Nature Will Nurture

Back in October, I mounted some orchids onto wood blocks.
I used cherry wood, a hardwood, and made a reel about how I did it. I used fishing line!
Anyways, here’s an update! Some leaves have grown in, roots are popping out, and one orchid has 4 blooms on it currently.
I just hold them in the shower every other day or so (before I get in the shower afterwards 😁), to water them. And about once a week or every other week I’ve been spritzing them with a water soluble bloom fertilizer at a very low dose.

There’s a full tutorial on my YouTube channel, I’ll make a direct link under my story highlights ☺️ check it out under Decor & Plants!

It’s almost that time of year here in Michigan (and for some plants, it’s already begun)!
Plants begin coming alive again.
I wanted to do a throwback to last year’s Spring Blooming Native Plants!
Here we have the Great White Trillium, Virginia Bluebells, Jack-in-the-Pulpit, and Wild Geranium

I have a video out of some stories about native spring blooming plants. Check it out! Link to my YouTube channel in my bio or in my story highlights for the direct link under Native Videos!

Pictured:

How to make a with a !

First choose your wall. In picture 2, I’ve hung a shelf that I made myself with slabs from the home improvement store, then stained and protected with shellac.
Be sure to use brackets strong enough to withstand weight over time and most importantly, FIND THE STUDS in your wall. Otherwise you have the risk of a very scary accident!

Then add supplemental lighting! Here I’ve used a desk lamp from ikea with a grow bulb from GE.

Then start styling! I have such a variety of plants in my collection, that I used plants with varying textures with a pop of color. And definitely have a trailing plant to break up the line of the shelf.
This shelf also happens to be my water propagation shelf so I can keep an eye on the water levels 💦🚰

The last picture is the plant shelf in our bedroom upstairs 🤗 I have some plants in a trough deco pot to hide their grow pots.

Pictured on our kitchen shelf: , , , , ,

What types of plants do you have in your ?

These are the plants most on display in so many of our homes.

In mine, my windows are poorly lit, the front and largest are north facing, with some specks of west light from the windows behind the red couch and behind this first and large dracaena carmen. And for privacy, the blinds are pretty much cracked and turned open slightly, only for the plants 🤣
But I did get nearly sheer curtains for the front and those do have a slight opening to allow the cats up on their cat shelves.

Oh yeah, and there's a lot of cat shelves in our living room!

The plants I have in mine are very easy going and somehow tolerant of the lower light, with random lights on throughout the day and night.

They include two monstera deliciosas, various forms of dracaena fragrans including 'janey craig', 'compacta', 'dorado', 'carmen', and 'goldstar'.
There's my grandmother's pothos, a lemon/upright philodendron. A couple ficus benjaminas (also from my grandma), a small procris repens, and a dominos peace lily. Those last two you might not be able to see... but they're there!
Oh yeah, and a small moonshine sansevieria (aka dracaena lol). Anything else ?🤔 Oops, oh yeah, and an anthurium andraeanum that you also probably can't see. 🤷‍♀️

Also, spot the yellow and brown leaves! It's okay, I think the only dying is that peperomia hidden in a picture 😬😂

Basically, what I'm saying is go check out Ren's .fix living room tours on my youtube channel for better inspo on a gorgeous plant collection. Hahaha

It's been a long couple of months away from my YouTube channel.

In December, I thought I'd just take a break because, hey, it's the holidays and I'm feeling a little burned out from all the things, and this is something I can take a break from.

And to be honest, my depression was probably at a low point (not the lowest yet...) from moving to a more urban, heavily populated area, plus SAD is a real thing for me. In the past, plants have helped, but I think the combination of moving to an area I had no interest in living in just compounded with my sensitivity for dreary, dark, winter days. I miss the trees, and the variety of birds, the rabbits, the foliage or peacefulness of our last place. And let's not forget about the pandemic and its limitations!

And so I started on some antidepressants for the first time in years. I just need a little bit of a boost while I try to get a handle on my routine again and perhaps try and find a therapist.

Took a couple weeks to kick in, felt like myself again for about 4 days when I came home from work with a scratchy, itchy throat. This was the week after New Years. Drew and I had come down with covid.

Both of us are vaccinated (and I'm boosted as of December), so we had 'mild' cases. It felt like such a sloooow recovery, regardless. The fatigue and brain fog lingered for weeks!

Needless to say, it's been a challenge getting back into a routine of waking up at 5 am to edit. I'm still working on waking up earlier every day. But I'm making videos in my mind more and more so within a couple weeks, I believe I'll be back on the bandwagon and producing more content, starting here on Instagram.