This article was written by Kathy Hummel, Coles County Master Gardener.

Putting away decorations after the holidays can leave our homes looking somewhat lifeless and bare. A quick fix for this condition is to add a few houseplants to your decor. Here is a list of five favorite houseplants to cheer up your home.

Mother-in-law's Tongue (Sansevieria)

If you feel as though you have a black thumb, here is a plant that is nearly impossible to kill and the dramatic, sword-like foliage complements any style home. It can tolerate very low light conditions and will actually thrive with just artificial light. It can actually survive for months without water. Watering it too much can damage the roots, causing the blades to turn soft and slimy.

Occasionally clean the leaves by wiping them with a cloth soaked with a little mild dishwashing soap in warm water. They clean up beautifully.

Bromeliads

Few families in the plant kingdom surpass bromeliads with their wide variation in size, shape, and foliage color. Two we are familiar with are the pineapple and Spanish moss. Who would have guessed they are in the same family? In their native habitat bromeliads can grow with very little root system on tree branches, trunks, even on rocks. If you go to the Bromeliad Society International website bsi.org, click on Gallery at the left of the page, then click on the fancy Latin names, you will be rewarded with dozens of lovely photos.

They are inexpensive, easy to grow, require very little care, and reward the grower with brilliant, long lasting blooms and ornamental foliage. Like the Mother-in-law's tongue, a simple container best showcases the fun and funky form of the plant.

Water the plants, their roots, and the supportive materials twice weekly throughout the year. Apply water as a spray or submerge the entire mounted plant in water for a few minutes. The ambient humidity will influence their need for water. During the winter with the furnace running or during the summer with air-conditioning, humidity can be very low and you may need to water them more frequently.

Very little fertilizer is necessary. A diluted solution of 25 percent of an all-purpose houseplant fertilizer is all they need for plenty of vigorous growth. Just feed them every two weeks or so.

If your bromeliad has not bloomed in a while, here is a way you can trick it into flowering: Make sure there is no stored water in the leaf cups and cover the plant with a clear plastic bag containing an apple. Ten days with the ripening apple (which emits ethylene gas) will be long enough to encourage the plant to begin producing a flower stalk.

Cyclamen

After the decorations are away, these plants have plenty of blooms to carry you into the New Year. Cyclamen come in a wide range of color, from white through the various shades of pink into the deep maroon. And if that's not enough, the foliage looks like a handpainted masterpiece. Cyclamen blooms and attractively marbled leaves are a knockout when combined in an arrangement with other winter flowers such as primroses, paperwhites or amaryllis.

To help keep your cyclamen fresh and vibrant never let them wilt because they never fully recover. Full sun is hard on the plant's leaves and blooms, so make sure they are in indirect light.

Amaryllis - Refer to Marsha Overton's article of December 22 about this showy, easy-to-grow plant. If you don't still have the paper, you can access the article (and many others) via the Coles County U of I Extension website at http://web.extension.uiuc.edu/coles/yg/archive.html

Orchids

When it comes to duration of bloom, orchids will always come in first place. The arching stems adorned with delicate butterfly-shaped blooms add elegance to any room.

One of the easiest orchids to grow is the phalaenopsis. It will take low light conditions and its ideal temperature is the same as yours. Orchids really don't grow in soil at all. They prefer the bark of fir trees. Some growers like to create a similar growing medium by blending fifty-fifty fir bark and lava rock. When you purchase one, it will probably already be potted.

Orchids are light eaters. You only need to fertilize them with twenty-five percent of the recommended amount on a liquid fertilizer label about every other week. Orchids hate salt build-up from fertilizer so it's important to wash that out when you water by applying twice the normal amount of water every few months and letting it drain out. After the blooms fade, cut the stalk above the 2nd or 3rd node and reduce fertilizing to once a month.

Consider creating a winter garden container using orchids with other houseplants such as cyclamen, variegated English ivy and ferns. These long blooming arrangements will carry you through the coldest days of winter.

If you still have a cut Christmas tree hanging around, here is a good video about recycling it and putting it to good use in your garden.

http://www.gardengatenotes.com/2008/01/01/

Addition/correction to last month's column on Winter Animal Problems: The material, supplied by the U of I Extension horticulture read, "Rabbits are protected animals, so it is illegal to trap or kill them." The Husband and another friend who spotted the error of omission note that I should have added, "...except during the legal southern Illinois season, which this year extends November 3 to January 22, 2008." (DNR website)

If you have any horticulture questions, call the local U of I Extension office Monday through Friday at 345-7034. Volunteer Master Gardeners are not in the office this time of year–they will return your call.

This column is based on information and materials available at the University of Illinois Extension office, located at 707 Windsor Road, Suite A., Charleston, 61920; phone 345-7034; or web site: http://coles.extension.uiuc.edu/.