Plants you have difficulty killing: PDIplants Burlington

ZZ plant

Plants You Can't Kill It may be too hot to interiorscape indoors in many offices, so enjoy lush greenery inside! Our Plants of Steel interior office cubicle plants collection is ideal for office staff who have never tried indoor plants or have had bad luck in the past.  Sago Palm Sanserveria Pony Tail Palm Aglomania silver queen or Chinese Evergreen At PDI plants, Plantscape Designs Inc.we are always looking for new and different indoor office plants for your interior officescape, Burlington, MA

What are the financial benefits of having office plants?

The benefit of plants

Productive Staff
Research has established that plants have a calming effect, particularly for those sitting behind a computer screen for more than 4 hours a day. Other benefits are greater concentration and increased productivity by as much as 12%.
Reduced Absenteeism
Research has proved that complaints of minor ailments, often linked to Sick Building Syndrome (ie. headaches, blocked sinuses, dry throats, coughing and skin irritations), decrease by an average of 25%, when there is interior planting.

Cleaner Indoor Air
Plants absorb toxins (VOC emissions) through their leaves and their growing medium and emit oxygen for us to breathe. Perfect recycling and environmentally friendly!
Improved Humidity
Plants return well over 90% of all the water we give them back into the atmosphere, raising humidity levels, making us more at ease.
Noise Reduction
Research has found that plants absorb noise on their resilient leaf surfaces therefore stifling noise waves.
Lower Stress Levels
Studies have shown that the physical signs of stress ie. pulse rates and blood pressures were reduced in people working in a planted area.
Conserve Energy
Plants create their own mini micro-climate around them as they absorb heat, reducing theamount of air conditioning necessary.


Source: Plants for people: PDI the most trusted name in office plantcare in the Boston Financial district.

Why use episcias in your office reception Burlington, MA?

Episcias are related to the African Violets, their foliage and flowers add brightness to an office.

Episcias, sometimes listed as “flame” or “trailing” violets, have a magnificent range of foliage and flower color with leaves of shiny green, bronze and silver and tubular flowers of white, yellow, lavender, pink or red.

Added to these attractions is their charming manner of growth. Each plant sends out strawberry-like runners (stolons) which trail over the edge of the container.

There are about ten species of episcia plants and many more varieties.

Bronze-leaved, red-flowered Episcia cupreata is apt to be a shy bloomer but it has many varieties which produce an abundance of flowers with glistening green leaves and orange-red flowers. Established plants display flowers throughout the entire year.

Then there are Adajou with a pattern of silver green on a dark brown background and “Chocolate Soldier”, a favorite with many indoor growers, featuring chocolate brown leaves marked with silver centers. Silver Sheen displays red flowers above its frosty gray and brown leaves. Another cupreata variety called “Tropical Topaz” with green leaves and buttercup yellow flowers.

Let’s look at care and culture of Episcia…

1. Planting Episcia

Grow espiscias in a spongy soil, like those for African violets.

If you make up your own soil use two parts peatmoss, one-half part perlite or vermiculite and one-half part sand. One-half inch of pot chips and an equal amount of charcoal should be used as drainage for each four-inch pot. Keep the bulk of the runners pinched off to insure a good floral crop.

Many favor episcia containers which are long ceramic planters, soup tureens or aluminum cake tins with drainage holes punched in them. As the runners appear, they fasten themselves to the earth. When the container is full, let a few runners dangle over the edges. Since this container is filled with plants of varied ages, it shows bloom every month of the year.

2. Lighting and Temperature Requirements

Episcias thrive in an east, southeast or partially shaded south window. If you want them for foliage effect only, you can grow them to perfection in a north window or under grow lights.

Growing Under Office Lighting, Burlington, MA.

If you are growing plants indoors under artificial light like fluorescents episcias are just the thing to add to this garden. Under this non-changing light intensity they grow gorgeous foliage and bloom profusely. 

The average interior office temperature, 72 to 75 degrees during the day with the usual five to 10 degree drop at night, seems to suit them. All episcias need more water than African violets and they grow best under fairly humid conditions.

If the air in yourindoor office workplace is too dry (under 40 degrees humidity) episcias and all of your house plants will benefit when set on trays of pebbles with water kept just below the pot line.

3. Fertilizing Episcias

Fertilize episcias twice a month with any good soluble liquid fertilizer, remembering, of course, to fertilize only on well moistened soil. This safeguards tiny roots from fertilizer burn. Keep episcias pest free by giving them a thorough inspection for pest.

4. Propagation

If older episcia plants have shed leaves and look straggly, trim off the runners and repot the old plant. You can start new plants From the pieces.

Propagate episcias from leaves, runners or seed. Boot leaves and runners in water, vermiculite, sphagnum moss or sand. Speed up root formation by covering them with a small glass or clear plastic cup to increase humidity.

You can get infinite foliage and flower variety by growing episcias from seed. Sprinkle the seed on moistened sphagnum moss or vermiculite. They germinate in ten days to three weeks and as soon as the little plants have four good leaves prick them out and plant them in a pot or flat. Given good growing conditions, they will flower from seed in eight to 12 months.

