Japanese Floral Arranging: Ikebana

While roaming the blogosphere last month, I came across the Japanese art of Ikebana on FTD.  It's a very strict and lovely form of flower arranging, and the pieces look different from anything I've seen before.  Ikebana literally translates to "giving life to flowers" or "arranging flowers", but artists use more natural pieces than just flowers to bring in movement, lines, and shape to the piece.  Arrangements often include branches to add height and leaves to add lines among the flowers.  The results are unique, emotive, and stunning creations.

photo by Manuel via Flickr

My indoor garden

These are all my plants as of February 2016!

One not-so-secret thing about me is I love plants.  I love having plants around me, everywhere, and besides our master bathroom (which has no window, by the way), I've put plants in every other room of our apartment.  In my world, every room needs a plant.  I currently have 19 different plants living at home with me, and I have one at the office, too.  the thing is, though...

Funny story: when Caleb and I first got married, I didn't bring any plants with my into our new home.  Then I brought some of my old plants from my parents' house to work to spruce up my office.  Then I moved offices and I had to bring those home.  Then my parents moved and had to get rid of all their plants.  Caleb said I could bring home 4, and I think I brought home 6.  "Don't worry, some of them are going to my office!"  It was a lie.  Seven plants at home turned into 12 when I made cuttings and dunked them in water.  How was I to know they would sprout roots and then be added to the collection?  Just kidding, I knew.

Okay, basically this is a story of how one wife went completely against her husband's wishes, but now that he has his own plant (a bonsai), it's all good.

Anyway, one thing I'm always excited to see more of is plant storage and display ideas.  I like to think that if I could keep more of my plants together in one place, then I could maybe have more plants because Caleb wouldn't notice how many were on the display!  IKEA has has some okay ideas in the past, but I've found a sneak peek of some new options they're bringing this month.

via Poppytalk

I like how the ladder and planter holder are #1 natural wood and #2 not flashy or noticeable.  They let the plants take the center stage, as it should be.  Here's another preview of IKEA plant things coming in March!  Gotta love that jungle.

By the way, I'm trying my hand at succulents for the first time this year.  My mother-in-law got me a lovely terrarium for Christmas, and the plants didn't make it past mid-January.  I decided to try a second time with succulents in the terrarium, but I'm not sure if that was such a good idea, either.  I already have a plan C in mind, but in the meantime, I'm super bummed out that one of my succulents is showing signs of stress.  Lesson learned: Research the plants before you bring them home!

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What are your thoughts on plants and on indoor plants?  Do you have a green thumb, a black thumb, a jungle?  My mom always had tons and tons in our kitchen dining room, so to me, it feels like home, but I'd love to hear what you think!

Inspiration for minimalist hanging planters

I love-love-love plants.  Inside plants and outside plants.  My parents' house is nestled in the perfect Southern wood with ferns everywhere, and it's one of my most precious places.  My parents will be moving next year, so I won't be able to visit my precious place anymore, but instead of being super sad about it, I've decided to try and bring some of the ferns from the woods into my apartment.  What I really want to do is make some hanging planters for them.  I think seeing my childhood ferns hanging from the ceiling would be so cool and pretty!  My ideal is something that looks simple and clean and that doesn't involve any macrame.  Lucky for me, lots of other people have the same idea!

Minimalist and modern hanging planter inspiration: