In a living room so small that two dogs asleep before the fire must be roused to let you pass through, monstrous cut-leaf monstera would be out of place—literally and most certainly no asset. In our house, to be truthful, anything larger than a three-inch pot begins to get out of proportion. When we were buying the place, we called it “quaint” and “cozy.” But when we moved in our favorite house plants, it was just too crowded for words.
This was the origin of our intense interest in miniature house plants. But limited space is by no means the only reason why these little fellows are such cheerful and desirable indoor decorators.
First, of course, there’s the charm of the diminutive—the same lure that leads some people to collect figurines or doll’s furniture. But plants are alive and growing; you can pore over each leaf and flower as it matures to small-scale perfection.
Because miniature plants occupy little space, you can grow more of them, and in greater variety. Three dwarf geraniums will bloom their heads off where a single large one might be crowded. Modern, narrow window sills are adequately spacious for a dozen or so two-inch pots of colorful cacti. One cattleya orchid can be replaced by several equally exotic, and much more personable, dwarf “botanical” orchids in delightful variety. Where full-sized narcissus and “daffy’s” that have been forced often seem to be just that, “forced,” miniatures fit in, add gaiety and color, along with naturalness.
Most important, miniature plants and gardens are thoroughly in tune with today’s decorating trends. They’re in scale with small rooms and low ceilings, in harmony with the spirit of suburban homes, mobile enough to facilitate change and rearrangement, even functional because they’re more carefree. And they certainly go along as we leave last year’s stark, bare, uncluttered look behind and move toward the warmer, more personal décor that once more allows us to display snapshots of the children on the mantel.
Miniature plants are often less costly than large specimens, and require less care. They grow slowly, require fertilizing and repotting less frequently, don’t outgrow bounds, and seldom need to be renewed or replaced.
When I first started to collect miniature house plants, I had no idea how many were available, or in what delightful and wide varieties. There are miniatures in almost all of our best-known plant families, and there are some groups that have almost nothing but miniatures to offer. There are small-scale trailers, climbers, creepers; leaf rosettes or bushlets; tropical plants and mountain-dwellers; those with striking foliage, spectacular foliage, or both. Once you discover the wealth of Lilliputian plants you can grow in your home, I warn you, your will power had better be strong, else you never will stop following this fascinating hobby of raising the little fellows. It will run away with you before you know it.
WINDOW GARDENS
The window is the place most naturally suited for a living garden. It is nearest to the fresh out of doors and brings the plants closer to the environment where they are at home. By creating a transition, the plants in turn seem to bring the outdoors inside. A window is often, also, the only place where indoor plants can get the daylight and sunlight they need to keep in good condition.
But a real window garden is not a motley assortment of plants in pots, haphazardly arranged (or not arranged at all) or lined up in precise, military rows. It is an artistic composition, a grouping of plants with some sound design in mind—an arrangement of plants and their containers for pretty and refreshing effect. The more natural the plants look, the less obvious or contrived the lines of the design, the more decorative the result. This principle is, of course, integral to all kinds of gardens, indoors and out; but it is particularly vital in a window where our eyes stray a dozen times a day.