What to Do With Indoor Trees?

Indoor trees are lovely, but they take up a lot of room. I used to have a lemon tree (which I grew from a seed), but it never bloomed, and its branches were sharp. Not the kind of plant I wanted indoors. Eventually I took it to work. When spring arrived, I offered it to a co-worker who was looking for a potted tree for her patio.

I prefer growing flowers to trees... but occasionally I see a small potted tree I can't resist...














This palm tree was cute and tiny when I first saw it at an Ikea store. (So I bought it!) I transplanted it into this pot - which it shares with an aloe vera plant... and something else I don't remember planting. It's a nice size now... but it will grow...

Another tree in my upstairs hall was about a foot (or 30 centimeters) tall when I got it from a fellow teacher a dozen years ago. I admired it sitting on the window ledge by her desk, so she offered it to me. She didn't want to take it home for the summer... Now it is approaching the ceiling, and I'm wondering what to do with it... (I think it's called a dracaena.)


















You can always trim it, my friend Vera suggested.

She should know! Her house is full of trees. Every summer she moves them outside to her patio. Then in fall, they all come in again. Most rooms in her house have at lease one potted tree...














Like this bedroom...

(I wonder what it feels like, waking up to see branches hanging over the bed!)