Tag: Month October Week 2

Forcing Bulbs: Your Guide to Growing Bulbs Indoors

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Gardeners, rejoice! If you’re ready for spring, start the season early by forcing bulbs to grow indoors. Not only will you get to bring some beauty into your home, but you’ll be a step ahead when it comes to your spring garden, too. Here’s everything you need to know about growing bulbs indoors.

Photo courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

Do you ever find yourself wishing that spring could come earlier? Well, my friend, you can bring a bit of spring indoors this fall and winter with blooming spring bulbs! With a few simple techniques, you can force bulbs to grow early and create a spring garden right in your own home well before they are ready to flower outdoors.

You can make gorgeous, varied arrangements to display on your dining table or other surfaces, and you’ll be feeling sunnier in no time. Grab some bulbs and get ready to welcome spring!

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Bulbs can make for wonderful gifts, alongside growing instructions.

Sponsored Content: This article on forcing spring bulbs is proudly sponsored by Flowerbulb.eu (who also provided some of the gorgeous photos in this post). We partnered on this article to help remind you that fall is the best time of year to buy spring bulbs. There are a ton of great bulbs available at online retailers and in garden centres, so you certainly will have plenty of options in your area. Get your bulbs now so you can chill them in time for an early spring indoors when you need the cheery blooms the most!

Forcing Bulbs for Spring

I’m rather lucky living in the Pacific Northwest, where spring arrives earlier for me compared to other northern counterparts. Oftentimes, I am posting my spring bulbs on social media, and my friends are commenting that they’re still deep in snow!

Snow in May and June is a reality for some, making the true gardening season a few short months. However, you can still enjoy the wonders of spring even if it doesn’t feel like the season outdoors. Forcing spring bulbs is my favourite way to add some much-needed colour inside while you sit and wait to garden outside.

Tulipa Bright Sight, Orange Princess, Queensland, and Varinas, courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

The Best Bulbs to Grow Indoors

While you could theoretically use most bulbs indoors, some will be more challenging than others. For successful and easy flowers, it’s important to pick bulbs that take well to forcing. These ones are easy to force indoors and produce gorgeous spring flowers that will brighten up your home.

I also like to grow bulbs indoors that aren’t hardy in my area. Some bulbs will only be hardy in warmer zones and won’t naturalize for the following year. Growing bulbs indoors allows you to still experience these more tender bulbs, even if you live in a colder area.

Grow some specialty varieties to really make your flowers shine indoors. Photo courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

Choose Your Container

Bulbs can be forced in a wide variety of containers, so pick something decorative that will complement the flowers that you’ve chosen. Shallow dishes and pots make good containers for many bulbs, as do simple Mason jars.

You can find containers specifically made for bulb forcing, too—they have a wide dish at the top that narrows before widening out below again into a vase shape, so that the bulb will sit in the top above the water in the vase part.

You can easily use some of your outdoor pots for your indoor bulbs. Photo courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

Prepare Your Bulbs

Forcing bulbs and other plants is a way of tricking them into thinking it’s time to flower earlier than they naturally would. In order to do this, you have to put the bulbs through a false “winter.”

Spring bulbs naturally go through a period of dormancy over winter, and in the spring, when the soil is warmed enough by the sun, the bulb knows that it is time to come up and bloom. What we’re doing is recreating this effect indoors and on our own time, so that we can have beautiful spring flowers blooming early.

To do this, you need to mimic the bulb’s natural life cycle by chilling it at 35-45 degrees Fahrenheit (or 2-7 degrees Celsius) for about 8-15 weeks. This creates an artificial winter.

You can chill bulbs in a cool, dark spot like a root cellar or unheated garage.

You can also put the bulbs in a brown paper bag in the refrigerator as long as you give them their own drawer away from fruits and vegetables that release ethylene gas.

If you don’t have the time to do this, you can buy bulbs that have already been chilled for you.

Muscari flowers.

Planting Bulbs Indoors

Once the bulbs have gone through their cold period, you can plant them indoors, and the transition from cold to warm will signal to them that it is time to grow and bloom.

If you are using a Mason jar or other deep vessel, fill the container up with small pebbles or marbles. Nestle the bulb into the pebbles or marbles with the pointy end facing up. About half of the bulb should be buried while the top half remains exposed. Add enough water to the container so that the bottom quarter of the bulb is submerged, but the rest of the bulb is above the water.

Make sure not to fully submerge the bulb in water so it doesn’t rot.

If you are using a shallow dish or pot, add a few pebbles to the bottom for drainage and add potting soil to the container. Plant the bulbs in the soil (again, pointy sides up) and add a little more soil on top so that they are just covered. Water thoroughly. Check the soil often and keep it moist with frequent watering.

