fritillaria - february favorite

Fritillaria, february favorite!

plant cuttings

You can make more plants from your existing house plants, by taking cuttings. Many plants, such as papyrus, zigzag plant (I name it Matisse plant), readily root in a glass of water and can then be transferred to pots.

It may sound challenging , but it's not complicated at all.

Making plants from cuttings is a way to clone the original mother plant and a gratifying process, to increase your stock of plants. Furthermore it is a pleasurable way to surprise someone among your green friends. Any another plant lover will be overjoyed with an 'offspring' of your green plant kids.

I've been taking cuttings from the papyrus and fishbone cactus. Two parts of zigzag plant were snapped anyway, so I decided to use them as cuttings. When you cut a papyrus stem, just trim the 'umbrella' a bit and put it upside down in the water. Roots and new shoots will show up soon. Change the water every now and then.

After a few weeks in the windowsill-nursery, I have potted up the rooted cuttings yesterday.

Mother plants below:

gold up to the ceiling

Gold up to the ceiling.

Handmade moroccan tiles, in spicy tones of gold and bamboo brown, cover the kitchen walls.

The painted pink wall showed stains everywhere. Not surprising, of course, in a kitchen where you work and cook daily.
The 'moroccan pink' wall was repainted several times, but eventually we opted for a practical tile wall, up to the ceiling.

The aim was to create a warm, inviting atmosphere.

I would choose the moroccan pink color again and I will miss it, but after a few years it's time for something else.

What color? not too safe and boring and no green because that's too trendy.
Choosing a color is not that easy, however we quickly agreed; g o l d
Not the shiny gold, but a natural golden brown, mustard, ocher, spicy and different one...
(This color is also my favorite for wool projects, because it combines with everything although is quite a peculiar color.)

So it was a mess in the kitchen for three days, but the tile craftsman did an awesome job and it has become a beautiful wall!

I'm very happy with the result. Especially when the sunlight peeked inside yesterday.
The light, reflection, texture and the shadows of the plants; awesome atmosphere!

Today I am going to clean and redecorate the kitchen.

pink blooms

Pink blooms in the front yard on this Friday morning.
The hollyhocks outside between the paving and the bougainvillea inside the kitchen window.

Enjoy these beautiful and long june days!

budding bougainvillea leaves

The new leaves of the Bougainvillea in the kitchen windowsill are turning pink again.

This week I noticed the first pink leaves (yay!), followed by more after only a few days.
First signs of spring!

The window sill is a bright, sunny growing location and I hope within a while I can move the plant back in the backyard.

Sunshine is the most important requirement for this blooming beauty. The same goes for me...

green & yellow

Summer hues in the kitchen, an ordinary colour cocktail.

blinds up

Our houseplants all seem to need a lot of light and they prefer to sit in front of the window. A conservatory obviously is the perfect place for houseplants.

The bay window in our kitchen is quite light, but it's impossibly to put all plants on the windowsill.

A couple of plants can stay in the garden during the summer months, but most of them can not be exposed to direct sunlight. I've saved a few 'garden campers' just in time.

The wooden blinds in the kitchen are up, we have enough privacy due to of the overgrown front yard.

The plants florish, so the conditions seem perfect in this bright place.

winter weekday

Tuesday morning.
Sunshine in the kitchen.
So bright, you can almost see through the leaves of the plant.
The vintage egg basket is empty, because of the delicious omelette we had for breakfast.
Starting the day with sunshine, is so much more fun!

when the ginkgo leaves turn bright yellow

Oh how I love this time of year, when the ginkgo leaves turn bright yellow.