Urban Jungle Bloggers: Plant Shelfie

Hi and welcome to my latest post for Urban Jungle Bloggers! The theme this month is Plant Shelfie. I'd just shifted this vintage wooden ladder into a new sunny position, mainly so the plants which live on it could catch a few rays and stop growing leggy, and it was a good chance to get out my camera and take a few shots for this post.

The maidenhair fern at the top is one of my favourite houseplants, even though it reminds me a lot of Sideshow Bob. It needs repotting and after that I'll probably shift it to a less sunny position, this is just a temporary holiday for it!

Here are two of my favourite lady face planters. They are called Rapunzel and Mrs Blossom. Rapunzel is growing a single long strand of string of hearts... I wonder if it will ever sprout a second string? Mrs Blossom is hatless right now, but she quite often likes to wear a camellia or other large bloom on her head. 

There is also a succulent, some goldfish plant, and a couple of cyclamens on their off season. This little corner is very calm and relaxing to sit in, basking in the evening sun surrounded by greenery.

I've also got some plants on the kitchen wall opposite. (This kitchen shelf was the subject of my very first plant shelfie, a year ago!)

Here's some more string of hearts, trailing past a little cup of succulents. 

This dried hydrangea has been here a while! Soon I'll have fresh new hydrangea flowers to bring inside.

That's it for today. Soon it will be time to decorate for Christmas - the vintage ladder is in the spot I normally put the Christmas tree, so it will need to be shifted again! Unless I just throw tinsel over it that is... could be a fun option!

Styling the Seasons - June 2015

 Welcome to my Styling the Seasons post for June! Usually for these posts I style one of the surfaces in my home that I use for that purpose... the mantelpiece, the hall table, the kitchen shelves, etc. This month I didn't feel like anything needed changing, so I set up a little photo shoot just for today. I've pulled together some items that represent June to me... let me show you.

 The front hallway is the perfect place for a photo shoot in winter. The low sun shines through the frosted glass in the front door at just the right angle to illuminate things nicely. I love how it looks lighting up this maidenhair fern. I bought this gold spotted cushion recently and love it's metallic accents! It's also nice to recline against, very important for hibernation this time of year.

 There are plenty of buds and flowers on my various cyclamen plants. This one is unscented, but I love its pale pink flowers and marbled leaves. 

 This is my latest crochet project which I'll share more about in a later post. With long dark evenings, I like to have a project to work on while sitting on the couch watching Game of Thrones. Actually, winter evenings are some of the best of all... when its cold and dark you don't have to try as much to justify all the things you should be doing but aren't!

 Snuggling up with a book and a coffee is another winter favourite... although to be honest I do this all throughout the year.

 One thing that is specific to June is the wintersweet flowers. For most of the year the plant is an insignificant shrubby bush but for a couple of months in winter the leaves drop and the buds open up to tiny, pale but incredibly sweet scented flowers. I make them into posies with azalea leaves and the last of the rosebuds (too cold for them to open properly now),  put them all around the house and breathe in as much as I can. When the flowers have faded I burn scented candles... my favourite this month is Pumpkin Cream.

 My little egg cup lady has a gorgeous camellia hat! It goes well with the embroidered rose on the warm woolly jar cosy.

Another thing I enjoy about winter is forcing bulbs to bloom inside. I have a couple of bowls of hyacinths and these muscari. They are just in a shallow bowl filled with water, held upright with some big stones. Easy and beautiful.

Hope you have enjoyed this post. Looking at my favourite things gathered together here makes me realise winter isn't that bad... I think I can handle another couple of months of this!

Styling the Seasons is a monthly styling challenge hosted by Katy at Apartment Apothecary and Charlotte at Lotts and Lots. Find out more by searching the hashtag #stylingtheseasons on social media.

My kitchen shelfie

 Hello again. It's been a while and I didn't really intend to be absent from my blog for two months, but once I let things go it was difficult to get back into the swing of things. I'm still dealing with earthquake repairs to the property and the uncertainty has made it difficult to focus positively on the house and garden, so it's just been easier not to do anything! However, I did start to miss my blog and having a record to look back on, so here I am again.

 A recent email from Gardenista pointed me in the direction of Urban Jungle Bloggers, who do a monthly plant themed styling challenge. This month's theme is My Plant Shelfie. I love a good shelfie and it seemed like a good reason to rearrange the houseplants, which I needed to do for summer anyway. The cyclamens have been banished to a cool dark room and the succulents have come forth.

 On this shelf I have my favourite little handmade houses and an art print of lavender, held in a vintage floral frog. The little brass chair is made from the cage from a champagne bottle.

 This is a new addition, with rather cool, graphical silver and green spotted leaves. It has a bit of attitude, don't you think? The plant label says it's called Scilla or Ledebauria Socialis. It's a nice compact size to fit inside this ramekin.

 I love the silvery green and plum tones on this succulent. It's container is a cat food can wrapped with rope (thank you Pinterest).

 I really love the tarnish and patina on this silver-plated salt shaker. It contrasts most beautifully with the delicate green leaves on this plant. I've had the plant for years and I forget what it's called! It's pretty impossible to kill but the leaves do have an annoying habit of turning brown from the base of the plant outward. I'm thinking of replacing it... does anyone have any suggestions for a similar nice, delicate trailing plant?

Now I'm submitting this post for the challenge. I'm actually very late with it, almost at the deadline in fact but I'm calling it a win that I even got the post written at all :) Thanks to Igor at Happy Interior Blog and Judith at Joelix.com for the prompt!