Keep your soil moist, but make sure it’s not soggy. Drainage is important!

Sometimes you don’t even need soil to grow your bulbs. All you need is a bulb, water, and the right vase. A forcing vase is one that has a narrow top and a wide bottom. This allows the bulb to be only partly submerged in water.

If you have a forcing vase, simply fill the bottom part with water and rest the bulb inside the wide dish at the top. If you haven’t chilled your bulbs yet, place your vase in a dark, cool place and wait. After a few weeks, the roots will grow down into the water. When the flower begins to appear, bring it out for display. If your vase is clear, you even get to watch the roots grow in addition to seeing the beautiful flower bloom.

Hyacinths smell wonderful, making them a true treat indoors. Photo courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

Decorate!

Growing bulbs indoors is all about bringing some colour and beauty to your home. Beyond the flower variety and colour, you can add a lot of elements to stylize your indoor bulb.

Give your arrangements a little something extra by adding reindeer moss, polished pebbles, or flat glass marbles around the base of the plants, and consider including some delicate deciduous branches for added structure. If you are forcing your bulbs in soil and not just water, you can plant a few pretty annuals, such as violas or primulas, in the same container for some variety.

You can also play around to make your bulbs and container match the season. Opt for pastel hues and cheery containers to create an Easter themed piece. As long as you time it right, you can have bulbs indoors year-round.

Force bulbs indoors any time of year. Photo courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

Plant Again

After the bulbs have finished flowering and you have enjoyed your indoor display to the fullest, you can plant the bulbs out in the garden and watch them flower again for years to come. If they are hardy in your zone, you can plant them in the ground and wait for them to sping up next winter. Alternatively, you can also store them to grow them indoors again.

To do this, remove old flowers and leaves as they slowly fade away. Once the plant is finished flowering and the foliage has turned yellow, cut the stems to two inches above the bulb. Remove the bulb from the soil and gently clean off any dirt. Store in a cool, dry place until you’re ready to use it again next winter.

Tulipa Dynasty and Hyacinthus China Pink, courtesy of Flowerbulb.eu

More Spring Flower Fun!

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.

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Stephanie Rose

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October 16, 2025
Houseplants as Biofilters: Do Indoor Plants Really Purify the Air? – Garden Therapy
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Have you heard all the buzz about how indoor plants purify the air in your home? I always see labels on plants and websites touting the power of plants in purifying. While this is true, it may not be to the extent that they’re making it out to be. Let me explain.

It’s true that plants are biofilters, a term often used for systems that use plants or microorganisms to clean air in order to combat pollution and the presence of harmful toxins.

This technology is usually used on a large scale for wastewater treatment facilities and chemical plants, but any system that filters out toxins is a biological filter…and that includes plants, animals, insects, and even you!

Does that mean that all the microbes, pollution, and viruses are filtered out of the air if you have some houseplants? There are many myths and claims out there about what houseplants can do for your air quality, so I did a little research on the truth about houseplants and air quality.

Let’s get into it!

Plants as Biofilters

The past couple of summers have been terrible for forest fires here in British Columbia. I’m lucky enough to live in a part of the province where my home wasn’t threatened by fire, but the smoke from wildfires across the province made its way here and caused me to have lung problems, headaches, and stinging eyes.

I have been so grateful to have my plants during these smoky seasons, because they make a difference in the freshness of the air, both outside in the garden and inside the house.

You can immediately notice the amazing air quality when you’re outside surrounded by plants.

All of this got me thinking a lot about air quality, and how indoor air quality is often pretty bad, wildfire season or not. Even if you’re never exposed to wildfire smoke (which I hope is the case!), with technology running constantly, forced heating in the winter, and an increase in chemicals used in everyday life, there is a need more than even for air-purifying measures to be taken within the home.

Which, of course, got me thinking about plants. There’s a lot of hype out there about how indoor plants purify the air, but I wasn’t sure how much of that was true, so I did a little research of my own to learn how plants work as biofilters and how effective they really are at cleaning up airborne toxins.

Plants produce oxygen, which removes some airborne microbes, mold spores, and bacteria from the air we breathe (thanks, plants!).

In addition to producing oxygen and cleaning up the air that way, plants also use their roots to get rid of toxins. The roots actually absorb harmful toxins and convert them into nutrients, which they then use to grow. This is the ultimate in upcycling!

Even if they don’t fully clean the air, houseplants are lovely just on their own!

Do Indoor Plants Really Purify the Air?

This is probably not the first time you’ve heard that indoor plants purify the air, but did you know that houseplants can also absorb contaminants like benzene and formaldehyde?

These might not sound like things that are hanging around your house, but many cosmetics, cleaning products, and cigarette smoke contain these, making them common toxins around many homes.

Houseplants even absorb some harmful radiation given off by technology such as computers and cellphones, but they probably can’t absorb enough of it to significantly reduce the health risks that these technologies entail.

Peace lilies are one of the most effective plant biofilters.

Although there have been a few high-profile studies done to prove the effectiveness of plants at filtering air (yes, that NASA), these studies have all been done in small, sealed environments.

Larger, open spaces like houses will not make it so easy for plants to purify the air quite as effectively and there is no evidence that they make a big enough difference to drastically improve health. That being said, they certainly can’t hurt. At the very least, houseplants will remove some toxins from the air and give you a healthy dose of indoor garden therapy.

The Best Air-Filtering Houseplants

Some indoor plants purify the air, or more accurately filter the air, more than others. Here is a list of common houseplants that draw the most toxins out of the air.
- Peace lily (Spathiphyllum ‘Mauna Loa’)
- English ivy (Hedera helix)
- Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
- Snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata’Laurentii’)
- Rubber plant (Ficus elastica)
- Elephant ear (Philodendron domesticum)
- Weeping fig (Ficus benjamina)
- Gerbera daisy or Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)
- Pot mum or florist’s chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)
Adding a few (or a lot) of these low-maintenance houseplants to your home can make a difference in the quality of the air you breathe, but not as big a difference as many articles claim. They are a beautiful and welcoming addition around the house and can boost your mood, so I say the more houseplants, the better!

Pothos are a great beginning plant since they enjoy low light.

More Tips for Growing Houseplants

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.
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Stephanie Rose

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October 14, 2025
Indoor Plant Care: How to Grow Tropical Plants in Geometric Terrariums – Garden Therapy

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I love the look of these geometric terrariums. They make me think of nineteenth-century conservatories or vintage apothecaries, yet the geometric shape feels fresh and modern at the same time. With a few small houseplants, some reindeer moss, and a little know-how, you can transform simple glass containers into lush, thriving terrariums in no time!

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Tropical Plants Indoors

Tropical indoor plants like pothos are used as houseplants because they tolerate the lower light and warm, temperate conditions usually present indoors. Tropicals often really love humidity, which is why they are such good candidates for closed-top terrariums or glass bell jars.

Soil and plants naturally release water vapor, and when they are inside an enclosed space like a glass terrarium, the vapor collects on the roof and sides of the container and creates a humid environment.

Succulents and cacti are wonderful houseplants as well, but with a terrarium that has a closed lid like these ones, tropicals are the way to go. Even though there is an opening in the front of this geometric terrarium, the covered roof still creates a more humid microclimate perfect for tropicals.

If you place cacti and succulents in the same terrarium, they need much brighter light, and that will also dramatically increase the temperature inside the glass. If you want to make a succulent or cactus terrarium, then use an open bowl and save these beautiful geometric terrariums for tropicals to thrive. They will grow and morph over the years and show so much personality!

Terrariums create humid microclimates, which are desirable for tropical plants.

Tips for Working With Glass Terrariums

Look for glass containers in interesting geometric shapes. I like the metal detailing on the terrariums I found—it gives the shape a dramatic outline and the slightly weathered look of the finish lends a vintage feel.

If you can find a terrarium with a plastic liner inside, that is ideal, as you can use it to keep the soil and plants in place, but if your container doesn’t have one, you can make your own out of a plastic tray from the recycling bin. It won’t look as attractive, but you can easily disguise your makeshift liner with a little strategically placed reindeer moss.

Keep in mind that glass terrariums are not going to have holes for drainage. If you are used to caring for houseplants and terrariums and are confident that you will not overwater the plants, don’t worry about the lack of drainage, and just be mindful of how often you are watering.

However, if you are concerned about overwatering, you can create drainage inside the terrarium by spreading out some pebbles at the bottom of your plastic liner. You could also add charcoal to the soil to help prevent damage caused by overwatering. Charcoal works to absorb and remove odour and toxins produced by pooling water.

You can also repurpose lanterns and candle vessels into terrariums.

How to Make a Glass Geometric Terrarium

Now for the fun part! Once you’ve gathered the materials, it doesn’t take long to put your terrarium together. It can take a little finesse and handiwork, but it always turns out so whimsical.

Materials

Make It!