5. Episcia As Conversation Pieces

If you want to turn some of your episcia plants into conversation pieces, try some of these ideas.

1. Use any of the episcias as trailers in the foreground of a planter, using taller upright plants in the background.

2. Grow two or more kinds of episcias in a large pot with the background plants trained up a moss-filled “totem” pole or a porous piece of tree stump or root. As a starter fasten the episcia runners to the pole with green wire Twist-ems. Keep the support moist and the episcia roots will grow into it.

3. Plant episcias in moss-filled baskets and hang them in your window garden or greenhouse or summer them on the terrace.

4. Try a plant in a rose bowl or small aquarium. Here, with the added humidity they receive, they grow as lush as they would in their homeland.

5. Grow some episcias in an attractive container filled with water. Change the water once a week, give them medium light and a wee pinch of plant food and you’ll enjoy them on an occasional table or the mantel. And you may find yourself using them for a hurry-up centerpiece.

At PDI Plants we always use different and exciting colorful flowers in your Burlington, MA indoor office environment.

Plantscape Designs Inc. and Pyrmid Pothos useage in Waltham, Ma interior officescapes.

1. Pyramid pothos are used quite extensively in our Waltham, MA interiorscapes. These narrow low light interior tropicals solve many design problems for both the client as well as our staff when designing your indoor office plant environment.

2. Narrow corners in office halls or in cubicle areas can be most difficult to place a broad leaf plant. Pyramid pothos plants usually 4 feet high can be placed appropriately in these narrow interior office confines.

3. These indoor plants are low light grown so they can be placed in darker inner office environs.

The classico powdered steel finished container finish this once lifeless office corner with a new refreshing botanical contemporary design.

4. PDIPlants, frequently applies these narrow plants in our interior office plantscapes, Waltham, MA.

Vanda Orchids:PDI uses these in our live monthly flowering office interiors gardens, Woburn, MA

1. This genus is one of the five most horticulturally important orchid genera, because it has some of the most magnificent flowers to be found in the entire orchid family[citation needed]. This has contributed much to the work of hybridists producing flowers for the cut flower market. Vanda coerulea is one of the few botanical orchids which can produces varieties with blue flowers (actually a very bluish purple), a property much appreciated for producing interspecific and intergeneric hybrids.

2. The color blue is rare among orchids, and only Thelymitra crinita, a terrestrial species from Australia produce flowers that are truly "blue" among the orchids, the other being Aganisia cyanea, a lowland species from Northern South America that is difficult in cultivation, but has metallic blue flowers. Both of these species, much like Vandas, also have a bluish purple tint towards the inner petals of the flowers. Occasionally, PDI applies Vandas in our indoor office locations.

3. The plants do not possess pseudobulbs but do possess leathery, drought resistant leaves, and some varieties terete leaf forms. Almost all of the species in this genus are very large epiphytes that are found in disturbed areas in habitat and prefer very high light levels, and the plants have large root systems. Some of these species have a monopodial vine-like growth habit, and the plants can quickly become quite massive.

4. These plants prefer consistent conditions day to day in cultivation to avoid dropping their bottom leaves. The epiphytic species are best accommodated in large wooden baskets bare root, which allows for the large aerial root systems. Disturbing or damaging the roots of large, mature Vandaceous orchid plants, and in particularly, Vanda and Aerides species can result in the plants failing to flower and going into decline for a season or more. These plants do not tolerate disturbance or damage of their root systems in cultivation when they become mature. The terete leaved terrestrial species are very easy to cultivate and care for in sunny interior office plantscapes.

When grown bare root, the epiphytic species require daily watering and weekly feeding and are very heavy feeders in cultivation. We at Plantscape Designs Inc.  make certain that these orchids are in high light interior office situations with plenty of watering during the work week.

Why prune your Boston MA office plants?

When pruning young trees the emphasis should be producing strong structures, in your Boston, MA. interiorscapes.

Proper pruning cuts are made at a node, the point at which one branch or twig attaches to another. In the spring of the year growth begins at buds, and twigs grow until a new node is formed. The length of a branch between nodes is called an internode.

The most common office plant that needs pruning is your Ficus trees, Benjamina, Nitida etc..

1. Make a small wedge shaped cut on the underside of the branch just on the branch side of the stem collar. This will break the bark at that point and prevent a tear from running along the bark and stem tissue.

2. Somewhat farther along the branch, starting at the top of the branch, cut all the way through the branch leaving a stub end.

3. Finally, make a third cut parallel to and just on the branch side of the of the stem collar to reduce the length of the stub as much as possible.

The most common types of pruning are:

1. Crown Thinning

Crown thinning, primarily for hardwoods, is the selective removal of branches to increase light penetration and air movement throughout the crown of a tree. The intent is to maintain or develop a tree's structure and form.

To avoid unnecessary stress and prevent excessive production of epicormic sprouts, no more than one-quarter of the living crown should be removed at a time. If it is necessary to remove more, it should be done over successive years.

