Friday's Feature - The Benefits of House plants

If your gardening season is ending bring your green thumb indoors!

House plants add so much life and warmth to a home! Besides that, they are very effective in giving your home cleaner air. House plants naturally help rid the air of pollutants & toxins. Did you know scientific studies have also shown them to help sick patients recover faster, lower blood pressure, improve concentration & memory, & promote relaxation!

I just received a new house plant this week that is already my favorite!



This is a Lucky Bamboo plant (Dracaena Sanderiana). It is not a member of the bamboo family as you'd likely assume. It is actually a member of the Lily family.
It is a very unique and easy to care for plant. There is some debate over how they are best kept. Some people think they are best kept in soil where many others treat them as a hydroponic plant; meaning grown in water without soil. With the hydroponic method you simply put the Lucky bamboo in a water filled decorative container with pebbles or decorative stones to keep the plant upright. The one I received (shown above) has water and pebbles in the container.

My research shows the plant to be easy to care for as long as some thought is given to the water source. It is recommended that spring water be used as tap water may have chlorine or flouride in it that can be harmful to the plant. If you do use tap water it is recommended that you set the water to be used out for 24 hours before using. The water should be changed weekly. It does best in filtered (not direct) sun light.

Interestingly, the Chinese value Lucky Bamboo in their practice of Feng Shui; the ancient science of bringing natural elements of water, fire, earth, wood and metal into balance within the environment. I do not practice Feng Shui. I simply find the plant and particularly the way this one has been arranged to be fascinating!