Houseplant Holiday Neglect

OR "How to Save your Houseplants while Decking the Halls"

Our Staghorn fern (Platycerium) and Swiss Cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) near the living room fireplace at Havenwood.

“The truth is that in connecting with nature we connect with ourselves, sometimes to the very core of our being.”

🌿 Sue Stuart-Smith, The Well-Gardened Mind

Beware holiday neglect

The holidays are here and for me that means trying to avoid one of my yearly traditions: the killing of my houseplants.

Between our indoor heat running, low temperatures near windows, lower light levels, and desiccating low humidity, house plants face existential threats at this time of year.

But for me the most deadly thing that happens is that I tend to forget all about them. Attention and observation are keys to any sort of caregiving, and my time to pay attention to houseplants drops dangerously low near the holidays. There are so many other things going on that I can completely forget these lush green plants between Thanksgiving and Christmas, even though I have nurtured them during all the rest of the year.

Large-leaf Philodendron ‘Imperial Green’ in indirect light on top of the dining room hutch.

Tender tropicals

Most houseplants are tender perennials, which means they can live for many years if they are brought inside away from freezing temperatures. I mentioned bringing my houseplants indoors in my Notes on Havenwood for November. But it has been the case for many years over the holidays that once I bring them inside I do not spare a thought for them until mid-January when I am hungry again for some fresh greenery. When houseplant holiday neglect hits, most houseplants that were growing so beautifully in October are suddenly discovered to be crunchy when the last string of holiday lighting gets put away.

But there is hope! We can do a bit better this year with our houseplants by keeping a few things in mind. And amazingly, the things that we do for our houseplants will also help us to care for ourselves over this busy holiday season!

Crocodile Fern (Microsorum musifolium) getting indirect light on our dining room table.

Here are a few things for us to consider this month before you & I are staring at a sad, dry pots in January: