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Ask The Plant Expert: “Need to identify the plant with green leaves and darker green or purple spots in this dish garden.” – Karen
Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
In this dish garden, the plant you are referring to is a Prayer Plant, or Maranta leuconeura. There is another type of common houseplant that looks similar to this called Calathea. Both of these are in the Marantaceae family, and are common in dish gardens and as house plants. Hope this helps!
Ask The Expert: I just got the attached plant as a gift. It’s already starting to turn brown both at the edges and in the center of some of the leaves. I have several questions and concerns:
1) I have to keep my plants high up and away from the windows because of my pets, will this plant fare ok?
2) How often should I water it?
3) Should I remove the moss that it’s top soil came covered in?
4) It’s in a ceramic pot with no hole at the bottom, should I replant it?
5) It’s got several small, hard green balls under the moss. Picture of one is attached. Do you think those are time-released fertilizer pellets?
6) What kind(s) of plant is this?
7) Any other words of advice or suggestions?
THANK YOU!
Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply:
I received your question and picture of your dish garden. I will try my best to answer all of your questions in the order listed.
1) Will the plants still receive light? If they will still receive a fair amount of light, then the plants should do well. However, if the plants are too close to a light fixture this may become a problem. The light may scorch the plants.
2) Since this is a dish garden and the various plants may need different water requirements, keep the soil moist but not soggy. This will require a physical check of the soil and not a “water every so often” requirement. If your air is dry you can also mist the air around the plants every few days.
3) The moss isn’t hurting anything. You can keep it if you like or remove it if you don’t.
4) It is always best to keep houseplant in a container that has ample drainage. For the best heath of the plants I would recommend repotting.
5) It does appear to be a slow release fertilizer.
6) Since this is what we call a dish garden, there are several types of plants in the container. I can easily recognize the parlour palm and the diffenbachia. The other plants are hidden and I can not make an identification.
7) When repotting you can keep the plants together or separate them into different containers.
If you send me pictures of the other plants I will try to identify them for you. Flower Shop Network has care instruction for many of the houseplants florists use in dish gardens or deliver separately. Once we identify all the plants in your dish garden, you can go to our houseplant gallery and find the individual care instructions for each plant.
Hope this information helps.
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Ask The Expert: What kind of plant is this? I would like to know what kind of plant this is and how I should take care of it please. My mother got it as a gift when her mother died. So i would like to keep it alive as long as possible..
Flower Shop Network Plant Expert Reply: Crystal,
It looks like a dish garden with multiple plants. The tallest plants seems to be a type of parlor palm. However, to identify the other plants I need a close up picture of each one. If you intend to keep all the plants together in the dish garden, I would place it in a medium light location and keep it moderately moist but not soggy.
If you send me pictures of the other plants and want to separate them into multiple containers, I will tell you how to take care of each one.
Ask The Expert: Thank you for your prompt reply and help. These are the best photos I think I’m going to get… Using a crappy laptop webcam, LOL. But I took several, so I hope that helps. And again, thank you so much for your knowledge! :-D Also, the last picture I’ve attached shows what I hope you can see as something eating the plant??? What could that be, at what should I do? Oh, my mom DID mention something about wanting to split the plants up so they can grow more. Thank you, oh Flower Swami. LOL. :-D [Read more…]
Ask The Expert: I am trying to find out the names of the plants in your dish garden of plants. The one with the red veins. I have been trying for months to find the name of this plant because I have one and love this plant! Donna
Dish Garden
Plant Expert Reply:
Is the dish garden to the right the one you are looking at in either the Flower Shop Network selection guide or online in our flower gallery?
It has several plants and I have tried to label them all. I assume the plant you are talking about is the Maranta Prayer Plant.
I can understand why you would love this plant. The Prayer Plant makes a wonderful houseplant and is very compatible with other houseplants. It likes a spot with good light, but no direct sun. Be sure to keep this plant away from drafts — it is originally a rainforest plant. When you water it use room temperature warm water.
This Flower Shop Network questions was proudly sponsored by Philadelphia Florists
There are many reasons why Grandma and Grandpa will love dish gardens instead of more traditional Grandparents Day gifts. If your grandparents are anything like mine, reading this will likely result in a lot of nodding and the occasional phrase “that sounds just like my grandma/grandpa.”