Before planting in the soil, play with positioning your plants in different configurations to get a pleasing design. Place taller plants in the back and shorter ones in the front so that none of them will be obscured. Try to choose plants with different colours, textures, and shapes to get the most interesting display.

Play around with your display before potting.

If you are going to add drainage pebbles to the bottom of your plastic liner, do that first. Next, fill the plastic tray with soil and add your plants. Water the plants well and allow them to sit for half an hour, then pour off any excess water that they didn’t drink up. Place the planted tray inside the terrarium.

After planting, water your plants thoroughly and then drain the excess.

Now add your decorative elements. Try placing pretty stones, moss in different colours, and bark with interesting textures into the terrarium. Move them around until you get a design that you like.

Forage for some elements from your backyard for a cost-effective but personal touch.

One of my favourite decorations for terrariums is DIY clay mushrooms. I made the ones pictured, and posted a tutorial on how you can make them for yourself as well!

I also like to add some magic with waterproof LED fairy lights. These are battery-operated and made to go inside terrariums. They add just that little bit of magic that makes a terrarium its own special little world.

The clay mushrooms and the fairy lights are the perfect final touch.

How to Care for a Terrarium

Terrariums don’t take much care other than watering properly and replanting every so often. When your terrarium starts to look a bit overgrown or sad, follow these steps on how to refresh a terrarium. For regular care and maintenance, here is what you need to know:

For the most part, terrariums don’t require fertilizing because you actually don’t want the plants to grow large very fast and outgrow their small environment. However, if plants are looking weak, you can add a diluted indoor plant food formula to give them a little boost.

In a covered terrarium like this that produces a ton of humidity, you don’t need to water much at all. Simply water lightly every few months and otherwise let the terrarium do the work for you.

Enjoy!

More Fun Terrarium Projects

A city girl who learned to garden and it changed everything. Author, artist, Master Gardener. Better living through plants.

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Stephanie Rose

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October 13, 2025
Herbal Dream Pillows: Aromatherapy for the Restful Sleep You Need – Garden Therapy
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If you’re looking for an all-natural way to encourage sleep, this homemade herbal dream pillow utilizes the calming powers of well-known sleepytime herbs to relax the mind and send you off to a good night’s sleep.

Sleep. It’s one of our most basic needs. It’s also one of the things that most people don’t get enough of. With early mornings, late nights, busy schedules, and all of the stress, anxiety, and discomfort that life can dish out, getting enough rest is tough.

Committing to a consistent bedtime, limiting technological distraction, and integrating pre-bed rituals into your routine can all help you get a good night’s sleep, but one of my favourite techniques that’s been effective for me is to use an aromatherapy herbal dream pillow made with ingredients from my garden.

The herbal blend is specifically chosen to release a fragrance that will promote calm and send you off to dreamland.

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You can customize your herbal dream pillow based on the herbs you like and have on hand.

My Long Journey to a Restful Sleep

Sleep is a wonderful, magical, healing, and often unappreciated luxury. When you sleep your body rebuilds itself, applies what it has learned from the day, builds muscles, repairs brain cells, and boosts immunity. If there’s one thing that you can do to care for yourself, it is get a good night’s sleep. It’s the most natural thing in the world, and yet good restful sleep can be so hard to capture.

I have a complicated relationship with sleep. Part of me feels that I’ve lost so much of my life to sleep, and the other part is grateful for how much healing comes from it. Due to a sudden illness, I slept for the better part of two years. That’s not hyperbole. I would go to bed in the early evening, sleep all night, wake up in the morning, then move down to the couch and sleep for the day.

For the first year, that was my whole life. As I moved into the second year, there was more waking time, gradually. I was so sick of being indoors and being in bed and yet I was unable to do anything else. I believe that my body was so run down from whatever it was fighting that it essentially rebooted.

After that crippling fatigue started to wear off, I had a whole other sensation to deal with: the chronic pain of fibromyalgia. Fibromyalgia is often described as a never-ending cycle of fatigue and pain. The pain was so bad that it was hard to sleep at night, and without a good night’s sleep, the fibromyalgia would be worse the next day.

It was crazy making. And I knew I had to do something about it. I went to sleep studies. I tried medical apparatuses and pharmaceuticals. While the drugs helped with sleeplessness and pain, they came with many more unpleasant side effects.

I looked at my sleep habits and tried to do everything that I could to make sure I found a way to develop proper sleep. For me, that meant forcing myself to do some sort of activity every day, no matter how exhausted I was. That’s how I started gardening. Getting outside in the fresh air and engaging with nature was just what I needed.

Now, I grow herbs in my garden to help me with many things, including helping me to sleep.

