest understorey plant.
You can pick one out yourself, just pop in to our Parkwood shop. Or, we can deliver for you (on the Gold Coast, most areas), all done up ready for gifting.
What we love about Peperomias
Ever heard of peperomias? Now you have 🙂
Why are Peperomia plants awesome?
- because plants are awesome, generally (but we may be biased)
- solid, shapely leaves
- variety of leaf shapes and colour shades
- hardy (like so hardy!)
- air-purifier
- great for indoors
- doesn’t need heaps of water
Do you need any more convincing?
Bulleen Art and Garden has some more great care tips here.
Why put Plants inside Glass?
There are a few reasons we often put plants inside glassware, here are some:
Why Glass is Good for Little Plants:
- It looks great! (that’s the main reason 🙂
- Plants will use less water when protected like this
- Many plants do well with a little extra humidity – putting them inside glassware will help with this
- Provides some protection from drafts and air-con – if the position is windy or in an all-day air-con office, having smaller plants inside glass will help them to cope.
Things to look out for when planting in glass:
- be sure to have sufficient pebbles in the base for drainage
- don’t over-water
- if there is no lid – keep the opening away from the draft direction
- for a lidded container – take the lid off for a while if the humidity builds up too much
- In a sunny position the glass may amplify the sun and heat, so keep an eye it’s not too hot, and if so move it slightly further into shade
Happy planting people!
There’s some cool ideas on how to do your own with succulents and cacti here, and even realestate.com has a great tutorial about making your own terrarium – with great pictures showing layering the pebbles and charcoal etc. check it out.
What we love about Aglaonemas
Aglaonema is such a mouthful isn’t it! Nevertheless these plants are awesome.
Why are these little plants awesome?
- easy to care for
- interesting bold foliage – different from plant to plant
- you can overwater or underwater and they will usually be ok
- grows well in shade – good for indoors or office
- like all plants it will add to air purification
Yates has some good growing tips, and Bamboo Land does too, as well as some hints on how to pronounce that tricky name! (‘Uh-glon-eh-ma’ thanks Bamboo Land lol)
If you’d like to buy an aglaonema or other living plant gift – check out our online shop to see what available. We always have more in store than what’s listed online though, so do feel free to phone if you have a specific plant in mind. Or, you are always welcome to pop in – we are part of Adam’s Garden Florist at 3/280 Olsen Ave, Parkwood 4214.
And remember – we deliver to most areas on the Gold Coast. Gifting made easy, how good is that!
What we love about – Bird Nest Ferns
The bird nest fern, or ‘asplenium victoria’, features quite often in our living plant gifts. It is a great addition to any indoor space or office, or outside in a shaded position.
Why is it such a good plant?
I’m glad you asked – here’s why:
- striking foliage
- lush green
- air purifier
- non-toxic (safe for pets and children to be around)
- great for the bathroom (likes humidity) (check out this post about it on FlowerPower)
- doesn’t require heaps of water
When we have them in the shop we water once a week only, making sure they are not boggy. It is also important to make sure they are not sitting in a draft (such as constant air-con flow). Sometimes they may appreciate a spray with water to keep up the humidity if the air is dry.
New Succulents in this week and more new items added
Hiya folks,
Been a while since posting – so busy… but great news – for all the succulent lovers out there we have three new trays of 80mm pots in, with all sorts of aloes, haworthias, gasteraloes, crassula, etc… Plus a few ginormo aloe-ish things all pointy and spiky and wonderful, there’s a dark green one there that looks so tough it makes me think of rhinoceros horns.
Fiddle leafs and housy planters added to the shop >link<
Plus other things in-store we haven’t had a chance to add yet – call if you are after something you can’t see 🙂
It’s getting cold out there today, rug up my darlings
x
Little Plants
Succulents, Aloes, lots arrived this week
We are always excited getting a shipment of new plants – this week we have received trays of them. Come check out all the succulents, aloes, rhipsalis, etc… We’re busy potting and crafting and getting them all into interesting containers for gifts and friends for your home.
All ready for delivery on the Gold Coast or pink up from Parkwood, as usual.
Growing Plants in Test Tubes
Have you ever tried growing plants in test tubes? (Or other water vessels?) We have!
Here’s some varieties that we find to work best in water:
- Ivy
- Pothos / Devil’s Ivy
- Lucky bamboo
- Agleonema
It’s really a lot of trial and error, you may have to try a few different things to see what works best in your space. You might be surprised at what does!
There is some great advice for growing plants in water indoors at Gardeningknowhow.com.
And some of the ideas here at SmallGarden-Ideas took our breath away.
You never know what you’ll be able to grow until you try. We have so many plant ideas on our list to try, it’s so exciting… we’ll let you know how we go.
Plants for East-Facing Windows
Window Plants
Our little studio faces east, so all we get is the morning sun. It’s a challenge to find plants that will do well with just that amount of light. You might have a challenging spot too, so here’s some things we have found that survive and thrive.
Rhipsalis / Mistletoe Cactus
These come in so many varieties. We have found them to be very hardy and tolerant to be inside with filtered light. You can see nice pictures of many other varieties here at The Succulent Garden.
Hoya
These also come in lots of different kinds, you will find they often have ‘collector’s tags’ if you are buying from the local nursery. They can handle fairly low light, but to flower they will need more light.
Jade Plant / Money Plant / Crassula
Although some crassula need more sunlight, there are a number of them that we have grown indoors with no problems, including crassula ovata (plantsonline has a good description of it), crassula gollum, and crassula hobbit (not to be confused with crassula gandalf. Just kidding. No, actually not kidding, it does exist…).
Sedum burrito
I’m not sure of other sedums, but this one is so wonderful, we’ve never had any trouble with it. It gets enough light from the window. A customer told me they even have it growing in their bathroom with no issues, and it’s even getting very long and is happy.
Chain of Hearts
Again, does well in the window. The main thing is like with the Zanzibar Gem, to make sure you don’t over-water it or it will rot the rhizomes (small potato-like things under the ground which the roots come from).
There’s other things too of course, but these our our top picks for the moment.
What we love about: Zanzibar Gem
What is ‘Zanzibar Gem’?
The ‘zanzibar gem’, or Zamioculca (not to be confused with zebra binoculars {yes they do exist…}, or the Hoodoo Guru’s ‘I’ve never been to Zanzibar’) is one of our favourite plants. It should be high on any list of faves in my {humble} opinion. It’s also in Costa’s top three in this Gardening Australia article.
Why is it so great?
Well, so many reasons! Firstly, it’s leaves are lovely and glossy. Secondly, studies have shown it to be beneficial in improving air-quality. And thirdly, because it’s just so easy to look after, as long as you don’t water it very much. Yes, that’s right, don’t water it… not much at all. I think that’s pretty awesome for a plant that looks and keeps so well in the unforgiving indoor environment. You can go on holiday and this little (though they can get bigger) plant will be happy no worries.
How do I care for it?
The care-tags on the plant will tell you more, but from my experience it does best with the tiniest watering every month or so, depending how drying the weather/air-conditioning has been. The main thing is to make sure it is never saturated or sitting in water. I usually water at the edge of the pot so the main rhizome and stalks of the plant are never really, really wet.
Tesselaar Flowers also has some notes about it here.
Where can I buy it?
From us, silly. Also your local nursery should have them if you can’t make it in : )
Would my Aunt Nina like it?
Yes, yes she would. She can sit it on the side table in the corner near the bench seat overlooking the side yard. You know the one I mean.
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