Healthy Living Indoors With Your Houseplants

Indoor gardening is a very fun way of releasing some negative vibes form our body, and refreshes the mind. Changing the mood of a person from being stressed to peaceful and serenity. It also helps having small indoor plants in pots or containers or terrarium globe kits with an air plant in it. House plants do more than just beautify our indoor space but keeping plants inside our home can also bring physical and mental benefits. Many common houseplants and blooming potted plants can improve ones health by helping fight pollutants in our home. Since most of our time we spend it inside of our homes, we are prone to more pollutants. Did you know that indoor air can be twelve times more polluted than outside air in some areas? It is due to the compounds in paints, furnishing, clothing, and building materials.

Study also shows that indoor plants can help fight colds, it decreases cough, sore throats, fatigue and other cold related symptoms by up to thirty percent. Researchers attributed these benefits to the fact that plants helps increase humidity levels and decrease dust in our homes. Other studies have also shown that our cognitive, psychological, social, and physical realms are some of the benefits that we get from plants. They could increase self esteem, feelings of calm, relaxation, and optimism while reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. Keeping plants indoors can make you think better, improved concentration, memory and heightened attention. 

Always remember that for the best success with any houseplant, you need to match the right plant to the right growing conditions.There are many benefits that we can get from these indoor plants and they can also be sent or given as a gift to a close friend a family member or someone you know who loves plants.

A Great Day To Celebrate

One of my closest friend is celebrating her birthday today, and I really didn't know what to give her. We were friends since college days and every year on our birthdays we would give something to each other. But this time, I think I ran out of things to give to her. I have checked online for possible gifts or anything that she might and I came across the website of Givinglants.com. Carla is a plant lover and they used to have a garden in their front yard. But, because she had to leave the country to work, no one is able to maintain their garden. I wanted to give her flowering plants to help her started with her mini garden, but then I realize she will again leave soon and no one's gonna maintain the plants.

So instead, I wanted to surprise her with a cake, that is not just an ordinary cake. It is one of a kind because it is a floral cake silk arrangement. It has been artfully arranged in a series of cream colored silk flowers with highlights of greens and purples. I know that she will be happy with these simple gift that I'll be giving her. She is the kind of person who appreciates every small and big things that is given to her, because she believe that we should enjoy the little things, for one day when we look back and realize they were the big things then we wouldn't really regret anything. I am just happy to know that Givingplants has their own store near our area, and I was able to buy it immediately, because if I ordered online it will be ship within 1-2 days.

The delicious looking cake that I bought may look good enough to eat, but is actually hand-crafted from a variety of silk flowers, including hydrangea and carnations and topped with a single pastel rose. What's really important aren't the gifts or the grandiose celebration, it's the people who took their time to remember your special day. I believe that Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties, but of little things, in which smiles and kindness, and small obligations given habitually, are what preserve the heart and secure comfort.

Celebrating Hearts Day

Many of us know intuitively that love is a major purpose for living; that connection is inherent in all that we do, and without love, we can not survive as species. True love is the sweetest thing in life. That is the reason why, we are all either in love or looking for love. Most of the time, we have to work for it - especially when life gets in the way - but I believe that true, deep love is always worth fighting for. We all had different names for different forms of love: passion, virtuous, affection for the family, desire, and general affection. but no matter how love is defined, they all hold a common trait: caring. And speaking of love, people around the world will be celebrating the Feast of Saint Valentine or also known as Valentine's Day in less than month. Although it is celebrated in many countries, yet it still remain a working day.

We do know that February has long been celebrated as a month of romance, and that St. Valentine's day contains vestiges of both Christian and ancient Roman tradition. It began as a liturgical celebration of one or more early Christian saints named Valentinus. The most popular martyrology associated with Saint Valentine was that he was imprisoned for performing secret weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians, who were persecuted under the Roman Empire. Since, it has long been a tradition that every Valentine's Day we give gifts like, chocolates, bouquet of flowers or stuff toys to our loved ones, why not we try to give them lucky charms that they could display at home.

You could show how you truly love to that person on this Valentines day by giving him/her a True Love Lucky Bamboo. You could purchase it online at Givingplants.com and it gets delivered to your loved one's doorstep. They will surely love this plant, they could treasure and take care of it 'til the next Valentines day comes. Remember, true Love isn't Found, It is Built.

General Cleaning At Home

Cleaning at home is such a weekly task for me and for my family. My husband and son are both helping me to tidy things up at home, especially our room because it is the most messy place, due to the fact that it is also the playroom of our son. Although we bought a box where he could place all of his toys, he always forgets to put back all of those toys to the box. But we are training him to be responsible enough for his toys so that in the future, he could do things on his own, without us telling him or dictating to him what he needs to do. Every Saturday is the general cleaning day, and usually Sunday is the family day, because it is the time where we visit the church and hear the mass, afterwards go to the mall for pleasure and entertainment.

