Whether they’re trailing and leafy, tall and spiky, delicate and pale, or languid and exotic, fresh flowers and healthy plants always provide a universally appealing display and (especially in built-up areas) a welcome reminder of a real garden’s tranquil pleasures.
Like small pictures or single ornaments, however, isolated and significant houseplants and skimpy posies tend to get lost in the comparatively large, lush plants or sculptural, floor – standing specimens (a lavender bush perhaps, a prickly cactus or a lofty Swiss cheese plant).
Alternatively, group together several pots of the same plant, such as ivy, geranium or busy lizzie, to create a verdant spectacle. Try trailing them over the edge of a shelf perhaps, suspending them from a row of hooks or placing them in front of a window to filter the light prettily.
In the same way, go for low-cost seasonal flowers such as daffodils, stocks or tulips that you can afford to buy in bulk, rather than meagre assortments of expensive hot – house blooms. If you’re feeling adventurous, experiment with a range of low key containers for your flowers and plants: graceful jugs and bowls, utilitarian florists’ buckets or watering cans in galvanized metal, and rustic woven baskets with waterproof containers hidden inside them, as well as traditional purpose – designed vases, boxes and tubs.
Remember, though that highly decorated designs in garish colours and fussy shapes are much harder to use successfully since they to wage an aesthetic battle with their contents.
TOP TIPS
• Never place flowers or plants on or near a television set, a sound system, a computer or any other item of electrical equipment. It takes only a single drop of water or misdirected spray to cause serious damage.
• If you enjoy having growing things around but your time, skill and horticultural knowledge are all limited, choose plants that will survive with less – than – ideal treatment .
The seductively lacy fronds of a maidenhair fern, for example, will soon resemble a sisal doormat if you don’t know how to look after it.
• Look for cut flowers that are not yet fully opened. When still in bud, they have a charm of their own and when they do come out, they will last a longer than full – blown blooms.
• Some common houseplants help clear chemical pollutants such as formaldehyde and benzene, from the air.