In a living room so small that two dogs asleep before the fire must be roused to let you pass through, monstrous cut-leaf monstera would be out of place—literally and most certainly no asset. In our house, to be truthful, anything larger than a three-inch pot begins to get out of proportion. When we were buying the place, we called it “quaint” and “cozy.” But when we moved in our favorite house plants, it was just too crowded for words.

This was the origin of our intense interest in miniature house plants. But limited space is by no means the only reason why these little fellows are such cheerful and desirable indoor decorators.

First, of course, there’s the charm of the diminutive—the same lure that leads some people to collect figurines or doll’s furniture. But plants are alive and growing; you can pore over each leaf and flower as it matures to small-scale perfection.

Because miniature plants occupy little space, you can grow more of them, and in greater variety. Three dwarf geraniums will bloom their heads off where a single large one might be crowded. Modern, narrow window sills are adequately spacious for a dozen or so two-inch pots of colorful cacti. One cattleya orchid can be replaced by several equally exotic, and much more personable, dwarf “botanical” orchids in delightful variety. Where full-sized narcissus and “daffy’s” that have been forced often seem to be just that, “forced,” miniatures fit in, add gaiety and color, along with naturalness.

Most important, miniature plants and gardens are thoroughly in tune with today’s decorating trends. They’re in scale with small rooms and low ceilings, in harmony with the spirit of suburban homes, mobile enough to facilitate change and rearrangement, even functional because they’re more carefree. And they certainly go along as we leave last year’s stark, bare, uncluttered look behind and move toward the warmer, more personal décor that once more allows us to display snapshots of the children on the mantel.

Miniature plants are often less costly than large specimens, and require less care. They grow slowly, require fertilizing and repotting less frequently, don’t outgrow bounds, and seldom need to be renewed or replaced.

When I first started to collect miniature house plants, I had no idea how many were available, or in what delightful and wide varieties. There are miniatures in almost all of our best-known plant families, and there are some groups that have almost nothing but miniatures to offer. There are small-scale trailers, climbers, creepers; leaf rosettes or bushlets; tropical plants and mountain-dwellers; those with striking foliage, spectacular foliage, or both. Once you discover the wealth of Lilliputian plants you can grow in your home, I warn you, your will power had better be strong, else you never will stop following this fascinating hobby of raising the little fellows. It will run away with you before you know it.

WINDOW GARDENS

The window is the place most naturally suited for a living garden. It is nearest to the fresh out of doors and brings the plants closer to the environment where they are at home. By creating a transition, the plants in turn seem to bring the outdoors inside. A window is often, also, the only place where indoor plants can get the daylight and sunlight they need to keep in good condition.

But a real window garden is not a motley assortment of plants in pots, haphazardly arranged (or not arranged at all) or lined up in precise, military rows. It is an artistic composition, a grouping of plants with some sound design in mind—an arrangement of plants and their containers for pretty and refreshing effect. The more natural the plants look, the less obvious or contrived the lines of the design, the more decorative the result. This principle is, of course, integral to all kinds of gardens, indoors and out; but it is particularly vital in a window where our eyes stray a dozen times a day.

With miniature plants I find it easier to achieve good composition—much easier than with large ones. There are more elements with which to work; there is more opportunity to rearrange, a wider choice of colors, textures, and forms—the possibility of blending or playing them against each other. I recall a small window in an old country house, deeply recessed by the width of the thick stone wall. Three or four large or medium-sized plants might have stood on the two-foot-deep sill. But there were a dozen or so dwarfs and miniatures all blended and accented by two small baskets of miniature ivies. The display was so lovingly arranged and cared for, the effect was more of a garden than an obvious decoration.

(In a rich selection such as this one, there is a natural danger of “too-muchness.” Don’t crowd these plants. Just the addition of one extra pot can spoil the effect of a perfect garden. Miniatures are not meant to be massed. When crammed close together they can look like a weedy, unmown lawn. Give each plant enough space to set off its modest charm, then you’ll find each one doubly charming in its space.)

And so an assortment of small potted plants can be arranged as effectively in a window as perennials can be in a flower border. There should be a careful selection and placing of colors for both contrast and harmony; the interplay of foliage forms and textures; the blending of plants into one design with eye-catching accents where accent is needed. For a container, use a shallow galvanized metal tray made to fit the window sill and painted a matching white. It should hold about an inch of water with a layer of pebbles thick enough to keep the pots above the water. The evaporating moisture humidifies the air. Use miniature plants of several families but all needing approximately the same amount of light and sun. For color, there are the flowers of begonias and impatiens; for foliage contrast, peperomias; for accent, taller plants; with Ficus pumila ascending the window frame and small-leaved creepers dangling over the edge to soften harsh lines and blend the garden into the room.

There is equal charm in a collection of miniature plants of the same general type and of nearly the same size. Neat rows of cacti and other succulents in small pots look gay and colorful lined up on the sill and on glass shelves in the window above it—glass, of course, to permit all possible sun to reach the plants. Between the pots, at irregular intervals, set a collection of crystal wine glasses or figurines. Or line up impudent miniature geraniums as in the photograph. Here, the pleasure comes, not from the artistic composition, but rather in the uniformity of the rows of small-scale pots and plants.

For an indoor version of the outdoor window box, use a box made to fit on the sill, gaily painted and decorated in the Mexican spirit of the cacti growing in it. It should be deep enough (about four inches) for healthy root growth. The cacti are not potted, but planted in the sandy soil in the box. These indoor window boxes can be of all sizes and shapes—large enough to cover the sill of a big window plus the radiator under it; triangular, to fit in corner windows; suitable for the top of a child’s play table in a sunny bedroom or playroom.

All of these gardens are planned for windows with full sun, or nearly so. With less sun the choice of plants changes. For example, miniature gesneriads (African violets, streptocarpus, episcias) might be combined with ferns and other foliage plants; a selection of the widely varying types of peperomias would be effective where sun is very scarce indeed.

WINDOW GREENHOUSE

Available light, or sunlight, is the first consideration in selecting plants for a window area, or in selecting the window for the plants you have or want. Light can be brighter (it even comes from overhead) inside a greenhouse that extends out from the window. You can buy these in all combinations of measurements, ready-made and assembled, or ready to be assembled. Or you can make them, or have them made, from the materials sold in most hardware stores for those who build their own screens and storm windows.

The greenhouse fits flush to the outside of the window frame and is sealed with a calking-gun after it has been screwed firmly in place. It may rest on the outside of the sill, or be supported by metal or wooden brackets on the underside. The top lifts open for ventilation, and the opening is covered with a screen. Glass shelves permit light to penetrate fully. A tray at the bottom holds moist vermiculite to humidify the air.

The window sash can be removed or not, as you wish. You can install an inexpensive, thermostat-controlled heater for extra warmth in winter.

If the light is right, and if humidity can be kept high enough, an installation such as this can contain not only all sorts of window-garden plants, but also many of those recommended for the greenhouse in Chapter 6.

A window greenhouse filled with growing, blooming plants is an attractive outdoor decoration on almost any house. Its effect indoors is always cheerful and refreshing. And it is especially suited for miniatures. Numerous small plants make a better decorative effect than a few large ones.

(For suitable plants, please refer to list at end of Chapter 6.)