1. Dish Gardens Are Low Maintenance Gift“I’m pretty sure they can handle a plant.” Grandma and Grandpa were there for you through childhood, tween years, teen years and beyond. They’re still supportive. Thankfully, a dish garden requires no more maintenance than any other houseplant. It’ll be a nice break after all those years.
If they’re the type that have collected every childhood trinket pertaining to their grandkids, dish gardens will be a nice gift for both of you. They’ll probably keep the container because it’s what they do. At least it’s not a useless knick-knack that needs dusting. You’ll feel better for not contributing to the shrine o’ junk that was once your old bedroom. It’s a win-win.
On a light-hearted note, plants in a dish garden last quite a while. There is only as much care required as a normal houseplant. Simply water when the soil is dry to the touch. Once your plants are too big for their container, you can separate them out into even more houseplants to love.
That’s right. You’re better than peer pressure. You’re above it. That’s why you will choose to send dish gardens. While everyone else is sending something cheesy and porcelain, you’re relaxing in the new found fresh air created by the dish garden that you had a local florist deliver. Mmm. Even the food will taste better when you head over to your grandparents house for a holiday celebration.
I can probably name several other reasons why dish gardens are awesome gifts, but I’ll stop with the eco-friendliness of sending a dish garden. First of all, the containers can be reused. Recycling is fun for everyone. Go recycling! Second, some dish garden plants can be transplanted. That’s great for the environment because plants replenish soil nutrients and create fresh air for us all.
Hurry! Grandparents Day is September 11, 2011.
Have another reason to send dish gardens? Even if you just want to comment on my comments, feel free to commence commenting below.
Dish Gardens Add Beauty To Every Indoor Space
The beauty of a garden has long been a cherished addition to the landscape of many homes. Working in a garden is for many a great bit of exercise, a calming place to unwind after a long day, and a wonderful reminder of the collective beauty of fresh flowers and plants. The trick for many gardening enthusiasts becomes bringing this beautiful, calming garden atmosphere into the home.
A great way to share in the joys of a garden from within the home is by caring for a dish garden. A dish garden provides an assortment of fresh plants that is all the joy of having a tiny garden inside of the home. Dish gardens usually require only the same amount of care as a houseplant making them great home decor accents and excellent gift ideas as well!
It’s that time of year again when, by tradition, we honor those very special women who have been so important in our lives. While we certainly love and cherish our Moms the year round, Mother’s Day for remembering mom with a bit of extra love and attention.
Flowers, with their intrinsic and vibrant beauty, are the perfect symbols for the life-giving energy that really defines motherhood. This Mother’s Day, florists across the country are well-stocked with beautiful blossoms to help you express your affection.
For example, the popular look in flowers these days features rounded blooms with soft, feminine textures in a lush and abundant arrangement. So a simple, clear glass vase filled with such flowers as hydrangea, ranunculus, peonies, and lisianthus , accented with delicate filler materials such as Queen Anne’s lace or Misty Blue limonium is sure to delight. Other soft textured flowers include stock, heather, delphinium, lilac and viburnum.
Of course, the rose is always a favorite choice of flower for Mother’s Day, and May is an especially good time of year for a bounteous selection of them. Add a few of these luxuriant blossoms to any bouquet to give it an extra measure of appeal.
Gardening is America’s number one hobby, and it remains as a very popular theme for Mother’s Day gift-giving. Consider sending Mom a basket of garden flowers arranged in a vegetative style; in other words, designed to reflect how they grow. A vegetative designed arrangement displays flowers in relaxed, vertical groups as though they were growing in a perennial border. Snapdragons, lilies, tulips, and iris work well in this style of arrangement. Special detailing with mosses, branches, and foliages, and perhaps the inclusion of some natural element, such as a bird’s nest, completes the presentation.
A European garden, which is a collection of green and blooming plants placed together into a basket or tray, is another charming way to present flowers for Mother’s Day, with the added benefit that the live plants will continue to survive and grow after the holiday. Bloomers like African violets, begonias, miniature roses, and cyclamens can be combined with green houseplants such as ivy, dieffenbachia, and philodendrons, accented with a branch or a flourish of ribbon.
It’s been said that it doesn’t matter what you give your Mom, as long as it’s flowers. Send her a garden of love, full of flowers for Mother’s Day, or consult you local Mother’s Day florist for other great ideas. But don’t delay……it’s only a few days away!
