Herself's Houseplants

. . . One of nature’s most recognized wonders, the venus flytrap’s ability to snatch living prey makes it a favorite of elementary school science classes everywhere. Yet the flytrap is falsely ferocious: It’s hardly the man-eating Audrey Jr. from “The Little Shop of Horrors,” but a tiny plant only a few inches tall with leaves no bigger than a thumbprint.

These days, the little plant is more vulnerable than ever. And despite its popularity, the people who could protect it seem focused on other problems.

The flytrap’s natural habitat exists only within a hundred miles of the Carolinas’ coast, where much larger and more territorial plants have always held forth. Booming growth and development along the coast threatens to overrun the few sensitive and thin populations of venus flytraps that still exist in the wild. . . [ read more Venus flytraps caught in shrinking habitat]

What can you do? Fight to save native habitats. Buy some fly traps from responsible sellers and show people just was a cool wonderful plant it is. Tell them why it is worth saving. Spread the word.

See also:
Save the Venus Flytrap
Audubon Magazine: Carnivorous Plants
United Plant Savers: Venus Flytrap

As the world gets more urban and more of us move to cities the plant life of cities has a bigger impact on us all. The diversity of conditions in the city as opposed to the countryside gives us a larger selection of plants in the city. But the plants that can handle the urban environment tend to be very similar to each other. This means changes in climate and other city conditions may have a far greater detrimental impact on urban plants.

More plant species grow in German towns and cities than in the countryside, but those in towns and cities are more closely related and are often functionally similar. This makes urban ecosystems more susceptible to environmental impacts. . .. [ read more Similarity Of Urban Flora: Plants In Towns And Cities Are More Closely Related Than Those In The Countryside]

This easy to grow fern loves shade and doesn’t mind if you forget to water it occasionally. It also will tolerate cold down to freezing occasionally.  The fronts will grow 1′ to 2′ long indoors if it is happy.  It will fill much thicker as it ages so there will be no space between the fronds.

It will be happiest in a hanging pot near a drafty window, on the north or east side of your home.  Like all ferns the more humid the spot it is in, the happier it will be.

Rabbit’s foot fern is not as messy as other ferns, so you won’t have to clean it up as often.

Propagation is best done by division when it out grows its pot.  You can also put a pot next to the pot with your fern and place one of the fuzzy feet a little bit under the soil.  It will send up a new green frond at which time you can separate it from the mother plant.

This plant rarely needs repotting, unless the roots are escaping out the bottom, I’d leave it be.

This plant is from Fiji where it grows in the crooks of tree limbs. Peat moss combined with an equal amount of bark makes the best potting mix for Rabbit’s foot ferns.  But if you are someone who forgets to water your plants, I’d use a regular potting soil.  The peat and bark dry out fast.

While loved by everyone who grows them they are hard to locate at local nurseries and you’ll likely have to find an online source or an owner willing to part with a plug.

This fern grows well with epiphytic orchids if you are looking for a companion plant for your orchid.

Not only do stressed trees make their own aspirin to help protect themselves, they release methyl salicylate into the environment to warn other plants. I told you those plants were all talking about you.

It has also been verified that plants in laboratories under stress also produce asprin, which means your houseplants are likely doing it as well when stressed.

The release of aspirin stimulates an immune response type function in the plants.

. . . The discovery raises the possibility that farmers, forest managers, and others may eventually be able to start monitoring plants for early signs of a disease, an insect infestation, or other types of stress. At present, they often do not know if an ecosystem is unhealthy until there are visible indicators, such as dead leaves. . . [ read more Plants in forest emit asprin chemical to deal with stress]

. . . Walnut trees stressed by drought and other factors release large amounts of an aspirin compound to reduce damage and possibly warn nearby plants, a study released Friday found. [ read more Stressed trees release asprin compound, may communicate ]