This procedure is especially applied to your indoor office Ficus trees.

Branches with strong U-shaped angles of attachment should be retained . Branches with narrow, V-shaped angles of attachment often form included bark and should be removed .

Included bark forms when two branches grow at sharply acute angles to one another, producing a wedge of inward-rolled bark between them.

Lateral branches should be no more than one-half to three-quarters of the diameter of the stem at the point of attachment.

Avoid producing "lion's tails," tufts of branches and foliage at the ends of branches, caused by removing all inner lateral branches and foliage. Lion's tails can result in sunscalding, abundant epicormic sprouts, and weak branch structure and breakage. Branches that rub or cross another branch should be removed as illustrated above photo in one of our interior indoor office locations.

Conifers that have branches in whorls and pyramidal crowns rarely need crown thinning except to restore a dominant leader. Occasionally, the leader of a tree may be damaged and multiple branches may become codominant. Select the strongest leader and remove competing branches to prevent the development of codominant stems again as seen in our above photo.

Plantscape Designs Inc. yearly or if needed seasonally prunes many of our larger Boston MA  office plants.

PDIPLANTS Construction of a Teardrop Container Garden, Woburn, MA

Plantscape Designs Inc. assembly of Balfor Arelia plant into a Teardrop fiberglass contemporary container Woburn, MA indoor office interiorscape.

Caring for your cymbidium orchid within interior office work places.Cambridge, MA

Of all the orchid genera, the Cymbidium orchid is one of the easier to care for.  Because most commercially available Cymbidium orchids are terrestrials, they must have special, loose media to grow in. Typically, they thrive in a medium or fine fir bark mix or a specified Cymbidium potting mix. While this guide provides specific tips for one orchid, make sure to review Orchid Care Guide for All Types which provides general orchid care instruction relevant to Cymbidiums within your interior office work places Cambridge, MA.

Cymbidium Care Basics            

1. Light: Cymbidium orchid light requirements include: morning sun or afternoon sun, with protection from the hot mid-day sun. A light-green leaf with just a hint of yellow indicates the maximum amount of sun the plant can take, and a dark-green leaf indicates not enough sun.

2. Temperature: Cymbidiums will tolerate considerable summer heat as long as they get cool with PDI customer offices.

3. Water: Watering should be done frequently, sometimes twice per week during the summer months. Fertilize during 3 out of 4 of those irrigations. Always keep potting soil moist, but not wet or soggy. Decrease watering Cymbidium and increase air circulation during the dark periods.

4. Fertilizer: High-nitrogen fertilizers should be used from February until July, while low nitrogen fertilizers should be used from August until January. Use high nitrogen (30-10-10) fertilizer, but mix it only half-strength. Use a low fertilizer (6-6-30) diluted to ½ strength September through January. Keep in mind the specialized Cymbidium fertilizer is available in many garden stores.

5. Growth: Cymbidiums may not get very much taller, but more leaves and pseudobulbs will grow.

6. Blooming: From late December through May and last one to three months.

At Plantscape Designs Inc. cymbidium orchids are used readily within our corporate flowering reception programs.

How to use and care for Aloe plants in your interior officescape Burlington, MA.?

When it comes to watering Aloe Vera Plants there are many things to consider and factor in. The questions that often get asked are...When should I water my Aloe Plant within my interior office workplace.

1. Aloes like to be dry.

2. Aloes like the soil to dry out before next watering.

3. Aloes need a soil that’s sandy and course so the water can drain through it quickly.

4. The best indication as to when you should water your Aloe plant should be best determined by feeling the soil. Stick your finger in the soil about 2-3 inches and feel for dryness. Adjust to the pot size; Little pots/plants check the soil 1-2 inches and big pots/plants go deeper 3-4 inches or maybe a little more.

5. You want to check the soil in a couple different areas for dryness and make sure there is no moisture before watering again. Depending on the size of the pot or where it’s planted in the ground it’s not uncommon for one portion of the soil to be dryer than another portion so give the soil a couple checks near the base of the plant

6. Soil that’s just a little moist tends to be a little darker and sticks to your fingers more than dry soil. Often people compare the dryness of the soil to the wetness right after a good watering and think that the soil is very dry in comparison when checked days or weeks later. This is where over-watering problems often occur and people get confused because the soil seems dry by comparison.

7. Keep it simple and stick to the rule of thumb. The soil needs to be completely dry. Aloe roots aren’t very long so if you have your Aloe plant in a tall pot or if it’s planted in the ground just stick to the finger check mentioned earlier and feel the soil. It shouldn’t be the slightest bit moist. It should be dry and you should give the plant a moment to enjoy the dryness before watering again.

8. Red and Brown or redish brown tones can be a result of to much water, to much sun or root damage. It’s sometimes difficult to tell but if you’re paying attention to what you’re doing the answer can usually be the result of a change of environment, stress, soil or watering schedule. Sometimes to much water will cause the Aloe leaves to begin turning a red or brown tone.

