I actually went in looking for silicone adhesive and copper wire for yard art projects, and they had a big old picked-over couple of shelves of distressed houseplants that I couldn't resist looking at.

Keep in mind that I usually kill anything in the house (as evidenced by my attempts to overwinter or root outdoor plants inside). But I have been so desperate and in gardening withdrawal since our dormant season set in that I figured I'd give it a shot. Sooooo....

I got these plants:

1 cyclamen - 25 cents (dried out)
1 bromeliad - 25 cents (had been watered from the top and had some rot
1 variegated unlabeled plant 25 cents
1 Rosemary "Christmas tree" half was dried out but it smelled so good I took it anyway, and the basket it was in was pretty... at least the car smells better for a while ;-) $1
1 Red Sister Cordyline (leggy with the leaves all at the top but otherwise okay) $1
2 Majesty Palm (Ravenea rivularis) decent condition $1 each (after reading about them I'm thinking about taking them back)
2 Massangeana Cane (Dracaena massangeana) decent condition $1 each

The Cyclamen apparently just needed a drink and some cleaning up -
Before:

After a drink:


Here are the brom, the variegated, and the rosemary together:


Here's the bromeliad up closer:

I trimmed the brom back a lot to get the rotted parts off, and there are three baby broms surrounding the mother plant. I watered it well (the soil was bone dry) and let it drain, so here's hoping they all do well when all's said and done. :-)

So I know the Dracaena likes low or indirect light, the palm likes high light (if I keep it). I have to learn about the light requirements of the cyclamen (I know it must be watered from the bottom and not the top). I've found the link about the rosemary, as well as conflicting information about watering that so will have to try things and see.

If anybody has any other hints about any of these plants, I'm all ears!

yes! water from below as it's a bulb...i didn't know that and i've killed 2 of them by my lack of knowledge.

they supposedly go down to nothing in mid winter and then you just pare back on the watering until the growing season starts again...late spring i think?

not too sure as i've killed 2 with lack of knowlege - didn't mind with the first as it had been given to me and i'm not to big on red flowers...the second one bothered...it was SUCH a lovely shade - almost a lavendar...

http://gardening.about.com/od/houseplants/a/Cyclamen.htm

http://www2.ville.montreal.qc.ca/jardin/en/info_verte/cyclamen/entretien.htm

great finds Roflol! good luck with em,

wow, I love finds like that! I always get petunias like that & baby them & they grow beautifully! Good job on your finds roflol! I don't have a lot of info except to baby them, & looks like you have been.

Wonderful finds! Thanks for the tips on the cyclamen. I have a new one.

Also on the brom, I was told to water mine from the top, is that not good?

brom's should be watered from the top and you should fill the center hole that is formed by the leaf growth pattern. it's okay if some water runs over and fills the bases of the other/outer leaves.

dump and replace the water every 2 weeks.

That is what I do with mine. The large flower is starting to fade now but has been in bloom for a good couple of months now.

Thanks for the advice and words of encouragement, everybody!

I think somehow something had gotten into the "cup" and/or the bloom of the mother plant of the brom at Lowe's and it rotted out.

Re the other plants, the rosemary Christmas tree bit the dust completely but I did get all the good-smelling needles from it... just have to figure out what to do with them, lol.

The cyclamen is hanging on, some new growth... it really does *not* like being in anything other than full sun, and pouts with yellowing leaves with the cloudy weather but greens up when the sun is out. A regular little prima dona. :rolleyes: A few days ago I bought another larger cyclamen that had white blooms on it but in much worse condition, and talked them into taking a nickel for it, but now I think somebody watered it from the top and the poor thing just rotted so... I have a 5-cent pot and the soil is out in the compost. Oh well. Win some, lose some.

I combined the two pots of corn plants (2 stalks were alive in one pot and 1 was alive in the other) so will see if they all live through that... I kind of regret it... the one I took out of its home pot was growing two new shoots and had a really good-looking root system going, and the dead one that came out of the final pot had some bugs in it. I removed as many bugs as I could (there weren't tons - they were mostly under the bark of the dead trunk, and I tossed that out in the yard, hope something had a nice snack).

I'm going to have to research what kind of insecticide I can use for the corn plant I guess and get that going into the dirt to see if it will keep the critters from chomping on the healthy dracaena.

I still don't know what the variegated plant is, haven't worked on identifying it lately. Will try again after kids go back to school and life gets back to normal.

ps: Did I post an illegal link or something in the first post? I can't even remember, lol! Ex toto corde poenitet, whatever it was!

For some reason your pictures aren't showing up for me..

i think you may have your security settings too high. right click on the red x's and select "show picture" that should make them show up.

Jiffymouse, that hasn't worked for me on here when I can't see a picture. It still won't show it to me. I assumed it was because my security settings were too high. I can see these pictures.

Rofol: I love the way that cylamon perked itself up after watering. What a difference between those two pictures. Plants, like animals and children respond to loving care, don't they?!
I find myself even talking to, and petting my plants!!! I love them.