The joy of houseplants

So, the sun has come out? After three month of solid rain and misery I come to you live from my garden where the temperature is currently 32 degrees. I know gardens up and down the land are in disarray. I have practically given up on the allotment. Every seed I plant is washed away, the slugs have eaten everything that made it out of the rain soaked ground and the only thing thriving is thistles. If you could eat thistles I would be completely self sufficient right now. The only things that have given us anything are the rhubarb and the raspberries. Now everything is dying of thirst. I am not talking to the allotment. I have retreated inside. I have never been one for houseplants, not when I've been lucky enough to have a big garden and an allotment- who needs indoor plants? Well three months stuck inside has led me to a new addiction. Every windowsill, shelf or cranny I could claim has now been crammed with plants. I have even bought school plants home for the summer holidays. I have had more success growing and even propagating indoor plants than I have with the veg this summer.

These are just some of my growing collection... This is a flaming katie which I reckon is one of the best indoor plants. It's a cactus but as far as I can see it flowers constantly- its awesome!

I have revived a few plants from my mother, the notorious plant killer. I repotted, fed and loved this fella but I have no idea what is it! It's doing incredibly well in a pot on a sunny windowsill but I would like to know what it is....any ideas?

I also have this little fella, which I revived from another crusty pot...any ideas? The flowers are great!

If you've always been an outside gardener, I urge you to have a go at indoor gardening, if only for the fun of collecting pretty pots. One statistic that shocked me is that the air in our houses is often worse than the air in our towns. Plants = oxygen! Look at this guy- I can taste the fresh air!