I cut out all caffeine and other stimulants to make sure that I was setting myself up for rest. I went to bed at the same time every night and woke up at the same time every morning. I also set up a proper sleeping environment in my room with a comfortable bed, appropriate temperature, herb tea, aromatherapy, and herb-filled dream pillows to help create an atmosphere of relaxation.

Now that I have practiced these sleep habits regularly, I sleep like a dream. I go to bed at the same time every night, drift into a deep and healing sleep and wake up the next day refreshed and happy.

Today, I want to share a little bit of the peace that sleep has brought me by showing you how to make your own dream pillow stuffed with relaxing herbs.

It feels wonderful to snuggle up to a bit of my garden at night. You don’t need a garden to make these dream pillows, though. All of the ingredients are readily available as dried herbs at local and online shops. I’ve linked to some in the materials list to make it super easy for you to access everything you need.

Tuck these dream pillows into your regular pillow or nestle by your head.

What is a Dream Pillow?

Dream pillows have been around for hundreds of years (since at least the sixteenth century, probably earlier). They were once used commonly by doctors as a way to heal patients with all sorts of infirmities. They’ve also been used historically to ward off evil spirits and induce dream visions.

Dream pillows, also called “sleep pillows” or “comfort pillows” are not the same as eye pillows. Eye pillows are weighted with dried beans, flax, or popcorn and often scented with dried lavender and lavender essential oil. The weight of these provides pressure on your eyes and a relaxation experience in addition to the aromatherapy. See how to make them here.

Dream pillows have no beans or weighted elements in them, nor do they contain any essential oils. They’re simply filled with an assortment of dried herbs. To use a dream pillow, place it inside your pillowcase. You can gently crush the herbs to release the smell if you would like a little more aromatherapy. Otherwise, the herbs will offer a gentle, pleasant aroma that helps you drift off to sleep.

You’ve probably heard that scent is deeply connected to memory and emotion. This is because the part of the brain that processes smells, the limbic system, is the same part that processes memory and emotion. There are certain aromas that can’t help but remind us of a certain time or feeling that we associate with that particular fragrance.

This can work to our advantage at bedtime, because we can use scent to influence our dreams and gently push our brains towards pleasant subject matter, away from anxiety and stress.

The combination of herbs I used for this dream pillow is meant to promote relaxation and help you sleep deeply, but you can certainly customize your dream pillow with different dried herbs and flowers according to what kind of aromatherapy you’re looking for.

If you use a dream pillow consistently, it can help you sleep in unfamiliar places (if you’re travelling, for example). The scent will remind you of your own bed and lull you to sleep faster, wherever you are.

There are many different herbs known to help aid sleep.

Herbal Ingredients in Dream Pillows

Freshly dried herbs from the garden contain a lot of fragrance. Take the steps to harvest them at the right time in the garden and dry them properly. Their potency and aroma fades over time so the most fragrant dream pillows come from the freshest dried herbs.

There are many herbs that are useful for helping you fall asleep (see more on herbs for sleep here). The basis for this recipe is hops. Hops is very good at helping you relax and have a restful sleep. I’ve also mixed in dried chamomile, lavender, roses, and a variety of mints all from my garden. I know that these are all organic, fresh, and dried properly so they have the perfect amount of aromatherapy for me at night.

Dried hops. Yes, the ones used to make beer!

How to Make a Dream Pillow

I’ll admit that I’m not an experienced sewer. I have found that even though I’m very creative and love fabrics, I would much rather be sowing than sewing. But I do have a lovely sewing machine and I can do a few basic things on it.

If you’re experienced with sewing, I’m sure you can take this simple tutorial on how to make dream pillows and turn them into something absolutely stunning. If you’re a beginner and are more interested in herbs than sewing, then these instructions are going to work out just perfectly for you too.

Making a dream pillow is as simple as cutting two equal sized pieces of fabric, and either with a sewing machine or by hand, sewing them into a pillow filled with dried herbs. You can really make this any size you want, but my favourite size is a thin, long pillow that can slip right along the side at the end of my pillowcase.

I’ll provide the dimensions for that, but please know that you can make smaller square pillows, round pillows, heart-shaped pillows, whatever you fancy.

I find the long size tucks nicely into the end of my pillow.

