Mid-June: Houseplants, birds

Most of my houseplants spend the summer on the deck or under a tree, but even if your houseplants never leave home, now is a good time to give them an annual check-up. All houseplants have history, they commemorate a trip or a gift from someone, or a cutting of a family heirloom, it is nice to get reacquainted with each. Work outside in the shade or somewhere inside easy to clean. Look at the plant, remove any dead leaves or branches, inspect the surface of the soil for any mineral build-up or soil crusts which should be removed. If the plant needs pruning, this is a good time to make cuttings. Now the hard part, decide if you want to keep the plant the size it is or allow it to grow larger. If you want to re-pot it in the same pot, clean the pot, especially the rim where the soil surface was and minerals may accumulate. Slice about an inch from the bottom of the root ball and lightly shave the sides. Put about an inch of fresh potting soil in the pot, replace the plant and fill in the sides with fresh soil. Give the whole plant a good sprinkling of miracle-grow water to wash dust from the leaves and wash the new soil into the rim area. Place repotted plant back inside or in a shady place outside to acclimate to outdoor conditions. Larger plants are treated the same way with more soil removed from the bottom and edges. If a plant has outgrown its container and is terribly pot bound with massive roots at the bottom you can choose to move it to a larger pot or, if feasible, divide it into smaller portions you can give away to friends. Moving to a larger container is similar to regular repotting except you won't remove the bottom roots but instead loosen them, and gently loosen and remove some of the soil along the sides. Add potting soil to the new container, put in plant, then fill sides with new soil and give the whole plant a good bath and drink. Since plants will be in the same pot for at least another year and have probably exhausted the soil nutrients of the soil they are in, they get the best replacement soil I can concoct. Begin with a bag of potting soil (which usually contains slow release nutrients, peat moss), add some bone meal and a sprinkling of blood meal, and the old/used soil from something already repotted which may contain beneficial soil microorganisms. Make sure plants stay moist until the new soil looks established (peat moss tends to float initially). The seasonal change of bird care is a bit behind schedule this year. Most of the seed and suet feeders are down, yet to be cleaned. The bird bath is assembled but needs daily refilling. Birds are feeding young and I leave one seed feeder available for a quick snack for mom and dad. Almost finished repotting the many houseplants, then it is back to garden and yard activities with everything growing well and needing attention. Enjoy the progression of flowers, lilies now replacing peonies and iris, enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. Susan Carty is professor emerita at Heidelberg University.