3 Reasons To Keep Your Supermarket Rose Plants

Today on my blog I am talking about those gorgeous mini rose bush plants you can buy them in your local supermarket. You can usually get one for around £3-£5 for a plant, sometimes they come in a pretty little pot as well. When choosing one, go for one with a nice thick and healthy main stem and with buds that are still yet to open and flower.

The Supermarket Rose is a beautiful gift for someone who just to brighten up your windowsill. I have had two yellow roses and a pink rose in the last two years. You can often find them in Red, Peach and even a pale White shade of Rose petals. Supermarkets usually stock a wide range of colours, I like Yellow as I feel it brightens up a room.

So many people toss their little Rose bushes into the bin when they finish flowering. One reason for this is because they see the label which often reads “Guaranteed to Flower for 14 days” and they presume that after this flowering rose is finished blooming then the plant is now obsolete, and that is so wrong! Did you know that with a little love and care you can make your little Rose last for months or even years? And they will flower again!

Well in this blog post I am going to tell you just how and why you should keep them. Here are my main 3 Reasons…

Reason 1. They can survive inside or outside! I will go into how you would care for each in a moment.

Reason 2. You sometimes get extra growth of the original plant after a couple of months, and some plants can be re-potted into more than one Rose bush. Then you could keep one for yourself and gift away the other if you like!

Reason 3. Looking after plants during difficult and uncertain times can help your mental health by giving you something to care for and focus on. It will also produce flowers several times a year to brighten up your home.

Just after I had separated the Rose Stems off and then set them back onto my windowsill.
They soon grew and grew and grew… and flowered again!

Keeping Your Rose Inside or Outside

Inside
A nice regular sized pot and a windowsill with half sun and half shade, your Rose bush should thrive here. Water it every day, keeping the soil damp and remove dead leaves and dead flowers to prolong its growth. Leave it inside the pot it comes in until all the flowers have finished, and then you can re-pot it into something prettier if you’d like, pop a few stones at the base to allow for drainage and if you’re increasing the pot size to allow for growth use some moisture controlling compost.

Check the plant if and when you re-pot it. You may find it has two separate stems and roots systems, if that is the case you can do as I did above (image) and pot in two pots and then you’ll end up with two plants.

Outside
A pot of any size because the bush will grow into it. But in order to be liveable outside and to survive the Winter you must do two things. One, is to line the pot with a sheet of bubble wrap plastic, this is to keep the roots safe from any frost. And two, you also need to put a few stones in the base and place the plant into some moisture controlling compost, which will retain water so as to keep the plant nourished. You must water it regularly in warm weather and do not let the pot dry out.

So far my Pink Outdoor Supermarket Rose is coming up to its third year in a pot outside. I got lots of flowers on it in June, I also gave it some flower food once the flowers began to show their buds. As you can see I had some rich new green leaves grow this summer. I may need to re-pot it into a larger pot next summer if it grows again.

The image below is of my Yellow Rose Plants, they were separated in the Spring and now it is September, they have more than doubled in size. They are now flowering for the fourth time this year. They are getting quite big now for my kitchen, I am contemplating potting them outside on a sunny day in the Autumn, I have some left over bubble wrap from my recent move ready to wrap around them to keep the roots warm and protected from any frost we might have. They have loved their new position in my new home, since July they have been on that kitchen window, and it gets lots of light.

I have treated myself to a new little rose now too, to start this process off all over again. I got this cute little plant from Aldi for just £1.79! Bargain!
Gorgeous Pink colour!

My plan is to grow this Rose to the same size as my yellow ones while indoors, then plant outdoors next late Spring time. Hopefully it can reach a similar size.


I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog post, please let me know if you’d like to see more like this, such as gardening related or tips on making the most of supermarket purchases.

Thanks for visiting Severn Wishes today.

✩ Sabrina ✩

Gardeners Dream Purchase Review

Freshly potted and watered.

Gardeners Dream Purchase Review

I ordered some Strawberry plants from a website online, the company was called Gardeners Dream Ltd. A friend of mine recommended them to me. They had a wide range of things to choose from and I browsed at length. That day I was only looking to purchase one thing though, that was Strawberry Plants.

My son adores this fruit and I thought why not invest in some plants that I can keep in pots and they can give us fruit every summer (when looked after appropriately of course).

They send the dried plants in the post in a few days, I even had free delivery which was an added bonus for me. Each time you choose an item you receive 5 plants. I chose two different types of Strawberry plants, but those with larger fruits and hardy plants against disease and bugs.

