Indoor living wall becomes a part vase for cheap and cheerful flowering Bergonia and Gerberias

Recently I installed this living wall and am waiting on some more indoor plants before its complete. Meantime I stumbled across these begonias and gerberias being sold off cheaply at the local supermarket. Am now using the vertical garden as a temporary planting bed-cum-vase. I would consider leaving the begonias in long term however am fairly sure these plants do not like being crowded. The gerbera is more about some weekend  fun.

Am seriously considering using this garden as part indoor planting bed part vase – possibly indoor garden wall art? Beware if you start thinking this may be an idea to consider – every time a new plant is installed in this garden dirt and plant debris ends up on the floor.

Why are indoor plants in public hospitals so hideous?

I was at that stupid hospital again – St Georges — and i suddenly got mad – why are really bad indoor plants scattered around the waiting rooms. Who is in charge of this hideous worldwide indoor greening project?

Money is being spent really badly. Someone is making money and they are offering the hospital nothing. Someone in charge thinks its a good idea to have plants. Unfortunately no-one has stopped to think what those plants should be or how they should be installed.

I was left waiting for 2 hours today.

…forget the outdoor room. Try an indoor lawn with Matt Gagnon Studio.

The indoor outdoor boundary continues to dissolve with architects experimenting with all the green stuff  that was once upon a time left to the landscape architect or garden designer. This cross discipline interest in vegi-tecture and indoor planters can only be good and is getting me way too excited.  Check this fabulous 2003 thinking by Architect Matt Gagnon –

Mobile plots of lawn that can be used as individual seating or combined to form larger groups for lounging. Magnets in the base hold the units together. The Nomad brings the tactile pleasure of grass into built environments that otherwise may have limitations for planting..

Design of soft sided planters and indoor gardening. Woolly Pocket and Ambient.

Recently Woolly Pocket Gardening Company in the US released more soft sided planters onto the market. These planters have little zips  to provide planting flexibility.

Woolly Pocket’s complete range are designed to allow a plant to grow, live and breath in these soft sided pockets. The design of the planter is all about ensuring optimal health for the plant whilst looking good in the home.

Woolly Pocket advise there is no need to re-pot as the plant will only grow as big as the container. The material allows a plant’s root system to breath which in turn allows a root system to be air pruned rather than becoming pot bound.

Providing you do not over water the plant there will be no water on the carpet or floorboards either.  Miguel Nelson, http://www.woollypocket.com/ the designer of the planter, reassures me that it usual to over water maybe once but no big deal, just wipe with a towel and the owner is unlikely to do it again.

Woolly Pocket Indoor Planter

Meanwhile, in Germany a similar LOOKING product has been released by Ambiente but there is a major design difference. Do not be fooled. Ambient’s design does not allow a plant to be installed directly into the  pocket. This design is way of concealing ugly indoor pots – it is not designed to support the health of a plant. These are clothes for a pot .

Ambient planter pot screens

Air Plants (Tillandsia) with Love – a Key Essential to Garden Art

If you live in America and can not bear the concept of buying another chunk of chocolates for your beloved you can buy a gift box filled with growing love – an airplant (Tillandsia) from Flora Grubb’s on-line store. Apartment Therapy have recently done a few article on air plants as well and mentioned fernseed as another artist who works with these plants (see her image below).

Garden Beet loves this idea and has hunted down a UK retailer who specialises in air plants.

Key Essentials is run by Maria Isaacs in Dorset. The family company sells an overwhelming number of air plants that make great gifts. Some plants are grown in the UK and others are nursery grown in Guatemala and then shipped to the UK.

Isaacs has been growing and selling air plants for 15 years and advises that they are really an indoor plant in the UK.  Some species are hardier than others and whilst most can survive outdoors during the warmer months it is best to bring them inside during winter. They dislike frosts.

Air plants do not need soil to grow and therefore can be located just about anywhere providing its not too cold. These plants provide great sculptural opportunity (as shown in the previous article on air plants) .

Variegated Begonia rex leaves -indoor gardening – it died – white powder killed it – 1/4 of the price

Some variegated leaves seem like a total over the top major design triumph for mother nature. A tad gawdy but I love them. These variegated Begonia leaves spin me out – how can all that colour and shape happen on one leaf?

All these leaves have since died. I purchased two of these plants for a £1 each from the local nursery in early January  – they were heading for the bin anyway – slowly they developed  a white mould and this morning the last leaf shrivelled to the ground. Nevertheless I am going to persevere with these plants. But I am going to start with healthier plant stock. Another lesson on what happens when you buy poor plant stock.

Found an interesting blog on how to  propagate begonias from leaves. But I don’t have the time, patience or space to undergo such horticultural activites. I am impressed by anyone who does such work. PATSP (plants are the strangest people) impresses me.

OK just read PATSP summary of the Begonia rex – am not touching them again – if he can’t keep them alive then I can’t. He has some great picture links as well.

Indoor Planters are Growing. Large and Small Contemporary Woolly Pocket Gardening Possibilities.

The Woolly Pocket Gardening Company is changing the shape of indoor planters and interior gardening. The designers of the indoor outdoor wall planter Woolly Wally Pocket have just released  a range of new shapes and sizes to compliment their existing range of soft sided planter bags made from recycled plastic bottles.

Herb Garden | Indoor Gardening – Now Possible with the Right Green Wall or Wall Planter System

Woolly Pocket Wall Planter perfect for Indoor Gardens

Wall Planters for any room in the house

An indoor garden

The Woolly Wally Pocket green wall system is perfect for an  indoor garden and the indoor gardening lover, especially if you want a herb garden in the kitchen and you are running out of bench space.

The Pockets are essentially wall planters that can either be used on their own, in groups or as a complete wall cover to create a super dooper fully living green wall. Perfect for covering that giant wall or creating a small pocket indoor herb garden next to the cook’s bench top.

The wall planters come in a lined and unlined version.

The lined wall planters are for indoor gardening and prevent the wall planters from dripping. For further information on watering please refer to our green wall information page.

Remarkably they also allow the plant’s root system to breathe, thereby promoting healthy plants and preventing plants from becoming pot bound. For further details on the breathability aspects of the wall planter take another look at our detailed green wall information page.

The Woolly Pocket wall planter may appear more expensive than your traditional wire basket wall planter however the Woolly Pockets are a much superior wall planter.

For a start the wall planters allow you to plant indoors; they promote good plant growth, they look great even before the plants have grown, they come in three colours and sizes, are tough and are made from recycled  plastic bottles.

It is also a modular system that you can add to over time. This is not a throw away product but an investment in your home.

A herb garden needs to be accessible – an indoor wall planter, located in the kitchen is about as accessible as it gets.

For further details on Woolly Wally Pockets green wall system please refer to out Vertical Garden section of the Garden Beet website. We are located in London and ship worldwide.