I would assign a task for them so that things would be easy for us. It would usually take us the whole day in cleaning the whole house, but it also depends on how dusty our home is. Especially after holidays, we have to remove the decorations that we put last Christmas and New Year. Making sure that all of those decorations that we could still use are in a container, so that we could just put them in one place where we could find them easily for the next holidays. Some of the home decorations that we added last holidays and decided to leave it as it is, is the mixed succulents in textured aspen container. I bought it for sale at a flower shop last holidays, I was planning to give it to a friend who loves plants but later decided to keep it for myself because it is a low maintenance plant and it fits perfectly on our tabletop. 

Every task becomes easier when there are helping hands that is readily available even if you do not need it. Always remember that cleaning at home is not just a task for one person but for the whole family, and it is much happier when doing things with the people you love because it can also turn into a bonding time for everyone.

The Different Uses of Flowers

Flowers play an important role in the life of every human as well as in nature. Flowers can be seen growing in gardens all over the world and they come in vast array of colors and sizes. They can feed insects, birds. animals and humans too. They provide natural medicines for humans and some animals as well as aid in a plants reproduction by enticing the outside pollinators. There are varieties of flowers that are planted and living in our world. One of them are the orchids, they have long been a symbol of love and beauty. These type of plants are grown by enthusiasts for their sheer elegance and fascination. Just like every other flower they play an important role in making a life of a human being more cheerful and happy. 

People love to decorate their house with several attractive flower arrangements. A flower pot with a fresh flowers on a dining table increases the taste of breakfast and the impact of food being served. Take for example the miltonia orchid in white embossed tin container if given as a gift to a friend or to someone who is special and close to your heart as a way of saying Thank you, Congratulations or simply Thinking of you. It could warm a heart of the person who receives it. Without the flowers, plants would merely be green, and the world would be a duller place to live in.

Understandably, they are attractive, useful and sought after both by humans and insects. They adorn our environment, are used in romance and religion and are a good source of food and medicine. The simple act of receiving flowers has also been documented as an aid to improving our mood. Flowers are used to brighten our home and work environment for this very reason. Therefore, the importance of flowers in our life and our environment can not be underestimated.

Taking Care Of Indoor Cactus Plant

Cacti are type of plants called succulents, they can be displayed both at the office or at home. Most of the cacti live in habitats subject to atleast some drought, but many live in extremely dry environments, even being found in the Atamaca Desert, which is one of the most driest place on Earth. Most species of these cacti lost its true leaves retaining only spines, which are highly modified leaves. Spines help prevent water loss by reducing air flow close to the cactus and providing shade, as well as defending against herbivores. Did you know that cacti from desert areas, like the Mammillaria and Echinocactus, are plump and spiny while thos that originally grew in the jungle areas are flat or thin and spineless.

On the other hand when we say succulents, they can be referred to as any plant with fleshy parts, like the leaves, stems and roots, usually are adapted for storing moisture in times of drought. Putting a medium cactus garden in the middle of the center table in your living room or at a table top in your office would totally change the environment of the whole area. Medium cactus garden is composed of seven different cacti plants and succulents in a 7" planter, can transform the look of it's environment. Many people think that cacti and succulents require a small amount of water, while it is true that these type of plants are tough, and can usually survive under such circumstances, but they will unlikely not thrive. 

In most cases cactus plant will do well in pots as long as you remember three things. They are the food, light and water requirements. When you bring the plant home, most of the time it is in a pot or planter and has probably grown there for a long time, which means it has used up all the in the soil, So think about re-potting and setting up feeding program. A potted cactus will live and flower in the house if given enough light but not too much and also remember that cactus in pots or planters require more care in watering than those in the ground. Growing a cactus is very rewarding.

A Precious Friend

 

A friend of mine, got admitted at a hospital yesterday because of some chest pains. She undergone some stress test and 2D echo, and now she is just waiting for the results. It was not her first time to be hospitalized, and since her mother and sisters are not here to accompany her, we, her friends are there to help her. We know that she had been through a difficult time lately because of a broken heart, but what we did not know is that, when she is at home she is not eating at all and just lays down on her bed all day long thinking about how her past relationship ended up that way. She did not disclose ay details to us about the causes of her illness, because I know that she does not want us to worry about her situation. She strictly told the doctors and nurses not to tell anything to us too.

We were worried but at the same time, we are all praying that she gets better quickly and that we will help mend her broken heart. When I went to the hospital today, I passed by a fruit stand and a flower shop to buy something for her. Then at the flower shop, I saw a lucky bamboo hearts arrangement on display and bought it for her as a lucky charm. They call it the All My Love Lucky Bamboo Hearts, because it gives good luck to those who are broken- hearted, and I feel that she badly needs it. While on my way to her hospital room, I can not stop smiling because I know that she will definitely love it. Some of our friends are already there when I arrive and when I handed her my gift and explain what the plant is for, we all laughed and the room was again filled with our happy voices.

We do not know when she can leave the hospital, but there is one thing we know of and is sure of, that we will always be there for her no matter what. Because, friends gives us the courage to lift the blinds on our hearts. To open up and show what we generally keep hidden from the rest of the world.