Inspiring Motherhood

...Finding joy in mothering...

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Spring Flowers for Decorating Your House

I love adorning my house with fresh flowers. If you love gardening, make sure you get seeds for a few pretty flower varieties when spring is around the corner. We had beautiful dark and light pink Peonies bloom in our outdoor garden this Spring. It smelled like a Rose garden. There were so many flowers on a single plant that I decided to bring a few inside to add a beautiful touch to our home.

Spring Garden Flowers

Spring Garden Flowers

I didn’t have glass flower vases. So I decided to use empty beer bottles. They add such a vintage touch to the flowers. If you cut Peonies when they are starting to unfurl, it will last for 2 weeks. The more later you cut the blossoms, the more quickly the petals will fall off. Peonies have a short bloom period. So enjoy these flowers inside your house while they last. Fill a glass bottle with clean water. Remove leaves from the stem that will be submerged in water and then place it in the vase. Keep the flowers out of direct sunlight and heat.

If you need to use Peonies for a special event or for later use, you will need to cut them during the bud stage and store it properly in the refrigerator for later use.

We have grown other beautiful flowers on our Patio like Sunflowers, Zinnias, Lazy Eyed Susan and so on which are all excellent as cut-flowers.

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Growing Mint on Your Patio

Mint Leaves are used in many different Cuisines around the World. Indian Cuisine uses the fragrant Mint Leaves for flavoring Biryanis and curries, making Chutneys, refreshing teas and lemon juice and so on. There are different types of Mint like Spearmint, Peppermint etc.

This year I started growing Mint Leaves on my Patio. Mint flourishes in summer and requires little care. We bought a small Mint Plant from Walmart during spring. We divided the mint and planted it in two 6″ containers and placesd it on our Patio. Within a few weeks, leaves grew and spread in the container and we began using it.

Growing Mint in Pots

Growing Mint in Pots

Tips for Growing Mint Plants

  1. You can grow Mint indoors. Be sure to place it near a window where there is adequate light.
  2. If growing outdoors, place the container in a cool or shaded spot.
  3. Do not allow the soil to dry out. Ensure that the soil is evenly moist.
  4. While harvesting mint leaves, trim the sprigs with big leaves so that the smaller leaves grow.
  5. Prune the plant regularly to ensure growth of new leaves.
  6. You can propagate mint by cutting a sprig and placing it in a glass of water or soil so that roots grow on the sprig.
  7. You need to divide and re-pot the mint into 2 or 3 containers every year so that it grows well.
  8. You can continue growing mint indoors in winter on a sunny wind-sill. The plant may appear to die but will revive itself.
  9. You can dry or freeze mint leaves for later use.

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Growing Curry Leaves in a Container

Curry Leaves form an essential ingredient of South Indian Cuisine. It is also used in Srilankan dishes. The leaves are used for seasoning and flavoring dishes and curries. The leaves are valued for its medicinal uses. It can reduce the “bad” Cholesterol in your body, regulated blood pressure and is an excellent anti-diabetic. Curry Leaves are really expensive in the US where you will find it at Indian Grocery Stores. This year, I started growing Curry Leaves on my Patio and it is the wisest gardening decision I have made.

Growing Curry Leaf Plant in Containers

Growing Curry Leaf Plant in Containers

Stem Cuttings and Root Suckers are used for propagating the plant though you can also plant the seeds or the whole fresh fruit. Some Indian Grocery Stores sell Curry Leaves Plant for around $15 per plant. It is ridiculously expensive! Try getting a plant from a friend or relative and you can grow it in a container.

One of my relatives gave me a small Curry Leaves Plant which we planted in a 12″ Container. The whole winter we kept the container inside our house near a window and watered it sparingly (once in a week). By Spring, new leaves started coming out on the plant and by the end of April, we moved it onto our Patio. Curry Leaf Plants thrive in hot weather. Unlike other plants, it doesn’t require frequent watering. You can water it every other day. During the whole summer, our plant grew significantly and produced new branches and lot of leaves. We started using the leaves in our daily cooking. New plants/root suckers (formed on the root) started showing up in the container. You need to carefully transfer these new root suckers to different containers so that they grow well. If they stand in the same container, they may not get enough sun light. I gave a few of these propagated plants(root suckers) to my friends and they are now thriving in containers.

Tips for Growing Curry Leaves in Containers

  1. Use a container which is atleast 10-12″ in diameter so that the roots can grow deep.
  2. Do not allow the soil to be waterlogged or else the plant will die of root decay.
  3. Water the plant every other day in summer. Ensure that the plant receives adequate sunlight.
  4. Once the plant produce leaves which are mature, trim the plant regularly so that new branches can grow.
  5. Carefully transfer all new root suckers (plants which sprout from the roots) to different containers.
  6. In winter, transfer the pot to a warm frost-free place inside your house.
  7. If you wish, you may remove the leaves before moving the plant indoors. Any leaves remaining on the plant may fall in winter.
  8. The plants may become dormant in winter and will not produce any new leaves.
  9. Water sparingly in winter (once a week) and ensure that the container is kept in a warm place inside your house.
Curry Leaf Plants propagated from Root Suckers

Curry Leaf Plants propagated from Root Suckers

 

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Growing Tomatoes on Your Patio

This Summer, I started growing Tomatoes in Containers on my Patio. This was my first experience growing vegetables on my Patio and I was excited. I learned a lot from my tomato growing experience.

Growing Tomatoes on Your Patio

Growing Tomatoes on Your Patio

  1. The bigger your container, the better and the more tomatoes you will get. I used plastic pots of around 12″ diameter but I could have used bigger ones of atleast 16-18″ diameter.
  2. Choose a “Patio Tomato” rather than a regular tomato plant which you plant in your yard. The varieties I grew weren’t Patio Tomatoes and I faced some challenges. They grew really big and occupied a lot of space on my patio.
  3. Water your tomato plant regularly, almost daily if the summers are hot where you live.
  4. Use canes and cages for stalking your tomato plants as they grow. Don’t allow them to grow wild or else you will have a difficult time supporting the vines.
  5. Pull out the suckers when they are young or else your plant can grow really huge with many branches and the yield will be less. I left a few suckers and they turned into huge branches.
  6. If you are growing a regular variety of tomato on your patio, you may have to top off the tomato plants once in a while. My tomato plants grew around 6-8 feet tall and were leaning onto my Patio rails. See the last picture.
Nevertheless, it was a good learning experience and I was happy when my Tomato Plants produced around 10-12 tomatoes each. Now, that summer is coming to an end, the leaves of my tomato plants have started turning yellow but they are still producing fruit.
Container Tomatoes

Container Tomatoes

Patio Tomato Plants

Patio Tomato Plants