9. The best thing to do when there is a negative change on your plant such as color, try adjusting something such as less water or moving sun in/out of shade and watch it closely for two weeks to see if there has been a change. Don’t be impatient, give it time to react then you’ll know what’s working.

10. Yellow can be seen in two common areas. Tips or edges start getting yellow and then dark spots on the yellow, this is usually a sunburn issue but if the entire plant is turning a yellow shade then it needs more sun and if given proper sun light the plant will start to turn green again. Just pay attention to the change you make and watch your plant closely over the net two weeks.

Aloes can go a long time without water, weeks and even months depending on the health of the Aloe. The plump aloe leaves retain water so they can go extended periods of time without water. Follow the rules for letting the soil dry out completely before next watering and give your Aloes a few days to enjoy the completely dry soil. A typical rule of thumb is a couple of times a month give or take depending on the climate and weather conditions.

Plantscape Designs Inc. frequently use aloes for our clients sunny window locations in downtown Boston, MA interior offices.

If your office building lobby looks like this? Call PDI.

Why can't you lease your office building?

1. The world economy has been stagnated since 2008.

2. Our US economy has suffered greatly with both small and large companies going out of business.

3. High unemployment.

4. As a result empty office space.

This economic climate is about to change, so design and enhance your indoor plant office workplace with Plantscape Designs Inc live green plants, Woburn MA office plants.

Live office plants cannot change the above economic climate, but they can sure change a potential tenants attitude about residing and doing business in your office building in the Rte 128 or Boston, MA areas.

Why use ferns as interior office plants Boston, MA.

1. Ferns add a different kind of green texture to your interior office plant design. This reception desk arrangement softens your hard granite or stone desk surfaces for your Waltham, Ma interiorscapes.

Ferns (Pteridophyta)

2. A fern is any one of a group of about 12,000 species of plants. Unlike mosses, they have xylem and phloem (making them vascular plants). They have stems, leaves, and roots like other vascular plants. Ferns do not have either seeds or flowers (they reproduce via spores).

3. Stems: Most often an underground creeping rhizome, but sometimes an above-ground creeping stolon (e.g., Polypodiaceae), or an above-ground erect semi-woody trunk.

4. Leaf: The green, photosynthetic part of the plant. In ferns, it is often referred to as a frond, but this is because of the historical division between people who study ferns and people who study seed plants, rather than because of differences in structure. New leaves typically expand by the unrolling of a tight spiral called a crozier or fiddlehead. This uncurling of the leaf is termed circinate vernation.

5. Roots: The underground non-photosynthetic structures that take up water and nutrients from soil. They are always fibrous and are structurally very similar to the roots of seed plants.

6. The three ferns comprising the above arrangement have differing leaf surfaces adding interest to this reception arrangement in downtown Boston, MA.

Plantscape Designs Inc. applys ferns in many of our downtown Boston, MA officescapes.

pdi, Enhancing your office logos signage Burlington, MA.

1. Indoor green plants can enhance your companies' logo signage in your reception area. Using claasico tall containers with an arrangement of interior office plants of interest can direct clients to your company's logo in a more sutler manner.

2. This indoor green plant living arrangement consists of a pony tail plant, a succulent and a colorful pepperonia, finished with polished river rock.

3. At PDI plants we always try to encourage our customers to use indoor plants of interest within their interior office design Burlington, MA and Waltham, MA.

New indoor office plant designs for the Cambridge ,MA area.

1. Simple indoor office plant design within Cambridge, MA. business lobbies accents the the furniture and art work of these entrances.

2. Both employees and clients can feel the spaciousness of this open modern contemporary design by using fewer topiary sculptured green plants such as this totem pothos (scindapsus Aureus).

3. Plantscape Designs Inc. of Cambridge, MA exercises the simplistic design techniques using both green plants and bromeliad flowers.The bromeliad here adds color to this contemporary reception and seating area.

Why use Rhapis palms( lady palms) in your office interiors?

1. The Lady Palm is one of the more expensive tropical plants and it takes many years to reach a 6-foot height, but the wait and expense is well worth it in your Boston plants office environment.

2. The elegant, dark green fronds with the serrated tips are born on wirey stems that emerge from a scruffy trunk that looks like it is partially wrapped in loose burlap. Raphis palms will also sprout new growth from its thickened, underground roots.

3. TEMPERATURE: This plant will grow in almost any temperature above 55° and below 95°. Especially in your Burlington Ma office plant location.

4. WATER: This is one of the easiest plants to care for. Water when top of soil feels dry. Do not allow to completely dry out as this will cause the plant to fail.

5. LIGHT: This plant does well in low light situations. Place in a fairly well-lit location. Any location indoors with light bright enough to read in will do.

Plantscape Designs Inc uses these hardy indoor office plants throughout the Boston and Waltham, MA cityscapes .

Using peperomia green plants in your interior office plant designs Boston, MA.

Using pepperomia plants as ground cover for your indoor downtown office building lobbies can add destinctive color creative interior landscape design.

