By Deb Lambert

While the world beyond the windowpanes remains gray and cold, rain persists and snow is disinclined to leave, lose not your faith in spring's inevitable return.  Your indoor environs can be as green and lush, as your outdoor environs will be, come spring.  There's nothing like an oasis, filled with green, living plants to add warmth and charm to our indoor spaces.

The benefits of cultivating indoor plants exceed the obvious aesthetic value.  Indoor landscaping serves a dual purpose, as does the landscaping surrounding your home, namely, beautification and air purification.  

Exchanging the carbon dioxide we emit for the oxygen we require, a plant-filled environment can be healthy, as well as pleasing.  Many plants, such as Pothos and Spider plants, are very efficient at cleansing the air of chemical compounds, found in carpets, drapes, etc.  Because the air inside can hover at an unhealthful, dry level (and the colder it is outside, the dryer it is inside), the grouping together of plants will necessarily raise the humidity to a healthier level - good for the plants - good for the humans, who tend them.  Also, because we strive to keep the air more humid through the use of humidifiers and humidity trays, we further increase the humidity for ourselves. 

With many folks "staying put" longer within their residences, they're making home improvements, including the addition of small greenhouses, solariums and sunrooms.  Such areas are ideal for the creation of an indoor oasis.  The traditionally high ceilings, which usually include windows overhead, are ideal for the cultivation of the larger, more spectacular foliage specimens.  

Norfolk Island Pine, Schefflera, (Umbrella Tree), Palm, Dracena cultivars, False Aralia and Yucca are all ideal for such a situation.  One of the most impressive indoor subjects is a "standard" Ficus, with 'benjamina' or 'nitida' being two outstanding varieties.  A "standard" is any plant which has been grown on, with constant pruning and training, until it reaches tree form and proportions.  In the case of these naturally tall-growing Ficus, a heavy, smooth-barked trunk develops.  The effect thus created is that of a fruit tree, growing right within your indoor living space.  

Palms offer a lush tropical look, with compound leaves borne on long, arching branches.  Date Palms give large-scale interest.  Their airy, open foliage emerges from a trunk covered with rough, scaly bark.  While there are compact, dwarf varieties, the traditional Umbrella Tree (Schefflera) is another large-scale beauty, with huge, shiny leaves.

If space permits, such an oasis can be rounded out with medium-scale foliage plants.  Schefflera arbicola, Spathiphyllum, Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema), Dieffenbachia, and fern varieties are just some of the suitable subjects in this mid-size range.  Ivies offer a wide choice of leaf shape and color. Being naturals at climbing or trailing, they lend themselves to hanging planters, as "fillers" planted around the base of larger plants, cascading from shelves or window boxes or trained on any variety of topiary frames.  

The finishing touch for your interior landscape could well be hanging plants, such as ferns, Swedish Ivy, spider plants, Pothos and Fittonia.  Small fountains and water gardens add motion and sound to your oasis, while increasing humidity levels for your specimen plants.  For the very small oasis, table-top fountains are readily available.  

Now, if space and light permit, consider adding a touch of color, with the bold blooms of Hibiscus sinensis, the pastels or strong hues of African violets, the many faces of our beloved Begonias ('Angel Wing', 'Richmond', 'Charm', etc.), Orchids, Bougainvillea, Mandevilla, 'Martha Washington'  or scented Geraniums, Episcia, Streptocarpus, Gloxinia or some of the other flowering specimens, too numerous to mention.  Best bet for more unusual flowering plants, is a smallish, local greenhouse where you can ask questions and poke around to your heart's content - not a bad way to spend a cold, rainy, pre-spring morning.  For the serious plant collector, there's always Logee's Tropical Plants in Connecticut.  I receive their catalog and can only dream of having the space to create such a colorful oasis.

The good news is that you don't need a solarium, although it would be nice, wouldn't it?  A living room, bedroom or home office can be the perfect setting for an oasis.  Yes, indoor gardening can be as simple or involved as you like, but it's the best way I know to survive the long, wet, cold, dreary winter... or the long, wet, cold, dreary nearly-spring season, in which we are, at present, firmly entrenched.  Take your backyard gardening to a whole new dimension with your indoor oasis!               

©Deb Lambert 2008