Due to lockdown they took a few days to arrive but I didn’t mind. They were well packaged and I followed the instructions that the website had given me. I saved them on to my phone when I chose which I wanted to buy.

After I had soaked them overnight in lukewarm water they were ready for planting. I once again followed the websites instructions for this as well. Ensuring I planted up to a certain part of the plants.

Within days they were revitalised, green leaves began to grow, it was with the help of all the compost and soil I had prepared before getting them. They looked healthy in the compost (that I luckily had in the garage because I couldn’t get any from anywhere right now if I needed some!) but I still gave them a little plant food as well when I watered them well for the first few days.

Now they look very healthy and have tripled in size, growing lots of fresh new leaves as well, as you can see in my image below.

Overall my experience using Gardeners Dream has been a good one and I would recommend their service, their plant advice and their website as a whole to anyone looking to grow their own this summer.

Baring in mind that it’s too late to plant some things now because I did these in early April and some things require planting even earlier in the year. But they also do other plants and flowering ones too if you’re looking to brighten up an area of your garden this year.

Here is the link to the Gardeners Dream website if you wanted to take a browse for yourself.

Here is the direct link to what Strawberry Plants they have for sale on their website.

Thanks for visiting my blog today, have a lovely evening!

✩ Sabrina ✩

Tough House Plants for People who often Forget to Water

Tough House Plants For People Who Often Forget To Water

There are some pretty hardy house plants out there that don’t need a lot of maintenance, that are perfect for people who often forget to water. If you are looking for some really easy to care for plants for your home, then check out all the varieties below.

Before buying a plant you must consider three things, do you have children, do you have pets, and do you have the time and the space (as it grows). I will be outlining some plants that I have owned and loved and some my family recommend. I have then researched these to give you the best facts on each type or variety of house plant,

Let’s first start with a flowering plant that is so beautiful and you only need to water it once a week. Once it flowers the buds can remain for weeks at a time, plus it comes in many varied sizes and colours… it is The Orchid.

The Orchid has over twenty eight thousand registered species, though many grow in the wild throughout Asia, some varieties have been adapted to become house plants. Here in the United Kingdom they are now readily available, not just at garden centres but even from large supermarkets. They come in various sizes of flowers too.

The most common available is the Phalaenopsis or the Moth Orchid. These two images I have included in this post depict how it usually looks like. Each stem can grow between six and twelve beautiful flowers that emerge from buds.

You only need to water an Orchid plant once a week, it might need to be thoroughly quenched if it has many many flowers in bloom. You can tell by looking at the flowers if the petals are not smooth. Also if you give it some water and it drinks it all up immediately keep adding tiny amounts until the drinking slows.

It needs to be placed in a well lit window but with no direct sunshine during the day. Orchid plants like the light and like to be warm but not hot, and do not allow it to get very cold. Remove it from the window during the Winter overnight.

Remember to gently wipe the leaves clean of dust every couple of weeks, and keep an eye on any blooms that have ended. You can cut these off gently at the stem where they join on. Careful not to damage a stem that has buds on it.

A very cool plant to have in the home is the Cactus! The definition of a Succulent is a plant that has thick fleshy leaves or stems that have adapted to storing water.

Cacti are part of the Cactaceae family, there are currently 1750 species. Usually found in an array of shapes and sizes, some tiny and others grow extremely tall. Most originate from dessert climates but some also comes from forests.

The ones that you have for your home are known as succulents, but not all succulents are cacti (I will show you what I mean further down the post). Many Cacti like a warm home, a window with plenty of light and fast draining pots that don’t require you to water them very often. Years of evolution has insured these hardy plants store water to keep themselves sustained in harsh environments. Cacti are also very good at adapting to our various seasons in the west of the world.

Cacti are easy to look after and there are several varieties that are great for the home. Other Succulents come in lots of varieties (like the Cacti, there is Sedum, Echeveri, or flowering Kalanchoe), they enjoy sunlight and dry air. They are also easy to look after because they require very little watering. Some examples are the following;

Christmas Cacti

The Christmas Cacti needs to be allowed to dry between watering, look at first few inches of the soil and if it’s damp wait another few days. It needs to be watered less in the dormant Winter phase. When the plant is flowering make sure you don’t let the plant dry out and don’t over water it either, doing so might prevent future flowering. These plants need medium to high light, and if you choose to fertilize do it three times in the summer to promote blooms.