The very popular peperomia plant is a great choice to add color to any room or office. Whether you have one peperomia plant or several grouped together, this attractive plant will brighten up any interior office workplace.

1. There are over 1,000 species of peperomias growing throughout North and South America and the Caribbean. All of them are tropical plants and considered to be semisucculents. They have thick, juicy stems and leaves that hold water in reserve. Besides being attractive plants, peperomias make a nice gift to anyone with marginal green thumbs because they're so easy to grow. Basically, the only way to kill this plant is by overwatering it.

Basic Description of Peperomias

2. Peperomias are slow-growing tropical plants that are found on tropical floors or at the base of trees in a tropical forest. For this reason, they don't like direct sun and thrive indoors in a variety of lighting. They actually thrive under fluorescent lightswhich makes them an ideal candidate for the office.

3. The attractive stiff, waxy succulent-like leaves will catch your eye and depending on the species, the leaves may be variegated, wrinkled, or white-edged. There's one species, the Peperomia argyreia that is striped and looks like a watermelon. It's very attractive but can be used in your indoor office interiors.

4. Most peperomias do not flower in the traditional sense. Their flowers are a long, rat-tail like stem with tiny greenish flowers on an upright spike. Once this spike dies, remove it and the plant may bloom a second time during the summer months.

Caring For Peperomias

5. Without a doubt, peperomia care is very easy in your interior office environment. Peperomias can live in a variety of light situations from low to very bright. They do not like direct sunlight. High heat is not a problem with this plant and average interior office temperatures are fine. Surprisingly, they do not need high humidity or constant misting to live. They are just fine with an occasional misting during the summer months and low humidity of your interior office envirnment.

6. As with all succulents, peperomias do not like to be repotted frequently. They are slow growers and you'll probably repot them only once or twice in their lifetime. They live practically forever which is another reason why they're an ideal indoor office plant for Burligton, MA. 

7. The quickest way to kill these plants is by overwatering. Peperomias retain water in their leaves and stems so don't water them until they are nearly dry. After you water them, wait an hour and empty any residual water out from the base. These plants need to be fertilized about once every 3-4 months in spring and summer and no fertilizing during the winter months.

Our staff at PDI always uses peperomias in our interior office plant Burlington ,MA. locations.

Who created these numerous varieties of Tulipiafor your office interiors?

1. It was a university botanist – or bloemist, as the Dutch would say – who hit upon the notion of breeding more and more exotic-looking varieties, and thus (unknowingly) set in motion the series of events which would forever link his homeland to tulips.

2. Carolus Clusius, working with Viennese seeds in the botanical garden of Leiden University, discovered that some bulbs produced unusual variegations or dramatic colorings, instead of the uniform colors for which tulips were known.

3. Clusius began weeding out the simpler varieties and breeding only the ones which seemed most stunning and unusual. Throughout Haarlem, multicolored tulips became the must-have. Tulips with white backgrounds splashed with vivid reds or pinks were hottest, with purple markings the next most-prized. Dark colors on a yellow background were collectible, too, though not to everyone’s taste (not for nothing were they termed “Bizarden”).

4. Bloemists like Clusius soon noted that only bulbs and buds passed on the most dramatic markings, which meant literally only a few owners at a time might have a particular tulip, and that it would take years for there to have been enough buds and successive bulbs for those numbers to swell. When a new tulip appeared, only the wealthiest, most well-connected buyers could dream of possessing it. PDI services Boston Office Plants.

Plantscape Designs Inc distributes dozens of tulip varieties to your Boston office interiorscape in the downtown Boston, Ma corporate buildings.

PDI visit to the Floriade 2012 was an educational experience.

Floriade 2012 in Holland is a once in a decade experience that every member of our botanical industry should at least once attend.

Floriade is an international exhibition of flowers and gardening held every 10 years in the Netherlands.

As shone above new buildings as well as exterior and interior plantings are creately designed to inspirer not ownly the tens of thousands of visitors from all over the world but small business owners such as PDI enabling us to be even more creative in our interior office plant designs for Boston, Ma. Waltham, MA, Woburn, MA Bulington, MA and Cambridge, Ma

Bromeliad "Torch" variety can be used in your interior office plant design Burlington, MA

The "torch" cultivar of the Bromeliad family can add color to your interior office plant design in Burlington, MA.

Bromeliads last long as flowering plants go and are less expensive than most greenhouse grown potted flowers.

"Torch" can be used on your front reception desk singularly or in groups in your larger planter boxes within your Burlington, MA indoor office plant designs.

Plantscape Designs Inc designs uses bromeliads weekly or bi monthly using these colorful epiphytes in your interior landscape offices.

New PDI designs from Floriade 2012.

Plantscape Designs Inc has learned and is currently applying new designs and new cultivars of indoor office plants and indoor interior flowering programs displayed at the 2012 Floriade in the Netherlands this past fall!

This new varieties of Amaryllis is exciting and are used in our PDI Boston MA office plant interiors

The above new orchid cultivars from Hawaii and office flower arrangement are different and engaging within your indoor office interiorscapes in Waltham, Ma locations

Exterior new design ideas from Floriade 2012.

