I think its great to keep these plants alive in remembrance of your mother...

I will try to offer a few suggestions, but first a few cardinal rules - more plants die from overwatering than underwatering, it is best to let them get mostly dry before watering again. THis will require regular checking - especially at first before you get more familiar with their needs. Every few days, stick your finger an inch or so down into the soil, if it feels mostly dry, do not water yet. You can also use a sharpened pencil, stick it deep into the soil, if it comes out with the wood dampened with moisture, you can wait another day or so then check again. Eventually you will become very good at judging the needs, but remember - always best to err on the side of not watering if you are in doubt, very few plants will die from a day or so of dryness, but too much water will cause root rot and that is a big problem!

Peace lilly - easy to care for, do not mind lower light, but never direct sun. If it needs repotting, just go up one pot size. Use a standard plastic pot, and then sit that inside a decorative pot or basket. Use a good quality commercial soil. this plant will do well indoors, even in a dimmer spot, though the more light the better.

Mums usually do not do well in the average home, at least not for me. Your best bet would be to either plant it outside and enjoy it while it lasts, or put it outdoors as a container plant and move it inside before the frost. Maybe someone else will have suggestions on how to keep it healthy thru the winter.

Ditto for the azalea! Plant it, this is the time of year to do so, they do ok in shade/semi-shade and with proper care it will reward you year after year with it's springtime flowers - you will think of your mom everytime you see it bloom. Keep in mind though that alot of these plants go thru some abuse after they leave the grower, and don't always make it...but I have 2 in my yard that came to me as gift plants and they are fine. If you leave it in the pot, it will probably die - the ones I tried to keep that way did! so your best bet is to get it in the ground and keep your fingers crossed!

Af. Violet - they will do fine for quite a while in the pot they come in. Put it somewhere where it will get bright indirect light and water when it feels almost dry. If you have it in front of a window, turn it weekly so that all sides will get light evenly and it wont grow lopsided. The AV forum here will help you if you need it, but these plants really are not that hard to care for.

The dish garden will look ok for a while, but the plants will outgrow it and need to be separated. Very easy to do, just pop the whole group out, gently separate them, and pot with fresh mix in their own pots. Bright indirect light will do fine for them.

I have no idea what a cat palm is!

As for your porch, if it is hot with direct burning sun, that could be a problem. Hot with no direct sun might be ok, but how hot would you say it is temperature wise?

Mostly, just try to relax with your plants. Don't worry too much about them. Keeping plants is not so hard, you just have to pay attention to them and learn their basic needs. Of course you can come here and ask questions, which is great!

Sorry about your mom, take care and good luck!

ps..As far as I know, none of these plants are toxic, but there are lists - just google toxic houseplants or maybe someone here will know.

Hi Buffylou,

I'm very sorry about your mom. My sympathies. I understand why you would want to keep these plants thriving.

First off, any of the planters that have multiple kinds of plants should really be separated. When they put these together, they do it for asthetics, not the care requirements of the individual plants. Most times, they will stay okay for awhile, but the ones getting too little/much light or too little/much water will start to die off. Also, these arrangements are usually a bunch of "plugs" that are in a plastic saucer inside the planter, and since there are no drainage holes, they will eventually die from root rot. (I learned this all the hard way.)

As far as toxicity, the peace lily is toxic, and the azalea, and your arrangement with "other stuff" most likely has a dieffenbachia, which is also toxic.

For light requirements, your Kalanchoe, Croton and Azalea should love your bright sunroom, the peace lily should be kept out of direct light, I'm not sure what a "cat palm" is, but most likely medium to bright filtered light, but I wouldn't put it near the fireplace--palms don't like to dry out. My mom keeps her AVs in bright, filtered light, but I don't know about keeping a mum indoors...I would think it would like bright light, too. As for your miscellaneous dish garden, it would be helpful to know what else is in there :)

With the repotting, why do you say that they need to be? Peace Lilies like to be somewhat pot bound. Are they in something with no drainage holes?

Good luck with them, and I'm sure that someone more knowledgeable than I will come along and fill in the gaps. :)

Ellen

Thank you both for the condolences. It's been a tough couple of weeks. And thanks for the quick responses! Yes, I believe I tend to over-water (or did in my past life, when I tried to do houseplants before), so I will use caution.

PL: My friend was over last night and she says the PL is way too tight in the pot. It's in a plastic pot with drain holes now. It's very, very full. Someone gave us a $50 gift card to English Gardens, so that will get me a new pot.

Mum: I've never had luck with them indoors either. I will stick it in the ground and see what happens.

Azalea: Ditto, I will stick it in the ground pronto.

The dish garden I actually found online - since I knew it came from 1800flowers - it's the Blooming Dish Garden - you may be able to help me ID the plants, the only ones I could figure out were the croton and kalanchoe. It's in the sunroom now, and seems to be loving it. Yes, direct sun and no A/C out there so it can get pretty hot.

Cat palm: I have no idea what this is, either. I identified most of these plants by browsing the 1800flowers and proflowers web sites this morning. There was a cat palm out there and it looks like my plant. Which I actually thought was a fern. Shows you how little I know! I will make sure to move it away from the fireplace once I start using it.

Here is a link that might be useful: 1-800 Flowers

Can't really tell what the "cat palm" is from looking at the picture, but I would have guessed that it's an areca palm (Chrysalidocarpens lutescens, or sometimes Dypsis lutescens). I would, however, have been wrong.

What turns up if you do a search is the species Chamaedorea cataractum, which I had never heard of before but apparently used to be common in the 70s. Opinions differ as to care. Check the link.

Here is a link that might be useful: Palms & Cycads thread

P.S. At least one site (http://www.desert-tropicals.com/Palm/Chamaedorea_cataractarum.html) says that they are no longer as popular as they were in the 70s because they're very susceptible to spider mites.

Buffylou,
I checked the link and looked at the "Blooming Dish Garden". If I looked at the right one, you are correct about the Kalanchoe, but I don't see a Croton. The large-leafed plant with the cream center and green edges is a Dieffenbachia 'Camille' and it is extremely toxic. The spiky one in the back is a Dracaena Marginata, aka Dragon Tree. The one in the photo online is a tri-color. The viny one that looks like ivy is, well, ivy. The one in the photo is variegated. That's all I can tell from the photo, but there may be a Syngonium, aka Arrowhead, hiding in there as well.