How does my bathroom grow?

A plant with trailing leaves, hanging in a pot. Behind the pot is an orange wall with a mosaic of a sea creature hanging on it.
 Like a lot of people, we've been doing a bit more 'nesting' on lockdown. I've been feeling very fortunate to have a house with a reasonable amount of room and a garden (*head to the bottom for a small rant). We've been doing a bit more around the house, maybe not masses but certainly enough to make it a bit nicer than it was when we were both commuting daily. 

The bathroom is one of my favourite rooms. When we moved in, there was a hook in the ceiling, in the corner near the window. I've no idea whether it was there for a plant or some sort of dangling organiser full of cosmetics, but we never took it out. When the garden centres reopened we took a trip over to the big garden centre at Lacock and got this lovely plant. The hanger was from a garden centre in Trowbridge that didn't actually sell the sort of dangly plant I wanted. We also finally got round to hanging the mosaic I made on the wall. That was my favourite selfie space, but I'll just have to find somewhere else to indulge my vanity.

A spider plant in a white pot. The pot sits on top of a white cabinet with a mirrored door.

Pete also decided the cupboard under the sink was too crowded, and all my bottles of cleaning products spoiled the look of the room, and bought a flatpacked cabinet online. It's narrow, but holds the bottles, and all the medicines. We got a spider plant to go on top, and my old sponge-filled flannel animals (flannemals? They're unusued, I should point out) keep it company. All the bathroom furniture is white and very clean-lined, but with the multicoloured, vaguely Victorian tiles round the bath, the deep terracotta-orange walls and dark brown wooden floor, they somehow work. Because the room is south-facing, it can take strong, deep colours, and the plants love the sun.

A white wall with pots of geraniums on it.

Things are growing well outside the house too. Some previous years I confess I've been unable to cope with the garden and we've both given up and hidden inside from August onwards, but this year we've put in a lot more effort. Inspired by the beautiful planters we've seen in various parts of Spain, Mr Robot has claimed a wall alongside the patio to turn into his own little piece of Andalucia, putting up pots of bright red geraniums and blue-purple petunias. When we got the bathroom plant I also bought an agapanthus. When I went to Ickworth a couple of years back, one of the things that struck me there were the really huge agapanthus in tall pots. The big ones are so dramatic. I bought one for myself, and it looks really good below the geraniums.

In case you're wondering, the hanging basket is full of cherry tomatoes, and below that is a trough of tiny cucumber plants. We don't have a greenhouse but the patio is a suntrap, so I have herbs and a few edibles there.

An orange calla lily in a glossy blue pot, against a blue-painted fence.

Finally, when we got married many years ago I carried a bouquet of 'mango' calla lilies. I tried planting some and nothing ever came of it. I'd actually forgotten there even were any in this pot, but this summer they have grown and flowered! I'm taking it as an omen; persevere and things will be beautiful

I hope all your flowers are blooming, and all your edibles fruiting! Stay safe.




*I've been feeling increasingly angry about the state of housing in this country – young people gouged for rent, people living in tiny, dingy homes and still in places with unsafe cladding, years after the Grenfell disaster. We really need more social housing.

Comments

  1. I love the hanger with the dangly plant, as well as your mosaic! Also, I used to have the "flannemal" on the right. I'd completely forgotten about it until I saw yours! Like you, the garden was a bit too much for me these last couple of years, and I confess we did let it develop into a jungle, which we too escaped from halfway through Summer. Our garden has certainly thrived as a result of lockdown. Mr. Robot's Andalucion wall is looking fab, as does the Calla lily! xxx

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    1. Your flowers have looked wonderful on your blog - I've been admiring them so much in all your posts.

      Ours is getting a bit jungly again, I shall have to do some weeding this weekend.

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  2. I love your plant in the bathroom Mim, it looks lovely. Your mosaic is very impressive! The spider plant was also magnificent; it made my very poor specimen look even poorer than it actually is. I need to get rid of it and get another one after seeing yours and what a spider plant should look like...

    I love your Andalucian wall and I was very intrigued to know you can grow tomatoes in a hanging basket. Great idea! So pleased about your Canna lily - definitely take it it as an omen!

    Take care
    xxx

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    1. Well, the spider plant is new - it might not look so bushy after six months of my care!

      Tumbling cherry tomatoes are best in a basket. They work really well. We've got loads of fruit coming on ours.

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  3. Having a space you enjoy being in does make being at home nicer. I'd love to have plants in my bathroom but there's no window.

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    1. Ours is south-facing, which helps, though it does get cold in winter. (We had a heated towel rail put in to replace the old radiator, and it doesn't keep the room anywhere near warm enough.)

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  4. I love the colour of your bathroom walls - they're similar to our bedroom, I think. The new plant is gorgeous and I'm rather partial to a spider plant, I've lost count of how many we've got!
    Agapanthus is one of my favourites, I treaed myself to one after falling in love with them in Corfu three years ago, my single clump has now become three. Mr Robot's Mediterranean planting is lovely and I love the lily.
    We're the same, by mid-July we've been on the road for weeks and the wild overgrown garden makes me feel anxious and sad, it's lovely to have time to cut things back and appreciate those plants in bloom.
    Stay safe & well! xxx

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    1. The walls are currently brighter than I'd intended - we repainted after getting the bathroom redone, and I thought the paint had more brown in it, more like a terracotta. But the orange has grown on me; it's a south-facing room and gets loads of light so can handle the colour.

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  5. Your bathroom wall colour is the same as what we have in our kitchen (facing accent walls) - I love that terra cotta shade. Lovely mosaic! You're so talented!

    I'm always impressed by gardens and flowers - I am such a brown thumb! I do not own a single plant (I forget about them and they die), so I love seeing other people's homes and all their blooming stuff.

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    1. The mosaic was a kit Pee got me one Christmas. I did swear a bit while doing it, but was really pleased with the result.

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  6. Hi Mim, I found you via Vintage Vix, I am loving houseplants at the moment, your hanging bathroom beauty looks lovely. I noticed you mentioned Trowbridge in the post and guess you are local - my grandparents owned Oriel House in Hilperton until they died, I have happy memories of the area, Trowbridge was a good town for shopping and we loved going to the church at Steeple Ashton. Nice to meet you, I am a now a follower. Betty :)

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    1. Oh golly! Yes, I live in Trowbridge - moved down to the south-west when I got my job. The town's lost a lot of its industries in recent years, but I like living here.

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  7. Lovely bathroom and lovely hanging plant!, I like them but Mr.A. refuses to drill any hole to hang plants (minimalist as he is).
    Love particularly the color of the walls!
    And also love your 'spanish patio' sunny wall and the geraniums!. It looks really appealing and summery.
    besos

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    1. You'll have to put lots of plants on the floor...

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  8. I have the same Flannemals!
    Your patio looks lovely, so colourful I can imagine it must be blissful to sit out there.

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    1. It's gorgeous out there in hot weather (well, as long as you ignore the gaping hole in the fence - we were supposed to have it repaired and then lockdown happened and now the bloke is saying he can't get new panels - and the tomatoes taking over half the patio...)

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