Exterior new ideas and designs for your outside office gardens for Woburn, MA office workplaces are new and exciting. Anything from gold ball cactus and drifts of orange red hot pokers, purple echinacea to blue phlox. Your interior Woburn , MA office plants can be complimented by your exterior entry way front entrances.

Plantscape Designs Inc can use many of these new pereniel combinations in your exterior planters boxes in your front entrance portals for this coming spring 2013.

New Bromeliad for your indoor officescapes "Athenia" by PDIPlantsBlog.com

1. Long lasting lipstick colored "Athenia"bromeliads grown from our greenhouses to your office plant interiors.

2. Spring comes early every year for Plantscape Designs Inc. and for our Boston office plant customers.

3 .Bromeliads are a varied group of organisms, adapted to a number of climates. Foliage take different shapes, from needle thin to broad and flat, symmetrical to irregular, spiky and soft. The foliage, which usually grows in a rosette, is the most widely patterned and colored of any plant in the world. Leaf colors range from maroon, through shades of green, to gold.

4. Varieties may have leaves with red, yellow, white and cream variegations. Others may be spotted with purple, red, or cream, while others have different colors on the tops and bottoms of the leaves for your plantsboston offices..

5. The inflorescence produced by bromeliads are also regarded as considerably more diverse than any other plant family. Some flower spikes may reach 10 meters tall while others only measure 2–3 mm across. Upright stalks may be branched or simple with spikes retaining their color from two weeks up to twelve months, depending on species. In some species the flower remains unseen, growing deep in the base of the plants. Visit our PDIPLANTSBlog.com for more info.

At Plantscape Designs Inc. we use bromeliads of every color and size in our monthly interiorscape indoor flowering programs within the Waltham, Ma office locations.

A modern contemporary look using Pachira aquatica ( money tree) and river rock.

A new design concept using Pachira aquatica (money tree) and river rock is illustrated here in this photo taken on site within one of our Lexington, MA clients sunlit lobbies. Visit PDIPLANTSBlog.com for more info.

1. The Pachira Tree itself requires high light locations such as this south exposure lobby. The braided trunk of this tree really consists of many smaller trees carefully intertwined around each other, giving this a newer sculptured effect. These green tropical plants are ideal for your Burlington interior office landscapes.

2. The topiary cut or trim of the lower basal leafs exposes this truck so a different design is created instead of an old 80's bushy jungle look in past interiorscape office designs

3. The black polished river rock adds to a clean modern look and feel of this indoor plant design.

4. Finally, the architectural lechuza cubico designer container itself fully displays both the sculptured office plant and the smooth clean river rock almost at eye level.

At PDI we encourage our old and new clients to use these new design aspects for a better display of their interior office plants in Burlington, MA.

Why and How to use Calanthea indoor office plants in your Boston office.

How PDi cares for your indoor Calanthea office plants.

1. Light: Light shade or dappled light for your indoor Boston office plants. Do not expose to direct, noon sun as it will fade the leaf colors, in winter or summer monthes.

2. Water: High humidity. Keep soil continuously moist throughout spring and summer, and reduce watering in the winter outside, however, with your interior Boston office environment more watering during the colder monthes is required because of hign heat and low humity in Boston indoor offices.

3. Temperature: Prefers warm and humid conditions. Keep above 60ºF if possible.
4. Soil: A well-drained potting mix.
5. Fertilizer: Feed regularly with liquid fertilizer throughout growing season.

6. Propagation:

Propagation is possible by division at repotting time. Keep new divisions warm and moist by covering the pot with plastic and providing reduced light until active growth starts again.

Interesting useages of Calanthea other then for designing your Boston indoor office plantscapes with colorful leaves.

Calathea is a genus of plants belonging to the family Marantaceae. There are several dozen species in this genus. Native to the tropical Americas, many of the species are popular as pot plants due to their decorative leaves and, in some species, colorful inflorescences. They are commonly called calatheas or (like their relatives) prayer plants. Several cultivars, e.g. Calathea cv. 'Silver Plate', have been bred.

Calathea cv. 'Silver Plate'

In its native range, the large and tough leaves are popular for holding small items. Sometimes, they are used unprocessed, e.g. to wrap fish for transport in parts of Brazil, such as the Benevidesregion of Pará. In other places, the leaves are used in handicraftto produce containers, such as the quivers of the Nukak people ofColombia. Most famous, perhaps, are the decorative Calathea-leaf rice containers produced in some villages of Thailand, especially in Ban Huak (Amphoe Si Bun Rueang) where they are an important source of income and sold to locals and tourists alike .At PDIPlants we have just begun using this interior green office plant within our indoor Boston office work places.

PDI unlimited plant care uses P.persimilis mites as biological weapons against Twospotted mites pest.

Phytoseiulus persimilis, orange critters, feeding on an immature two spotted spider.Plantscape Designs Inc uses biological controlls on your indoor office plants.