Materials

Make It!
1. Cut the fabric pieces to size and place one on top of the other with the right sides together.
2. Sew the two long sides together to create a tube.
3. Turn the tube inside out (so the right sides of the fabric are on the outside now) and fold an inch of the open ends inside the tube. Iron the folded ends flat.
4. Using a sewing machine or by hand with a needle and thread, stitch one of the ends closed (it doesn’t matter which one).
5. I used a decorative leaf stitch that was programmed on my sewing machine. If I’m being honest, these decorative stitches are pretty much the only reason I want to come in from the garden and use my sewing machine. They are adorable!
6. Now, fill up the pillow starting with the dried hop heads. Using the whole heads intact will create a lot of space that you can fill in with some other herbs. Add a scoop of the other dried herbs and mix it around a little bit. Shuffle the herbs down to the closed end so that you will have a little bit of space to sew the open end shut.
Stuff your herbs in, creating a good mix as you go.

7. Pin the pillow closed a little way down from the open end in order to keep the herbs in place and then use your sewing machine to do a matching decorative stitch to close the open end or hand sew a simple stitch to close the end.

You can also attach velcro to one end, so you can remove and freshen up the herbs as needed.

No-Sew Version

If you have even less experience and sewing then me, then get yourself some seam tape and instead of sewing it closed, you can iron it closed! The seam tape acts as a glue when heated with the iron and so this becomes an easy no-sew project.

Even easier, you can pop the herbs into a drawstring muslin bag and simply tie the bag shut. I do that with my lavender dryer bags and it works great.

That’s it, you’re done! I hope this project helps you find your way to a restful slumber. For more on how to develop healthy sleeping habits, read this post and try my essential oil roll-on remedy for insomnia.

Dream Pillow FAQ

How often should I replace the herbs?

Replace the herbs whenever they start to lose their fragrance. Mine will last anywhere from six months to a year before they need replacing.

How many herbs should I have?

Since you’re just using the herbs for their scent, you don’t have to worry about any specific measurements. I just eyeballed it, putting in approximately a cup of herbs in total. It will also depend on the size you make your dream pillows.

Where should you put the herbal dream pillow?

I just tuck it in with my normal pillow, somewhere close by, where I can enjoy the fragrance without it bothering me or creating a big lump in my pillow.

More Tips to Help You Sleep
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Stephanie Rose

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October 18, 2024
Why Make Lotion Bars? An Easy Lotion Bar Recipe – Garden Therapy
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Lotion bars are becoming more popular due to the elimination of packaging, common ingredients, and how they soften skin so deliciously. Even better? They couldn’t be simpler to make, and they look gorgeous too. Make your own with this customizable lotion bar recipe.

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How Do Lotion Bars Work?

Lotion bars are all the rage for so many reasons! They contain all the concentrated goodness in lotion without any added water to dilute the oils and kinds of butter.

Lotion made without water also means that lotion bars can be mixed together without any preservatives. A standard liquid lotion is much more complicated to make, as you need to make it in three phases (the aqueous phase, the oil phase, and the cool-down phase). This time commitment can easily become a barrier to some folks who want to make it at home.

In standard lotion, some of the ingredients are a little bit more complicated to find like an emulsifier, a thickener, and a preservative. There are options for these that are considered natural and ethical, but they do need to be sourced and the supply chain investigated to ensure that you’re finding ingredients that you feel good about.

That being said, there are certainly ways to do it! If you want to read more about what goes into making lotion, encourage you to visit my ultra- moisturizing lotion recipe.

Lotion bars melt against the heat of your skin.

The Benefits of Lotion Bars

In contrast to the many steps it takes to make lotion and all the different ingredients, homemade lotion bars are very easy to make and require few ingredients.

They are also more concentrated so you’ll use less AND they also require less packaging. While I do use reusable glass bottles to dispense lotion, lotion bars don’t need any packaging at all if you’re using them at home.

I keep mine in a soap dish or a metal tin in my bathroom, similar to how you would store a bar of soap.

Lotion bars have a simple ingredient list.

Lotion Bars as Gifts

This lotion bar recipe also makes a great gift. You can make up a bunch of these beauties in a flower silicone soap mould give them away as thoughtful homemade gifts throughout the year.

For ideas on how to package up and gift wrap homemade lotion bars and other botanical beauty creations, check out my Make & Give book, Home Apothecary. Want more? I have taken it one step further and brought that book to life in the Botanical Beauty Holiday Gifts Workshop.

Both are filled with a variety of recipes for making natural skin care products from gorgeous botanicals, natural colours, and essential oils. Plus each project comes with unique and creative ways to wrap them as gifts.

What Ingredients Go into a Lotion Bar?

DIY lotion bars are made of oils and butter that moisturize and repair skin. The oils and butter can be infused with herbs to gain additional properties to benefit the skin.

A harder substance like beeswax or soy wax is then added to firm up the oils into a solid bar. I personally love beeswax because it’s so good for the skin. It creates a protective layer on the skin and helps to attract water. In a lotion bar, it will also work as a natural exfoliant and get rid of any dead skin cells, all while hydrating.

