2008-08-16

Life in the Garden Part 06: Discount Trees at Ikea

Ikea is almost awesome. Much of the furniture is designed in a way that I almost like. There's usually one thing I just don't like about much of their furniture, or one change that would make it just right. But it's not quite there. For example, very few of the Billy bookcase components are available in Black.

There are lots of other pieces I almost want but don't quite fit with what I like.

Regardless, I keep looking because 1) my GF like some of the stuff and 2) it's inexpensive.

Last night we went to Ikea because I my GF needed a new vase for her office. She didn't find anything she liked, though she came close (of course).

But I did finally find something I wanted.

In the garden section, they had trees on discount. I picked up a new Yucca plant and a Weeping Fig for just $6 each.

Here's the Yucca in it's new home.

2008-08-14 Yucca from Ikea (1)a


That's three trees in one pot. Which means they were $2 each.

I've had good luck with this kind of plant. Here you can see it in the foreground. My Draceana is in the background.

2008-08-14 Yucca from Ikea (2)a


I got that tree in the background 14 years ago from a friend when she graduated from college. It was about 2.5 feet tall. It's grown a bit since then. I wrote about it here. (BTW if you are are familiar with Dracaenas, I could use some advice about it's health and propagation)

The other $6 tree is a weeping fig. I believe it's a part of the ficus family. I imagine this one will be more challenging to keep healthy. These types of trees are known for not dealing well with stress and are likely to drop most of their leaves when confronted with a change in environment (like Pearl from Finding Nemo).

So if you have a Ficus, and it loses all its leaves, it might not be dead. They do that from time to time when they're not happy, but often they come back.

The top is full of healthy leaves and the bottom three quarters is mostly wood at this point.

You can seem my watering hose in the foreground. I need to find a better way to connect the hose to my kitchen sink, but that's a post for another day.

The trees now are well watered, in Miracle Gro soil, in indirect sun. What else can I do to keep them healthy?

Gnomes. Lot's of gnomes.

2008-08-14 Yucca from Ikeaa2008-08-14 Weeping Fig from Ikeaa

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

$6 per plant? That's cheap! I like the kitchen stuff and home decor at Ikea. It's cheap so I end up buying too much stuff everytime I go there.

Anonymous said...

I completely believe you have the right idea with the Gnomes! :) I think I'll try that myself.

:)

Jon Clarke said...

You still have a loft?

Cromely said...

@babette: They were a lucky find. I also have a bunch of the $1 and $2 dishes from Ikea. They've held up shockingly well.

@zyriana.com: Gnomes are very helpful. The trick is finding ones that fit in doors. They tend to be outdoor critters.

@Jon: It's a smaller one; the office is up there, along with most of the heat.

Dani' said...

That is a fabulous find. We don't have Ikea here. I am so jealous.