snow day

i was going totally stir crazy today indoors. it snowed last night, but it's quickly turning into that special brand of yellow-ish brown new york city slush that you want to avoid at all costs. everything is dead and sad (by everything i just mean my outdoor plants, not people or anything). and on monday, the semester starts and i have to (i mean...get to) teach, so i can't just sit around watching my paperwhites grow anymore.  i've been propagating some jade plant cuttings too, but recently realized that i was doing it all wrong. this seems to be a theme with my gardening...i really should research then cut, rather than the other way around. anyway, we'll see if i was able to save them...stay tuned. 

my sad dead yard.

how i wished my yard looked. (this is actually a garden near the river cafe and brooklyn bridge park in the summer of 2014.)

so instead, for some insta-plant gratification,  i went up fifth avenue to zuzu's petals. zuzu's is the neighborhood florist (it's weirdly also the name of the ramen shop in the neighborhood, but there's no relation that i can see), and i'm always tempted to submit a job application when i go in there so i can be surrounded by beautiful flowers all day long. everyone in there is living the dream, if you ask me. 

so i trudged through the said slush and got myself some snow day plants. this is what i came home with: 

the green leafy thing with purple undersides is a calathea, and the pinky-green plant is a chinese evergreen.

a close-up of the bright pink edges of the chinese evergreen. it went perfectly into the crinkle planter from cb2. 

i instantly felt 1,000 times better. aren't those lovely? the google gods say that they are both low-light plants, and the calathea is from the tropics. the "siam aurora" chinese evergreen is apparently a new hybrid - they don't all have the variegated pink coloring. anyway, now that i have these plants, i suppose i can go on living until spring comes. but i may need another new houseplant or two if this miserable weather keeps up. (hhh, don't say i didn't warn you.) 

things i like

washi tape to make your adhesive tasks more enjoyable. or for making cupcake flags.

a light but warm scarf for this fickle weather.

geometric linen pillow, to rest your head while watching tv.

hay kaleido trays, because this is the perfect color combination.

now, back to the dissertation.

any excuse for flowers

there was a party, so there are more flowers. 

more of my favorites.

polka dot plants. these are so easy and only $1.50 per pint! 

rhinos and ranunculus

yesterday, i swung by botanica on my way home from the new york historical society. spring is here...i think. well, it is as long as i have these ranunculus in my line of vision. 

these colors make me so happy.

the selection at botanica is always great, and although it's a bit pricier than the corner shop, their blooms are worth it. (right? see above.) i also brought home this little air plant and set it in the mini rhino planter that joy bought me when i was in asia.

it's like an adorable porcupine-rhino hybrid.

i'd been looking for the perfect thing to plant in the little guy. what do you think? here he is keeping company with the rest of the foliage in my bedroom. 

it's a jungle in there! rhino stands guard with the basil tree and some rosemary, i'd also love it if someone told me what that spiky thing is.