This predacious mite was accidentally introduced into Germany from Chili in 1958 (Dosse, 1958). From Germany, it was subsequently shipped to other parts of the world, including California (McMurtry et al., 1978) and Florida (Hamlen, 1980). These critters can keep your Boston plants healthy.

During the early 1960's, research on this species was conducted in Great Britain, Holland, Canada, and the United States. Since these initial studies, the ability of this predator to control twospotted spider mites has been demonstrated on many plants, including cucumber (Gould, 1970, 1971), tomato (French et al., 1976), ornamental ivy (Gould and Light, 1971), rose (Simmonds, 1972; Boys and Burbutis, 1972), lima bean (Force, 1967), dahlia (Harris, 1971), strawberry (Laing and Huffaker, 1969), and dieffenbachia and schefflera (Hamlen and Linquist, 1981).

Although these studies were conducted under greenhouse conditions (or in growth chambers) , there is evidence that P. persimilis can be an effective natural enemy in commercial strawberry plantings (McMurtry et al., 1978) and on ornamentals in commercial interior plantings (Lindquist, 1981). Whether the effectiveness of this predator in these environments will be comparable to its performance under greenhouse conditions remains to be seen.

At PDIPlants we use these critters to eradicate pests like the twospotted mites that feed on your Boston office plants in the Boston, MA area.

Plantscape Designs Inc uses IPM Labs biological control against Thrips in your office plants.

Combating thrips with biological controls:

Predator: Neoseiulus cucumeris or Amblyseius cucumeris

This is a tan-orange predatory mite. Adult females consume up to 10 thrips per day and have a 30 day life span. They can survive on pollen and spider mites in the absence of thrips. PDI uses these critters to eradicate thrips from your Boston indoor office plants.

Optimal Environment: 70°F min.; moderate RH.

Predatory mites are distributed over the crop weekly or biweekly, or released in convenient breeding units in which several hundred mites reproduce several thousand predatory mites over a six-week period.

Predator: Amblyseius degenerans (Neoseiulus degenerans)

These predatory mites work very well on greenhouse peppers, or other crops with ample pollen. They are able to multiply rapidly and are good searchers of prey. They do not enter a resting phase until December, and survive drier conditions than N. cucumeris.

Optimal Environment: 65-85°F ; 60-85% RH, Presence of pollen

Predator: Orius insidiosus Minute Pirate Bug, Orius sp.

Minute pirate bugs (MPB) are small, predaceous bugs that kill their prey by attacking with their piercing mouthparts and sucking out the body contents. Both adults and nymphs are predaceous. Adults lay eggs beneath the surface of plant tissue, often on stems or near leaf veins. The eggs hatch into small, yellow nymphs that develop into adults in 9-25 days, depending on temperature. Adult Orius can eat 5-20 thrips per day. They can survive on pollen in the absence of prey.

Optimal Environment: 70-90°F, day length 11+ hrs

Predator: Hypoaspis miles

This predatory mite is a scavenger that eats thrips pupae and fungus gnat larvae in the soil. Adults lay eggs in the soil, which hatch in 1-2 days. The nymphs develop into adults in 5-6 days. The mites reproduce quickly, and few are needed to establish an effective population.

IPM Laboratories, Inc. warrants that the biological controls you receive will be alive and healthy when received and will contain the correct number of the species you ordered. However, as with any pest control measure, success cannot be guaranteed. IPM Laboratories, Inc. makes no guarantee, express or implied, as to the effectiveness of these products.

PDIPlants has been a long time user of the above predator mites that biological and safely eradicate Thrips pest in your office plants.

Why use Kentia palms in your Boston, MA interior offices?

Today Kentia palms are considered expensive. During their first introduction to Europe they were a luxury only for the elite aristocracy. PDI designs with these office indoor plants in Boston.

Once introduced into Europe, the Kentia Palm was immediately recognized as remarkable for its dramatic appearance and ability to readily flourish indoors. Strong survival rates meant greater numbers of seeds could be imported successfully. However, the Kentias were still very expensive to purchase and therefore exclusive even for Boston office indoor plants .

The prohibitive cost factor resulted in Kentia Palms becoming famous house plants among the nobility and aristocracy of Europe. Royal residences and stately homes had the high ceilings where Kentias could be displayed in all there glory.

The owners also had the budgets necessary for securing them. Kentias could be found by the late 1800's in parlors, ballrooms, reception areas and conservatories. Since Kentias lived in splendor for many years they were cost effective. Growers found them a popular, worthwhile and well valued investment. They believed that Kentias defined the good fashion sense and wealth of the plants' owners. Kentia Palms were admired throughout Europe's aristocratic, upper class and well-to-do middle class families.

At Plantscape Designs Inc. enthusiastically we design your Boston offices with these elegant indoor palms.

Majestic, hardy, these Kentia palms originating from the Pacific Island of Northfolk Island are an investment when designing your Boston office plant work place in the Boston, Ma area.

Repetitive use of green indoor plant design in Boston's buildings.

Repetitive use of Bamboo Palms in this downtown Boston office building both softens and adds a clean simple design to this buildings entrance.

