Here is another office plant that needed a makeover. When ordering some furniture to be donated to our Seattle office, I noticed there were plants on offer, as well, so I figured at the very least I would end up with some free big pots–I asked for two plants. When the plants landed, one was an impressive 5′ tree of Schefflera arboricola–cultivar “Dwarf Gold” or maybe “Gold Capella”.

We had the furniture and plants delivered into the unheated parking garage of our building, then we hired movers to take the stuff up to our suite. Somehow, they missed this big tree and left it in the garage, where it stayed overnight (it was August, so not a problem with freezing). I moved it up the next day and shoved it into my office.

Above is how the tree looked when it arrived. It was big and bushy. You can see a big lump in the main stem about halfway up. It might be a graft point, or maybe just scarring from bad pruning.

I was so excited to get this amazing plant, but it wasn’t without its challenges. It arrived smothered in soft scale insects and started losing leaves because it was so infested. Part of me thought I should just huck it in a dumpster and clean the pot up and reuse it. But it seemed worth giving it a chance, so I took the extreme measure of pruning all the branches way back, removing all the foliage, and scrubbing the branches with a rough sponge and soapy water to get any remaining scale off. I wasn’t particularly hopeful that I actually got all the scale (it was SO badly infested). And the tree looked like a dead skeleton for a few weeks. My coworkers gave me sympathetic looks and expressed a fair amount of concern for my mental health. But then, after a couple of weeks, the old wood started to break with new growth buds and the tree leafed out really quickly after that.

Here the plant is starting to leaf back out. Below is an even closer photo.

Since these photos, the tree has leafed out fully. It is responding well to regular watering and feeding. So far, the nasty scale insects have not reappeared, but I expect they will come back at some point so I’m watching them closes and I’ll be sure to wash them off before they become a problem.

We had an employee leave from my office at the end of 2018 and he left a sad office plant behind. It was a 5-trunk braided Chinese Money Tree or Pachira aquatica. I was not familiar with this plant so I did some research and moved it into my office where I could start taking care of it.

• 

• 

It was tough to know exactly what was wrong with this tree. Likely, it hadn’t been watered regularly or fertilized ever. And I wasn’t sure if the braiding of the trunks might be having a negative impact.

To help the tree look less leggy, I decided to prune the trunks down significantly. I took cuttings of those clippings and one of them has started.

I started watering and feeding the tree and it leafed out happily after a few anxious weeks. I also made some compost with lots of fungus in it and when I repotted the tree, I put fertilizer and compost in the pot.

Now the tree is gorgeous, with huge, glossy leaves.

• 

The tree has filled in even more than this and is thriving in my boss’ office.

My 2020 goals for this plant (and its cutting) are to keep feeding and watering it regularly to make sure it stays healthy. I will pot the healthy cutting into newer soil with compost and see if it will grow into a lucky money tree.

I ordered a mixed packet of Sinningia seeds last year for the office and planted them on the potting mix in my clear cup bottom/clear cup top greenhouse. The minute seedlings appeared pretty quickly and then grew pretty quickly over the summer. I ended up with three seedlings.

• 

The leaves of these plants are handsome on their own, but the flowers are the amazing, shocking production they bring.

One of the seedlings was a bit precocious and decided to bloom in October. Then, all three went dormant. As a kid, I was always fascinated by these plants. They were called Gloxinias. Their bulbs were sold in some mail-order catalogs. So, I was aware that they would form bulbs, go dormant, and then sprout again.

In the last month, they have leafed out again. In order to get them a bit bushier, I have pinched the main stems back. I am waiting to see if both of the dormant buds that I’ve exposed get activated. I also used the clipping as a cutting, so we’ll see if I can get those to root.

2020 plans for these plants are to grow them into adult plants with big heads of flowers, as shown in catalogs and online.

• 

• 

• 

At my new office at TeamChild, I was anxious to watch things grow in my window. I put an apple pip in a pot in the summer of 2018 and then watered it and within a very short time, I had a cute little apple tree. The tree is now about 7 inches high and looks like it is getting ready to leaf out for spring 2020.

Originally, this seedling was in a clay pot, but I moved it to plastic last fall and it seems happier.

My 2020 plans for this plant are to continue growing it at the office and then maybe move it gradually outside at home and grow it on as a bonsai start.

I purchased this little palm in early 2018 when I was at a different office and had no window. I was setting up a terrarium. The pot of palms arrived (2.5″ pot) with three little palm seedlings. Two of them passed on to the compost pile in the sky, but the third one has done well for me. It never made it into a terrarium, but I’ve kept it as an office plant and potted it on a few times.

• 

As of this writing in February 2020, the palm is about twice as tall as it was in this photograph. It just chugs along, adding palm leaves one after the other and getting taller.

