Flowers In The Stairwell - What Plants Can Decorate The Stairwells Of Your House

"Here is the front entrance …" Remember Nekrasov? Only, unfortunately, it was not often possible to say so about our entrances until quite recently. Fortunately, there have been some positive trends lately.

In rich, comfortable houses, the interior of a public hallway is now being happily transformed by concierges, lovingly filling the room entrusted to them with pots of flowers. At least a small green corner in the hall is no longer news or a curiosity, but a pleasant addition to the eye. In all other apartment buildings, intercoms are installed almost everywhere in order to exclude unpredictable outsiders from entering from the street. Of course, the intercom will allow you to maintain cleanliness and order in the staircase, but it still will not add comfort. Only the tenants themselves can take care of the comfort - they can green their entrance, at least a little. Agree, a house with flowers always looks more comfortable than an empty stone staircase, albeit clean! This is especially true for panel five-story buildings, of which there are still plenty in our cities and towns,placing indoor plants on their landings will come in handy. If only the tenants came to an agreement on this issue.

Plants need light and warmth for normal development. If in winter the air temperature here is not lower than 12 … 15 ° С, this is quite enough. If it blows from the windows into all the cracks, then you can arrange a small subbotnik and insulate them with the help of special seals, in extreme cases, seal them with strips of paper, unless, of course, such work is provided for by the contract with the housing and communal services. There is usually enough natural light from the window, and if in winter the fluorescent lamps still burn on the stairwells for several hours, the flowers here will feel just wonderful.

In the entrances, you can successfully grow almost all unpretentious indoor plants, with the exception of the capricious heat-loving Tropicans, who need a fairly high air temperature in winter. And shade-tolerant ones are generally an ideal solution for any room. When choosing an assortment, we will deliberately not mention expensive types that require constant attention and care. Let's dwell on the most common plants, time-tested and cultivated in various public places, which are not a pity to plant on a common staircase as the pioneers of this social and botanical experiment. So, the following plants are suitable for living in an entrance.

Large-sized trees that grow into trees: abutilon, hibiscus, ficuses (in particular, rubbery - grandmother's ficus, known to everyone), fatskhedera, monstera, some types of dracaena.

In our homes, hybrid abutilone is often grown, a shrub, or a small tree up to 1.5 m high. Its graceful carved leaves in their shape resemble the leaves of an ordinary maple, for which he received the affectionate nickname "maple" among our people. It blooms in solitary or 2-3 drooping, bell-like flowers on thin long pedicels. The place for abutilon is chosen very light, slightly protected from direct sunlight. In spring and summer, he needs abundant watering with fertilizing with complex fertilizers every 2-3 weeks. In autumn, watering is gradually reduced, in winter it is reduced even more and the temperature of the content is reduced to 12 … 14 ° C, but the place should still be well lit, with diffused sunlight. In the spring, after coming out of winter dormancy, pruning the crown is useful, after which the plants branch strongly and bloom more abundantly.

More compact plants: aspidistra, various types of begonias, bilbergia, dracaena, oxalis, coleus, cyperus, sansevier, ferns, pelargonium.

Aspidistra is truly a Spartan among indoor plants! Naturally, it grows in the shaded forests of East Asia, so it can live in any dark corner of the room. It grows relatively slowly, its large shiny dark green leaves do not suffer from dry air and dust. Aspidistra is completely undemanding to soil. This is a real find for those who want to have a plant that does not require maintenance.

Coleus are semi-shrub and herbaceous plants, valued not for their flowers, but for their picturesque leaves. There are many varieties with reddish-brown, greenish-yellow leaves. Coleus does not require any tricks in leaving. Although it must be remembered that these plants come from the tropics, therefore their love for warmth, moisture and good lighting is quite natural. The air temperature is desirable not lower than 12 ° C. Abundant watering in spring and summer, during the period of active growth, and more moderate in winter. So if you want to add bright colors to the interior, plant coleus.

Sansevier tolerates a shady location well, dry indoor air, does not tolerate overflow and stagnation of water, easily forgives if they forget to water it. Fleshy thick leaves accumulate moisture reserves, because the plant's root system is relatively poorly developed.

It happens that the windows in the stairwell are completely without window sills. Then it is better to adopt ampelous plants that can be placed on high racks and window sills or in wall pots: tradescantia (almost all types), cissus, chlorophytum, ivy, scindapsus, saxifrage.

Tradescantia is so easy to grow and care for that even a novice florist can handle it. Give it only moist soil - and you can't stop it, it will grow and delight with its lush greenery. In general, it does not even need soil, it grows well and just in water - it bushes just as well and does not rot at all.

Chlorophytum grows very quickly: it is enough to plant two or three young plants in a pot, and in a few months a lush bush will grow, it will drive out many flower arrows, at the ends of which young rosettes hang picturesquely. Plain chlorophytum always creates wonderful decor anywhere.

Cissus feels great in the cool and partial shade of the entrance. Here he is very comfortable in winter as well: there is less risk of pest damage, and the air is not as dry as in the apartment - the leaves do not dry out and do not crumble. The same applies to the rest of the mentioned ampelous. Various succulents will also feel great on a well-lit staircase: cacti, echeveria, haworthia, fat women, euphorbia and others. In winter, they just need a practically dry content in the cool - this is exactly what we have in the entrance without any extra hassle. Various conifers will be very grateful for the desired coolness: cypress, thuja, juniper and others. I think that even these listed species will be more than enough to start the staircase landscaping operation.

There is nothing difficult in caring for them - all operations are the same as with home flowers: timely watering with settled warm water, top dressing in spring and summer, periodic loosening of the soil. The main thing is not to forget that the air temperature in the entrance is usually below room temperature. In such conditions, the soil dries out longer, which means that you need to water less often. Otherwise, waterlogging of the soil in combination with a low temperature (especially in winter) can lead to root rot, disease or even death of plants. As you can see, everything is quite simple, the main thing is the desire for pleasant changes in the interior of your home. And then the entrance will turn into a real cozy hallway.