Troy – of the Drexel furniture and vintage airplane carry on’s – wants to talk about mid century houseplants. Perhaps some green-thumbed readers have some more thoughts?
Hey Pam,
Here in San Francisco there is a dearth of mid-century residential architecture. This lack, coupled with insane housing prices, is making my goal of finding that perfect little gem of a place very challenging. So lately I’ve been thinking about ways to better incorporate my love of everything mcm into my victorian rental. Apart from the obvious such as furniture and the like, I’m looking at houseplants of the “era” – what was popular during this time? How were houseplants integrated into mcm interiors? pots and pottery of the time? ideas for built-in planters? Thought your readers may have some suggestions. I’m attaching some photos of my own to share some of my ideas.
A few pieces of my Drexel Declaration are shown in a these photos. Still waiting for my dining room set.
Also, I’ve been buying sets of hairpin legs on ebay – various heights. I’m intending to find some nice pieces of wood to make some plant stands and get some plants off the floor. I’m a big fan of hairpin legs (my TV table is an old hairpin leg table, the lamp and plant stand in the euphorbia & cacti photo both have hairpin construction).
Thanks, Troy, for all the great photos! This is a great starting point for a community conversation – especially as I am no expert on this subject. I do have some thoughts on containers, though, and will pull those together for the near future.
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- Split-leaf Philodendron – a must have.
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- Snake Plant – Another no-brainer. Virtually impossible to kill. The clay pots need replacing with something more appropriate…
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- Jade Plant – A favorite of mine. Shown with more Snake Plant varieties.
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- Prayer Plant – I remember these from when I was a kid.
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- African Violet – A beautiful old-timer.
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- Begonias – Very retro to me – what an amazing variety of colors and patterns! Note: the odd one-off vintage plates often found at thrift stores look great with these plants.
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- Rubber Tree – Common but classic. Needs a more retro pot.
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- Euphorbia & Cacti – Add a nice architectural element. Arg! Hate the pots! Help!
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- Bamboo — I just found this miniature bamboo. Great for that Asian look. The low square pot works well.
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- I spent a month buying PBN dogs on ebay to create this dog wall in my dining room.
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- And what better mid-century dictator to adorn your wall than Chairman Mao? (no I’m not a communist, just a communist kitsch lover!)
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Upon the occasion of my mid-century birth my parents were given a planter. Mom always kept a pothos or devil’s ivy in it and always told me that that was the same kind of plant that was in the planter when she received it.
Sorry this comment isn’t really about the plants- the pbns are great, I love the dachshund ones because they match my dogs. I saw a Declaration piece this weekend here in Alabama at a flea mall- it was a dresser where one side had been converted to a tv cabinet… no price but I wanted it bad! How about some chipped Fiestaware pitchers for the small plants- I see those all the time for cheap!
I’ve been struggling with this issue as well. Ikea has some great simple pots with clean lines that are are inexpensive as well. I’ve used many of the plain white glazed pots and then filled in with retro bits as I find them.
Monstrera, or “swiss-cheese plant”
Peperomia
Gloxinia
Hoya carnosa
Spider plant
Dracaena (various spp.)
Ivy
Gainey Ceramics planters are fantastic. Simple and beautiful. You can find them at thrift stores (I found 3 the last 2 weeks!) or get them on eBay. Some have hairpin legs too. Nice PBN wall!
christmas cactus in retro florist ceramic pots…very retro!
Love the retro airline bags…I have one from “Varig” -my husband Brasilian and had several family member working for Varig during the 60s-70s…ha, the “good ol’ days” of flying!
I can attest to the fact that the snake plant is almost impossible to kill. Several years ago, my mom split up one of my grandmother’s snake plants among all of us. I carried my piece – almost bare-rooted with just a little dirt clinging to the roots – home in a brown paper grocery bag and put it in my utility room, anticipating planting it in a pot in that room. One thing lead to another and two years later, I “discovered” the plant in the bag, long forgotten. It was still alive, no sign of distress at all! So I planted it in dirt and it did fine!