Gardendaze

I absolutely adore calatheas. I find them so appealing that I keep them clustered together on trays to help maintain humidity around them.

If that isn’t enough, in the dead of winter in my cold, dark climate, I have been known to take these trays into the bathroom with me when I shower so that the plants can get some extra humidity.

If I tell you that I am buying a humidifier for the room that they are in, you will know that I have officially gone over the edge.

But just because I baby them doesn’t mean they cooperate. You may remember the above calathea, Maui Queen, from last year. Last year this time it was already spider mite infested.

This year, so far, no infestation, but it’s decided that it still isn’t happy. You can see a bit of that here. But it’s more evident in the photo below.

And speaking of unhappy–remember last season’s post where I said that I had some calatheas that lost more leaves than they retained in the winter?

If this keeps up, there will be no plant left to put back outside next spring. Ugh! Talk about tempermental!

So this is why I brought the plants in early. I can only imagine what it would be like if I were bringing them in now!