Satisfying Your Winter Garden Crave

I need my green plant fix! I need to smell damp earth! Get me to Florida! Or Southern California! Just get me outta here!

Not possible? Take heart! I have some suggestions for you, as well as for myself!

1. Here in the winter-besieged North, some like-minded, altruistic souls have provided a temporary solution: public indoor gardens. Here in the Chicago area we have a number of them. And this weekend's Martin Luther King Holiday might provide you with the right opportunity to visit.

My husband and I love palm trees, so we enjoy the Crystal Gardens at Navy Pier. The Garfield Park Conservatory is supposed to be fabulous, and the Chicago Botanic Garden has 385 indoor acres to wander through.

2. Re-potting and tending to your indoor plants can also provide some relief. I finally potted some cuttings that had been on my windowsill since August. It gave me great satisfaction to get dirt under my nails, and to clean up those poor plants and settle them into more attractive containers.

3. Buy some new house plants - especially those that are helpful for cleaning up indoor air quality. NASA researched these plants to put on-board the space station for just that purpose: Bamboo palm, Chinese evergreen, English ivy, Gerbera daisy, Dracena Deremensis, Marginata, Mass cane, Mother-in-Law's tongue, Pot mum, Peace lily, and Ficus. Click here for a link to their study.  Have fun and look up the unfamiliar names or search them out in greenhouse and garden stores. 

Don't be afraid to start small - they'll grow! 

4. Last, but not least, browse the FlagsRUs selection of spring products for a pleasant distraction from the weather. 

Be encouraged! There's only a few snowstorms (I hope!) between now and planting season!