Great question.

I decided that if I made this blog 100% about gardening, I probably wouldn't write much. Why? Because I feel there is only so much you can write about the subject, at least for me anyway. I have a few plants and their development takes time and I'm not going to be acquiring new and more plants just to fuel this blog. I'd rather get more plants because I want more plants.

Now that's not to say I won't talk gardening indoors to some degree. I will, but it won't be the only topic.

Finally got around to taking a few photographs of my plants in their normal environment. I took off work today a little early which meant I still had a few hours of daylight left which allowed me to take these.

Again the whole point of these pictures is to show my plants off in normal locations within my apartment. They aren't great pictures nor are they meant to be.

Below are by two crocuses (according to my dictionary, crocuses and croci are both correct). As you can see, they are very small and great for a narrow window sill. One is in bloom and today I noticed that the inside of the bloom is starting to turn a slight purple color. Prior to receiving these as a gift last December, I've never seen them before so it'll be interesting to see how the blooms look throughout the blooming cycle. As you can see from the pictures, these plants can grow in a pool of water in specialized vases. According to the instructions that came with them, your not suppose to let the bulbs set for too long in standing water. Its best to just get the bottom of the bulb wet and the roots totally submerged in the water. Although they are small, I think they are great plants to have for a small apartment where the amount of sunlight is limited and you want to add some color to your windows. And besides the water every other day (sometimes every 2 days), they don't seem to require too much attention which is nice.

You may be wondering why the red vase is empty. Somehow it died :( Not sure if it died because of me or if it was DOA. But between you and me it was totally DOA.





Below are my two amaryllis plants. I got these in the mail from the Amaryllis Bulb Company. I ordered them with the pots. I like the pots except for one thing....no water drainage holes. Anyone know why anyone sells or even makes pots with no water drainage holes? As a result, you have to be very careful not to drown the bulb in standing water when you water the plant (granted it takes a little guess work).

As you can see from the pics I put these two plants as well as my orchid (in the far background) on my ironing board. Why? Basically because I don't have a good plant stand and this window probably gets the most about of sun in my apartment. It faces North/East. In the winter time it doesn't get any direct sunlight and in the summer direct sunlight comes in around 3pm. During the summer, I moved the orchid a little farther back and into the corner so it doesn't receive any direct sunlight (I've been told too much direct sunlight will burn the plant).



Anyone know if the leaves are suppose to be that long? Like I said in a previous post, the leaves of the plant on the far left hand side grew leaves so long they eventually fell over and snapped off and left only one leaf. That one leaf has been around for a long while afterwards and admittedly the plant looked a little odd. Then a week or so ago that leaf fell over and the bend was very loose so I decided to cut it off. Before that had happened another leaf grew. So in effect, it has replaced itself. Who knows, maybe this particular plant doesn't like several leaves. The plant on the right side has been fairly good with its leaves, although as of now it has one leaf that seems a little droopy while the rest are very erect and strong.



Below is a close up of the plant with only one leaf as of today. Notice the many leaf cuts. The plant doesn't seem to be suffering from this. However, I'm sure its not getting as much food as it could be had it had 2-3 more leaves. Next flowering period will be interesting. Will it flower 4 blooms as it did the first time for me? Or maybe less?



Below is my sole orchid. My very first plant. I purchase it at a local grocery store (close to where I work). Its a very small orchid and produces very small blooms. I bought it in full bloom and am very excited to see it bloom again under my care. I bought the pot from someone on eBay for around $10. I like it quite a bit; colorful and has very nice decorative drainage holes that also serve as air vents for the roots. Eventually I'd like to get another Phalaenopsis orchid and few other varieties.

The photo just below shows a very small start of another leaf. Apparently I'm doing something right. Since I've own it, I think 3 or 4 leaves have grown on it. I believe it originally had maybe 3 leaves. It now has a total of 6 with the new one growing making 7.

I started getting into plants the first time I photographed one which was about 2-3 years ago. I had just bought a macro lens and used it for the first time to shot flowers. My interest in shooting flowers increased and so did my interest in flowering plants.

So for the last year I have started accumlating plants and have a total of 5. Two are crocus or crocuses (don't know which is correct), 1 small Phalaenopsis orchid, and 2 amaryllis (actually they are hippeastrums but are commonly referred to as amaryllis). The crocus plants I received as a gift my a younger brother and the others I bought myself.

So far the orchid and amaryllis plants are my favorites because of their beautiful blooms. The last time they bloomed I shot several pictures of each and you see the many results right here: johnlarsonphoto.com/store I really enjoyed photographing the red and white blooms as opposed to the plant that has salmon colored blooms. Having the bright red and green merge with the white was a treat to shoot.

Both of my amaryllis plants grew their leaves very long and one has had them eventually fall over and snap. For two-three months it only had one leaf. Last week it started growing another. It looked a little odd and I hope the remaining leaf won't fall off. Thankfully it didn't. Does anyone know if I can control the leaf growth without weakening the plant by controlling the amount of sunlight it receives?

Anyway, to anyone thinking about buying an amaryllis: I strongly suggest it. They are great flowering plants to have in the winter time. The blooms are huge and the plant has a decent foliage look after it blooms.

Here's two pictures of the amaryllis plants taken with a 15mm fisheye lens.




If you look closely at the bottom off the two photos and you can see a red and cream patterned surface. That surface is where two plants plus the orchid in the background are sitting on. It just happens to be my ironing board. The board doubles as my plant stand / ironing board. Because its so long it does get in the way. I would love to find a cheap but sturdy and somewhat wide (2 x 2 feet maybe) plant stand. Know of any?

I just read a follow photographer's blog and came across his advice to other entry level photographers trying to sell photos as prints and licensing. His idea is that since I'm trying to sell prints on the Internet I should not try to pull visitors but rather push them here. Since the vast majority of potential buyers will find me using a search engine, its in my interest to drive traffic by producing some content other than photographs. Sounds to me like good advice. Let's give it a try.

What's this have to do with gardening? In order to attempt to put Dan Heller's idea in motion, I've got to pick a subject to write about. Since I devoted this website to flower photography, I should probably talk flowers. And since I have recently started growing my own flowers in my kitchen of my apartment, I figure I'd talk about growing those flowers and maybe even photographing them.

Stay tuned and I'll tell you all about the plants I have, I'll share photographs of the setup in my kitchen, and my plans to aquire even more plants.