Pincushion Cactus (Mammillaria)

Pincushions are a group of approximately 200 species of ball-shape cacti, they are the most common cacti that can be grown in the home. Most come from Mexico, they grow in hot climates and can be singular or in clumps. They can often flower indoors. Be careful of the spines they might look delicate but have hooked ends that will be difficult to pull out of skin if you get one trapped. These cacti like lots of light and you should let the soil dry out almost completely between watering. You should withhold water entirely in the winter and allow it to have a cool and dormant period. If you fertilize only do it in the summer months and a maximum of three times.

Sempervivum Tectorum or Echeveria Elegans

Although these two plants are closely related they do in fact look different. Known as Hens and Chicks because the mother part of the plant is known as the Hen, and the rosettes that grow off from it are the Chicks.
Sempervivum Tectorum has rosettes but the leaves are flatter and also more pointed.
Echeveria Elegans has flower shapes rosettes that have rounded edges and are flat.
Both of these plants should be allowed to dry somewhat between their watering, over watering will cause root rot. Water them very little during their dormant part of Winter.

Another easy to care for plant is the Spider Plant or Chlorophytum Comosum is its scientific name. I had a plant of this kind from the age of eleven to twenty four (until it got infected with flies one summer and that was the end of it sadly). It often gave out small flowers and in turn baby plants (known as Spiderettes), that you simply wait for roots to appear and then carefully cut them from the stem and re-pot them. Those Spiderettes from my original plant are still around today, several of my family have them.

This is also a great plant for someone younger, for someone who perhaps wants to start learning about and caring for something flora and fauna. It needs very little watering and its leaves need wiping from dust just once a week. Obviously the larger the plant grows the more leaves it has, and the more it would need tending to. But if you start with a small one and grow with it, re-potting it whenever it gets too big for its space, and you should do just fine.

 The Spider Plant is a great and easy to care for addition to any home. They also remove the following pollutants from the air in your home “Formaldehyde and Xylene”.

Another low maintenance plant is the Begonia and because it flowers for around half of the year it will also be a nice addition to brighten up the home.

Begonias are flowers that bloom in spring and summer, they need their soil to dry out before they need another watering, and they require even less watering in the winter when they don’t provide flowers. Begonias come in a range of different colours.

In my personal experience they don’t grow very large either, so you can have one in a small pot on a half shade half light window in your home and check on it twice a week.

Chinese evergreen plants like Aglaonema are tougher than they look, and come in varieties that have leaves with speckles and stripes. They like medium light, and you only need to water them when you notice the soil is dry. Don’t use cold water on them though, tepid is always best.

Chinese evergreens often tolerate a range of conditions, although they don’t like to be in a room whose temperature will drop below between thirteen and sixteen degrees. The best average for growth seems to be around twenty degrees, and they also dislike being near to drafts, because this can damage their leaves. Thriving in medium to low light, these plants appreciate well draining soil. Speaking of the soil, the Chinese evergreen likes it to be part soil and part sand.

Dependent on the type you decide on will depend on the pot size you’ll need. Do your research before you buy. You can spray the leaves with tepid water if you like which replicates the conditions from its place of origin in the rain forest. If it’s not too cold outside then you could place the plant outside in a safe place away from pets and strong winds so it can have a shower in the rain. You could use a suitable plant food every two months if you feel it is required.

Sabrina’s Top Tips When Buying A Plant

I have learnt so much of my love for plants from my grandparents, they taught me a lot when I was growing up. My Nan is still a keen garden lover and often helps me with my house and garden plant choices.

My first buying TOP TIP is consult a book or the garden centre experts for the sizes and varieties before you buy anything.
My next TOP TIP is that  you need to know where it will be situated so that you can best choose the plant suited for the place. For example, some indoor plants love being on a windowsill with lots of light, where others need a great deal of shade and cooler temperatures.
Another TOP TIP is to consider how much care the plant will need after purchase. If you don’t feel you have the time to care for it, then don’t buy it.
My final buying TOP TIP is make sure the plant that you’re buying has healthy leaves, no infestations in the leaves or the soil and good roots, root rot can mean it’s been over watered and might not survive for long.

My final TOP TIP is for people who forget their plants! Maintaining the consistency is key for plants, especially indoor ones. If need be, set an alarm on your phone or write on your calendar when it will need watering, pruning and cleaning (yes some plants need their leaves cleaning of dust).

Thank you for reading this blog post today, if you have any plants you love I would like to hear about them. There will be more lifestyle posts coming soon on Severn Wishes.

 Sabrina