Check this out! It's called the Floating Garden - the newer, more modern version of the Peace Lily betta*.

The floating garden eliminates fish waste and keeps the tank clean by filtering the water over a sand-filled device and absorbing nitrates from fish poo to fertilize the plants.  Pretty cool, huh?

From the press release:

"It gives concrete form to a ‘passion for waterworks’ shared by Benjamin Graindorge and Duende Studio. What with Graindorge’s ‘Domestic landscapes’ and the ’Local River’ project developed with Mathieu Lehanneur by Anthony van den Bossche, it only needed one step more (and a lot of experiments) for the principle to be turned into a commercially-viable product, realistic but full of poetic potential. Elegant design associated to extended function make ‘Floating Garden’ an object rich in paradox – thoughtful and forward-looking."

Because of how the tank is created, each is unique in design, and will begin being sold in spring of 2010. And I imagine for a mighty price tag.

*Peace lilies, also called Mauna Loa or The Closet Plant, are easy to grow with exposed roots in water. However, this is not, nor has it ever been, a reccomended environment for a fish, especially a betta, which needs to come to the surface to breathe.

Scented geraniums are rooted deep in the culture of herbal tradition, finding their prominence in 17^th century homes freshening hallways and masking body odors. Think of them like Old Spice with flowers.

Their varied smell and relative growing flexibility make them a favorite amongst herb enthusiasts, and not only is their aroma inviting, but many types can be used to flavor your home and your food. For those especially interested in herb gardening, scented geraniums, or more accurately pelargoniums, were the 2006 Herb of the Year.

You may have heard someone speak of a plant as being a “tender perennial.” This means that that particular plant is likely to overwinter well, either by bringing it indoors as a houseplant or sitting it in a cool, sunny window in a garage to rest for the winter.

Geraniums can even be dug up or removed from their pots, shaken free of soil and hung upside down in a cool, humid place to encourage plant dormancy over the winter – but this can be a fairly difficult process to master, and you’d have to be willing to take the risk. Every few weeks, the roots should be soaked for a few moments in water.

Having said that, it’s important to note that most geraniums grown originally outside will do only moderately well inside your home. But with a little bit of determination and a couple bits of advice, you can enjoy these beautiful aromatic plants all winter long.

1. The single most important thing you must do when you transition outdoor plants indoors is to thoroughly wash them. When a plant is outdoors, even if it is infected with insects, it’s likely the pests will be kept in check by natural predators.

When you bring a plant indoors, you create a dry and warm environment ideal to most household plant pests especially aphids and spidermites, which are very likely to hitch a ride on your plants and pots. So use an insecticidal soap not only on the top and undersides of all your leaves and stems, but also on the soil surface and the pot itself.

2. If your geranium is planted in the ground, uproot it and plant it in a very normal potting soil, but one that doesn’t boast any kind of amazing fertilizer power, because you want your plant to have nutrients, but not be overfertilized. In most cases, you’ll fertilize your plants half as much in the winter as in the summer, because plants will naturally go into a dormant phase and fertilizer is more or less unnecessary. 

Most potted plants will also need to be transplanted as they have depleted the nutrients in the potting soil you used at the beginning of the growing season. However, in neither case should you use garden soil.

3. For the winter, most geraniums will like a cooler temperature with ample humidity and plenty of light, so placing a tray of pebbles filled with water under your planter will help keep the moisture consistent. Make sure, however, that your pot is not sitting in the water, but rather elevated above it. To do this, you can fill a large saucer with pebbles and water, turn over smaller terra-cotta saucer, and set your pot and its saucer on top.

Or, if you have a sunny bathroom window, that would be an ideal spot to raise your geranium.

4. Finally, cut the geranium back to 1/3 its original size and plant in a pot an inch or two larger than the rootball to allow the roots to spread. If you do not cut it back, leaves, stems and flowers are likely to become spindly and make for a homely-looking plant.

While most will be successful using these tips, it’s important to understand that gardening is often just a gamble, and results will be impossible to predict.  Do not be discouraged if at first you don’t succeed – just try, try again.

Economic and financial issues plaguing the globe have spawned a new wave of interest in sustainability, fostering the need for more urban gardeners. For those living in such a densely populated area, growing space is often limited, and you need to think creatively and maybe even squint your eyes a little to make it work.

Such space concerns are why vertical planters are becoming increasingly popular. A year ago, I picked the top Top 8 Gardening Products for Fall 2008, and among them listed the Living Wall by ELT.

This year, another company sent me a different kind of wall-hanging potter called the Woolly Pocket, which prides itself in adding a touch of class to any home (and it does). The long, almost windowsill-type potters are made out of a dense fabric that feels like a wool peacoat, and they come in coated and uncoated varieties, depending on if you’re planning on using it indoors or out.

I requested the coated version so it would not leak, but opted to set it up outside for the summer – and maybe clean it for reuse indoors for the winter. The Pocket was easy to install and within a few months tomatoes were producing and producing well in the Pocket compared with those on the ground. This is a major advantage if you’re wanting to keep animals away from your plants, especially indoors where most common houseplants are toxic to your pets.

The Woolly Pocket website gives detailed information on all of their planters with colorful photos like this one that make you see both the company and the product as unique. While the imagery with the naked people doesn’t really bother me, nearly every plant shown in this photo is toxic to animals (we’ll hope the dog wasn’t hungry), so I wouldn’t recommend using a sitting planter if you have an indoor pet.

The fabric of the Pocket, unlike with the Living Wall, prevents scratching on your walls and is a better safeguard to leaking because of the inner-coating. The coating covers the inside of the planter, protecting your walls and floor from leaks that may come from overwatering. However, this is a particular concern, because those of us that tend to give our plants more water, will be more likely to kill a plant or create an environment susceptible to root rot.

So, if you were planning on using the Pocket indoors, I might suggest lining the bottom with 2 or 3 inches of Perlite for the best possible drainage.

Other than that, the Woolly Pocket, which comes in many shapes and sizes, would make a great gift for anyone and everyone with a bright, empty wall considering starting a new garden or consolidating some of their favorite houseplants.