Prior to this design this building's lobby emitted a cold unfriendly stark feel to incoming customers and employees.
The architect called PDI in to solve this problem, using live green tropical plants.

The repetitive use of six same Bamboos make this design simple but effective.

A more friendly welcoming ambiance greets all visitors.
At Plantscape Designs Inc we are always looking to solve a clients indoor office plant design problems which eventually become a positive opportunity for all parties involved.

Why use Hawaiian orchids in your interior office landscape?

1. There are over 700 species of Oncidium Alliance Orchids coming from Central and South America and thousands of hybrids around today. They have become very popular and make excellent cut flowers and potted plants. These long lasting flowering programs are affordable for your Boston office plantscapes.

2. Today's breeding has created plants that can bloom throughout the year with hundreds of flowers. Along with the classic "Dancing Lady" shaped flowers, today's breeders have created many new intergeneric hybrids that have larger flowers with a wider range of colors. Nearly all of today's hybrids thrive in the typical home environment with sufficient light and modest care. Here we offer a few of the newer hybrids. All are of the highest quality and very easy to grow and flower.

We at Plantscape Designs Inc like to change up now and then our colorful phalaenopsis orchid monthly programs with exciting Hawaiian varieties. Here we have an intergeneric oncydium red variety. PDI also has cataleyas, millitonias, dendrobiums, etc..

Where to use Schefflera Amate in your Boston cityscapes.

‘Amate’ is named after California nurseryman Archie Amate. The selected plant was placed into tissue culture where it has been produced in the lab for the past 20 years.

What makes ‘Amate’ different?Why do we at PDI use it in your interior landscape?

Here’s a quick list of the traits ‘Amate’ has over the regular Scheff.

1. Leaves which are:

Darker green

Broader

Longer

Thicker

Glossy

2. One of the best traits is ‘Amate’s resistance to mites. This doesn’t mean that the plant will not get mites … just much more resistant. It’s possible that the mites cannot penetrate the thick glossy leaves.

3. These indoor office plants are also grown a little differently. Three or four individual plants are planted in pots rather then 15-20 seedlings. This allows each plant to develop a larger more complete root system to support the plant for the long haul.

4. The growth of ‘Amate’ is very upright, symmetrical and uniform. Office Plants ranging in size from 8 – 14 inch keep many of their lower leaves providing a more "bush" like appearance. Larger plants will have more of a "tree-like" appearance. ‘Amate’ also holds leaves very well, even under low light interior conditions.

5. The plant doesn’t stretch like the regular Schefflera. You can place ‘Amate’ in areas which get morning sun, a northern exposure or even fluorescent lighting and still keep the plant looking good.

6. ‘Amate’ is not difficult to care for, but doesn’t like to have its feet kept wet. When watering make sure the soil is thoroughly watered and the excess is allowed to drain off. It’s best to keep the plant on the dry side as wet soil can cause root rot.

At Plantscape Designs Inc we position Schefflera Amates in your medium to high light environments within your indoor office plant design.

What are flapjacks for your indoor office plant design?

Flapjacks are succulents, which can make a different kind of a botanical statement in your office work place. Some interesting facts follow:

1. Scientific name: Kalanchoe thyrsiflora

2. Family: Crassulaceae

3. Common names: Flapjack plant, desert cabbage, paddle plant

4. Native to: South Africa

5. Description: A succulent perennial. Large, spatula-shaped, leathery leaves are 3 to 4 inches long and wide, and attached to the stem without a leaf stalk. The leaves are opposite, covered with a thick whitish wax and blushed with red margins. The leaves are stacked on each other like flapjacks to form a rosette, and face upward to reduce leaf exposure to the hot sun. The flowers are produced on tall, leafy stalks after the plants mature, usually three to four years. Individual flowers are small and held close to the stalk in dense clusters. Flowers are yellow-green and tubular. The main or mother plant dies after flowering; however, offsets are produced.

6. Light: Grows in full sun and partial shade. However, bright light is required to keep the red leaf margins; the plants becomes greener in shade.

7. Soil/moisture: Tolerant of most well-drained soils; very drought tolerant once established and very salt tolerant.

8. Culture/use: Flapjack Kalanchoe provides a bold look in your Boston indoor office plantings. Use it in beds in your lobbies, as an accent, and in containers and rock gardens. Though very drought tolerant, it will stand some water in the summer and should stand up to the Florida rainy season. Blooming signals the end of the plant's life cycle. Remove the mother plant when it dies and thin the offsets as necessary for a neat look; otherwise, long-term plantings develop mounds of flapjack plant. Kalanchoes in general are not known to be heavy feeders; apply a balanced, slow-release fertilizer with minor elements two to four times per year or as needed. Mulch to suppress weeds, but keep the mulch well away from the stem.

9. Notes and misuses: Flapjack Kalanchoe generally is not susceptible to pests. However, it can be susceptible to rots in wet or over watered locations.

At Plantscape Designs Inc. we apply succulents such as "flapjacks" in our high light areas of our Boston indoor plant designs.