The bars can be scented with essential oils, coloured with natural plant-based colourants, and decorated with botanicals like flower petals or coffee beans.

The ingredients are melted together in a double boiler to combine and then poured into a mould like a silicone cupcake or soap mould. When you apply the lotion bar to your skin you’re applying the pure ingredients and therefore you’ll need less.

Pour your lotion bars into a silicone mould for beautiful, easy-to-make designs.

How Long Does a Lotion Bar Last?

A homemade lotion bar can last for many months. As there’s no water in the formulation it means that it is not a hospitable place for bacteria and fungus to grow.

Of course, how you use your lotion bar could allow for these elements to colonize. For example, if you’re often using it on wet skin or with wet hands, keeping it in a steamy bathroom, or storing it (eek) beside the toilet…it may not last as long as you’d like. Using common sense to keep your lotion bar clean, means it will continue to be safe to use for many months.

This makes lotion bars extremely sanitary for use. For those concerned about the sanitary risks of making your own lotion, lotion bars offer a good alternative. They’re made completely out of oils and waxes, with no water or preservatives required. They will last longer and stay nice and clean.

In terms of spoilage, the oils, while long-lasting, do have expiry dates. When making your lotion bar be sure to note the expiry dates on the ingredients. The expiry date for your lotion bar will be the soonest expiry date of all the ingredients. The lotion bar won’t last for many years, but it could certainly last well for quite a while.

If the lotion bar changes consistency, colour, or scent, discontinue use immediately and discard the lotion bar. Any change can be an indication that the lotion bar how spoiled. Again, common sense will guide you here.

Lotion bars last a long time and are very sanitary to use.

How to Apply a Lotion Bar

To apply a lotion bar simply rub it on dry skin. You can rub the lotion bar between your hands to melt some of the oils and then apply them to your skin. Or you can rub this lotion bar directly on your skin.

A bar like this one with the coffee beans from my Home Apothecary book, the lotion bar is a bit firmer, and the coffee beans act as a massage to the skin.

The best oils and butters to use for a lotion bar recipe are ones that melt at body temperature. This will keep the bars firm in a normally climate-controlled space, and melt the oils and butters rapidly when rubbed in your hands.

Seasonal and indoor temperature also comes into play when using homemade lotion bars. I make a winter lotion bar that doesn’t have any beeswax in it that I keep in my cool bathroom in the winter months.

It stays firm in the winter and it melts rapidly in my hands so that I can apply it all over quickly after my showers. In the summer, that lotion bar is not solid enough to hold up to the warmer months, so I use a calendula summer lotion bar with beeswax added.

What Oils, Butters, and Waxes to Use in Lotion Bars

There are so many oils, butters, and waxes that can be used in lotion bars. But, I tend to stick with the most commonly available options.

There are certainly some exotic oils that can be added to skincare if needed, but often times, the simplest recipe is the most accessible and affordable, which fits into my life best.

Oils and Butters

Waxes

Face Lotion Bar Recipe Variation

I know how careful people are when it comes to putting certain oils on their faces. While all these oils are completely safe to use on your entire body, a few stand out as beneficial to the face. Try one of these oils for a face lotion bar recipe.

We all know coconut oil as an all-around skin superhero. It has plenty of vitamin E and fatty acids, which help to create a protective barrier on the skin. It’s also incredibly moisturizing and has antibacterial and antifungal properties that make it good for acne and other skin issues.

Jojoba soil is another common carrier oil used for the face because of its resemblance to sebum. Sebum is the natural oil our skin produces, and jojoba oil is chemically and structurally the closest to it.

It can replicate or dissolve oil when we overproduce or underproduce oil, helping to balance out sebum production. This also makes it a must-have for oily and acne-prone skin!

My other final fave is rosehip seed oil. It’s no secret here on Garden Therapy that I love incorporating rose into my skincare routine. It’s a powerful tool for anti-again, being packed full of vitamins and antioxidants. You can learn more about the power of roses and skincare here!

For most lotion bar recipes, you can adjust the butters, oils, and waxes used.

How to Make Lotion Bars

The key to making this lotion bar recipe is to heat the oils so that they are melted gently and not cooked. Overheating oil can burn the oil or change its properties.

As oils, butters, and waxes melt at different temperatures, here are a few tips on how to make lotion bars without modifying the properties of the ingredients.

Different kinds of liquid oils can be combined together in the melting pot. However, butters and waxes should be broken up into smaller pieces, grated, or purchased in pastilles or pellets to ensure that they melt more quickly.