This plant is potted in a general organic potting mix and I water it about twice a week. I feed it with an organic fertilizer spike in the spring and diluted orchid food may find it incidentally a few times a year.

I don’t have much planned for this plant in 2020 other than to let it grow and hope that it gets some new stems from the roots and maybe a flower spike one day.

I purchased this plant in 2018 under an old name, Primulina, but it seems to be Chirita now, so I’m listing it that way here. I ordered my plant off of eBay and have grown it in my TeamChild office from the beginning. The plant was in bloom when it landed as a little start. It has grown well and bloomed well ever since.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

My favorite things about this plant are that it seems easy to please, it blooms prolifically through the warmer months, and I love the way the flowers develop in an alien-looking bud that then splits up to have multiple flowers on long stems.

This plant grows easily from leaf cuttings so I have a few clones of it, as well. Strangely, one of the flowers also was pollinated and set seeds, so I sprinkled the seeds on some soil in a solo cup with a clear solo cup on top. I never thought this would go anywhere, but within a few weeks, I could see tiny seedlings–lots of them. I moved about 15 of them to a solo cup of their own and they are now growing on slowly–they are at about the two-leaf stage now. If all goes well, I expect to have 20 Chirita tamiana plants to share.

For the care of this plant, I give it bright indirect light. It seems happiest going a bit dry between waterings. It is potted in a general organic potting soil. I feed it orchid food and organic fertilizer spikes in the growing season.

Another January 2017 Violet Barn purchase, this is one of my favorite gesneriads! That’s saying a lot since this is probably my favorite plant family. This plant is unusual in that the leaves are very thin and less succulent than most gesneriads. The start I received three years ago was pretty small but once it got settled with the right light (bright indirect) and the right water (self-watering pots to keep it moist work well), it has done very well for me.

Here is a gallery of photos over the years of this plant.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

What I love about this plant is the foliage, which can be stunning when healthy and abundant. I also love the flowers and the plant’s generous display of those. This plant bloomed from about March of 2019 until December 2019, when I decided to cut it back and take cuttings of the clippings. As I type this in February 2020, it has buds showing color again! And the cuttings, which may or may not be rooted at this point, have also been blooming!

The challenges with this plant are that it gets a little lanky and rough mid-to-late season, with the leaves looking sickly and old flower and leaf stems hanging on in shades of brown and tan. I feed it with orchid food and organic fertilizer spikes, and that seems to suit it.

Propagation is also a challenge with this one, as the leaves seem too tender for leaf cuttings to be successful. If the cuttings I took from the pruning I did eventually grow, I think I’ll end up with four plants.

My goals for this plant in 2020 are to grow it well so the pots look great. For the cuttings, I will pot them up and grow them on and give them to family, friends, and coworkers.

This is a newer plant–and one of the fun things about online ordering is that you can look up what you ordered and when. I ordered this on January 10, 2017, so I have had this plant for just over three years. I originally bought if for my Lung Association office in South Lake Union, then moved it with me to the Lung Association office in Georgetown, and finally moved it to my new office at TeamChild, where it has settled in very well and bloomed almost nonstop (as have I!).

There is a lot to like about this clone. The leaves are tiny and perfect, as are the rosettes of leaves. It is also pretty prolific. I’ve been able to take cuttings, both stem, and leaf, so I have about six of these clones now in various stages of growth.

Here is a gallery of photos over the years.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The major disappointment with this plant is that the flowers only open part-way–they end up being rather cup-shaped. They are a lovely glowing lavender-blue color, though, and so prolific that they quiet my complaints. Below are recent photos of one of my pots of Teeny Bopper.

My goal with these plants is to keep propagating them and give them away to friends, family, and coworkers. I will keep the original plant well-fed and deadheaded.

Another plant originally from brother Tim, this is a nice, compact geranium with lovely leaves and bright, interesting flowers. I’ve had it in my collection for at least 20 years. By taking cuttings every year, I’ve kept it going even when I haven’t always been careful with individual plants.

The plants I’ve had the longest were gifts–mostly from my brother, Tim. “Petals” is no exception. I’ve had this plant in my collection for over 25 years–but not the same plant. I’ve taken dozens of cuttings and so I always have a few of them to tuck into patio pots in the spring or to brighten up the greenhouse any time.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

This cultivar has amazing foliage. The flowers are a nice pink, but it isn’t particularly floriferous for me. It tends to grow very leggy, so I have to pinch ruthlessly to get any kind of shape other than a leafy stick.

My 2020 goals for this plant are to take a few more cuttings, to prune back the plants I have and move them into larger pots with fertile soil. Some of them live in window-box-type pots that I place on the patio and I will topdress those and prune them back hard in the spring.