I've learned a few things...
house plants thrive during a warm weather season sojourn on my front porch...
but most need the protection of the indoors during the cold weather...
many years, I would get busy and put off the moving days...
with the needed re-potting, heavy lifting, house-cleaning...
& re-organization, not mention the window cleaning...
as well as the almost requisite, plant sulking that followed...
as they once again adjusted to being "cat salad bar"...
and I have often paid the price of frost-bitten or dried-out plants...
so I've been working on the premise that, "sooner is better", this year...
this plant, a favorite of mine, was almost dead, but came back...
then Mack started laying on it, killing some of the newest growth...
the wooden skewers have stopped that...
now if I could convince him that he shouldn't chew on it...
BTW, providing "grass", just for them to chew on, is NOT a solution...
they ignore any kind of grass grown just for them...
preferring instead a tasty fern or some other such flora...
that I don't want to see munched, clawed, nested in or peed-on...
I guess it's just,"a cat thing"...
this ficus replaces a couple that got infested with spider mites...
and finally died... it's a plain, old, sulky ficus...
the kind that flourish in "the right" place...
but drop ALL their leaves in a flash if conditions are NOT to their liking...
so it gets the tried & proven, ficus "right" spot...
lots of bright, indirect, light...
not too close to the fireplace or heater vents...
but with fresh air from the front door near by...
this one I've had for a while and just re-potted...
it has very dark green leaves and seems much more resistant to mites...
drying-out, lower light locations and leaf-drop...
I remember that it was advertised as much hardier...
so I hope it does well in front of the French door windows...
by the corner in the DR...nearest the front door...
the light isn't as bright but the ventilation is very good...
I lost my favorite "dagger leaf" ficus to Lacy's sharp little claws...
I didn't realize that she was scratching its trunk until it was a goner...
I'm staying alert with this one that has flourished on my porch...
I found it about 6 months ago for only $25...
& just couldn't resist replacing the other one...
Mz Murphy Brown seems to be eyeing it...
but is really just snooping & cruising for some attention...
here you see the LR, "in progress"...
and yes, that is the aforementioned Lacy...
snooping... and rubbing her head on the new pots...
[she likes the heavy pots & I'd much rather...
that she "marks" with her head than the "other" way...
so far, she's stayed away from the dagger-leaf ficus...
more pictures to come, as I work through the re-potting and moving-in phases...
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