Making Your Home Cozy with Decorative Plants

As we approach the official calendar declaration of Summer, gardening is on our minds. Maximizing the garden space we have is always a priority. A little research can be helpful here. This is true for the beginning gardener, and useful for all gardeners to review periodically.

If you have a New Garden you want to match your plants to the space available. Consider the full-grown size of the plant both width and height. This will help you know how many plants to buy and also where to place to plants to optimize the flowering beauty of the space.

If you have a Mature Garden Space, you are probably focused on pruning and thinning plants that have overgrown their space. Knowing which plants can be split effectively, and when is key to a well-pruned mature garden.

We find it is useful to simply Google the type of plant to learn its growing, pruning and thinning requirements and tips.

As you do your research, consider the impact vertical gardening can have on your garden space. Here are three ideas that might prove useful.

(1) If you have a Small Garden Space, consider Vertical Gardening Options to enhance the space. This can be done with a beautiful vine and trellis. We like the InvisiClimb invisible trellis kit for this option. The kit provides all you need to start your climbing plant on its vertical path and the InvisiClimb trellis kit is nearly invisible allowing the beauty of the plant to be seen. You can also check out an earlier blog post on 5 trellis ideas for some other options.

(2) Another Vertical Gardening Option is a hanging plant. A flowering plant seeming to suspend in mid-air adds instant vertical color and brings the eye upward. Such a hanging plant can enhance a porch, a pergola, a deck and a small garden space. Here we like the Invisiclimb invisible plant hanger because it truly let’s the flowering plant have the effect of suspension in mid-air. This hanger option also lets you add the beauty of a ceramic pot to enhance the plant. These hangers will support up to 35 lbs and can be hung at different heights depending upon the product selected.

(3) As you tend to your mature garden, vertical gardening is also an option. Maybe you haven’t used vertical gardening in the past, or perhaps you have a beautiful climbing vine that has outgrown its trellis. So you could prune the plant back to the size of the trellis which will destroy some of the plant’s beauty. You could try to replace the original trellis, which is very tricky giving the climbing vine weaves in and out of the trellis for a sturdy foundation. InvisiClimb has another option. Try the InvisiClimb Invisible Trellis Extender Kit. With this kit you can attach it to the base trellis, regardless of the type of trellis, and provide a foundation for the plant to continue its growth beyond the original trellis. With this Trellis Extender Kit your climbing vine will seem to be crawling up the wall with no support, which will further enhance its beauty.

A special note for our readers – InvisiClimb purchases made online between June 19 and July 31, 2011, will receive one free pair of garden gloves with their purchase.

Also, a quick reminder that all InvisiClimb purchases support people with disabilities and are Made in the USA. Our products are assembled, packaged and distributed by The Pioneer Center for Human Services that trains and employs people with disabilities. Thank you for your support.

One possible cure for the winter blues is to create a little summer-like sanctuary in the home. Essential to that particular remedy is the liberal use of houseplants.

It’s hard to resist a sense of awe and wonder when awakening one sleepy autumn morning to find the first white blanket of snow sparkling outside under the sunlight. However, by the time the holidays have slipped into the rearview mirror, the snow has often lost its luster.

Instead of a glistening winter panorama, all that’s left are wet and dirty grayish shades of slush: reminders that there is a cold and bitter winter yet to endure.

Dr. Timothy Hayes, a psychologist with a practice in Crystal Lake, IL, said some people feel the winter blues deeper than others. “Some people are more sensitive to their surroundings,” he said, adding that some people even suffer from an ailment known as SAD, or Seasonal Affective Disorder. SAD is a condition where individuals are particularly affected by the seasons.

“It’s a pattern of being sad, low on energy and melancholy in the late fall up until spring,” Dr. Hayes said. “It’s correlated with short hours of sunlight. It’s even been correlated with chemical changes in the brain.”

Dr. Hayes said the lack of sunlight is one of the keys, whether talking about someone who is dealing with clinical depression brought on by the season or whether talking about someone with a simple case of the winter blues. He said some people, as a result, make a living selling full-spectrum lights that provide outdoor sunlight indoors.

Of course, plants also appreciate appropriate levels of sunlight. With or without the special indoor lighting, bringing houseplants into the home is a great way to start rolling back the winter blues.

“Some people literally feel the energy from plants when they walk into a room,” Dr. Hayes said. Plants … provide more oxygen, which is a boost. They can also improve the air quality.”

There are a number of articles on the Internet that even go as far as to claim pain-reducing benefits of houseplants on hospital patients, including a Dec. 29, 2008, article in e! Science News.

The article states that there is evidence to support the long-held belief that flowering houseplants can help reduce the pain experienced by patients after surgery: “Now, research has confirmed the beneficial effects of plants and flowers for patients recovering from abdominal surgery.”

Clearly, if the psychological benefits of houseplants can help hospital patients reduce the pain of surgery, houseplants can help pick up the spirits of someone when spring simply can’t arrive fast enough.

Linda Vadnais, the inventor of InvisiClimb, the clear, low-profile plant hangers, said plant hangers are a great way to introduce plants into the home without giving up valuable counter space.

“A lot of hanging plants you buy in the store hang too high,” she said. “You find yourself looking at the bottom of the pot instead of the flowers.” She said that InvisiClimb hangers bring the plants down into view where people receive the full benefits of their natural beauty.

Vadnais said the color and life plants bring into the home is rejuvenating. “It’s hard to be blue when you’re surrounded by houseplants,” she said.

The 2010 Chicago Flower & Garden Show at Navy Pier in Chicago March 6-14 is more than an opportunity for Linda Vadnais to display her remarkable InvisiClimb invisible plant hangers and trellis kits.

It’s also a chance to educate consumers about the opportunities to support disabled workers.

InvisiClimb is packaged and shipped through Pioneer Center in McHenry, IL.

The good news is that, in serving as a fulfillment center for clients like InvisiClimb, approximately 300 disabled adults turn the vocational education provided by Pioneer Center into actual employment.

The bad news is that, with the economic downturn in the economy, more and more of the jobs Pioneer Center workers have performed in the past are being given to more skilled workers, shipped overseas or lost entirely.

Craig Adams, a marketing representative with the Pioneer Center, said, “We’re probably down 50 percent of where we were two years ago. Every job we have now is very valuable for these workers.”

Vadnais said that, once her clear polymer plant hangers are manufactured, Pioneer Center employees handle all of her packaging, shipping and fulfillment needs. “They really do it all for me,” Vadnais said.

She said that working with Pioneer Center provides a good feeling for herself and her customers who appreciate supporting disabled workers. “It’s just the right thing to do to give people an opportunity when no one else does,” she said.

For more information about the Pioneer Center in McHenry, IL, please visithttp://www.pioneercenter.org