My Garden Skeleton

I have been carrying this little secret with me for far too long now. It is time I come clean. When it comes to houseplants, I am all black thumbs. For years I doggedly worked on growing houseplants. I needed to see the bright green foliage during the harsh Wisconsin winters. But try as I may, most of them languished.

You can imagine how silly I felt as an avid gardener when the obvious reason for my plants’ demise was pointed out to me; my house was too cold for the warm weather loving plants. I did keep the house a tad on the cool side. Unfortunately my indoor green thumb continued to elude me after returning home to Cincinnati. Even with the continuous heat from my condo’s radiators (some of the radiators are permanently turned to on) I still was not having much success. This time it was not a lack of heat but a lack of sun that was placing my plants in peril.

Just as I was ready to give up my dream of an indoor garden, the dust settled on my kitchen remodeling work and I was able to get the room in order. And there, over the sink was a deep, sunny window. Happy day! I have not gotten too creative with my plants, yet, but I am growing indoor plants.

I have been successful in all my outdoor gardening ventures so I figure I can cut myself a bit of slack when it comes to indoor gardening. I look at indoor gardening as my personal garden challenge. My dream is to design, build and keep alive, a terrarium garden. Wish me luck!

Jenny Koester, AKA The Landless Gardener, is the Garden Blog Editor for Horticulture magazine and the author of The Garden LifeandA Year in the Park.