Use smaller-sized waxes or cut-up butter to make melting easier.

If you are using a solid wax, melt the wax first in the double boiler, without any of the other ingredients. As it will melt at a higher temperature and take longer, which could affect the integrity of the oils.

Below I’ll outline the basic steps for making lotion bars. If you want a specific recipe, try my winter lotion bars or my calendula summer lotion bars.

Make it!
1. Melt the wax over medium-low heat in a Turkish coffee pot, double boiler, or a small pot with a pour spout. Add the oils and butter when the wax is liquefied and melt all of the ingredients together.
2. Stir constantly and keep a watchful eye on the oils. You want them to just reach the melting point and not overheat.
3. When the oils have melted and combined, add the essential oil and flower petals, if using and stir well.
4. Pour the ingredients into a silicone mould usually used for baking or soap-making, dividing the contents equally. Leave the lotion bars undisturbed until they are set.
5. If you are making them in a warm room, move the silicone tray into the fridge to firm up.
6. Remove from the mould and store them in the refrigerator when not in use.
Let fully firm up before removing from the silicone mould.

FAQ About Lotion Bars

How do I make my lotion bars non-greasy?

In order to make your DIY lotion bars less greasy, carefully choose which ingredients you want to use as your base.

Instead of shea butter or cocoa butter, try mango butter. Quick absorbing oils also work well, such as safflower, grapeseed, or fractionated coconut oil.

How long do lotion bars need to cure?

Lotion bars only need a couple of hours until they’re fully firm and ready to use. I recommend storing them in the fridge just to make sure they don’t melt when not in use.

Can I remelt my lotion bars?

Absolutely! This is great if they accidentally melt and lose their shape. Just keep in mind that the bar is still considered used and should not be re-gifted.

I hope you enjoy using these lotion bars. They are one of my favorite skincare DIYs and hopefully will become one of yours too.

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Stephanie Rose

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October 15, 2024
Herbal Guide to Hops: Growing, Harvesting, and Using Hops Plant – Garden Therapy

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No garden should be without a hops plant. And not just because it makes great beer! There’s so much more to know about hops as a wonderful ornamental garden plant and powerful healing herb. This guide to hops will show you why you should absolutely grow it as an ornamental, how to harvest the strobiles, and how to dry and use hops for insomnia and anxiety.

The beautiful hops arbour.

Over ten years ago, I went on a garden tour where the homeowner had a beautiful arbour covered in gorgeous golden flowers that looked like paper pinecones. I was drawn to this arbour, and as I stood underneath it, I was able to breathe in the aroma that can be described as none other than hoppy. It’s not a sweet or floral smell, and yet I was immediately relaxed.

The combination of the plant’s prolificness, the beauty of the arbour covered in flowers and green leaves, and the heady, bitter smell of hops was intoxicating. It was at that moment that I knew I wanted hops in my garden, too.

I didn’t grow it to make my own beer but rather for the beauty it provides as an ornamental. Little did I know I was growing a powerful, unsung hero. It can cover a whole trellis in one summer, make beautiful dried flower arrangements, put me to sleep, and even decorate a wreath.

So really, what can’t hops do? Let’s dive into everything you need to know about hops.

Hop bines fresh and ripe on the plant.

Lori’s Green Blessings

This article was reviewed by herbalist Lori Snyder. This is not to be used as personal medical advice; always consult your health care professional for individual concerns.

Here is what Lori had to say:

Humulus lupulus is native to North America, Europe, and Asia. Various nations like the Cherokee, Delaware, Dakota, and Ojibwa accessed hops for their analgesic properties, used as a gynecological aid, a sedative, gastrointestinal pains, toothache, and earache remedy. The Algonquin peoples of Quebec used to make bread and cake hops! In Traditional Chinese Medicine, hops were used for insomnia, restlessness, indigestion, intestinal cramps, and lack of appetite. By soothing the smooth muscle of the gastrointestinal tract, hops affect the “second brain” known as the enteric nervous system, relaxing the central nervous system. Hops have a mild influence on estrogen and may cause menstrual irregularities.

What Do Hops Look Like?

Hops have long leaves and the flowers resemble light green pinecones. The flowers dry to a warm golden colour and hold their shape well. The bines stay intact when cut and it makes them perfect to wind around a grapevine wreath for festive fall decoration.

Dried hop bines made into a wreath.

Hops Flower Benefits

Because of the sheer volume of hops that the bines produce in a season, I have dried many flowers and tested out many recipes.

Helps Reduce Insomnia

My favourite is to tuck them into sachets in my pillow to help aid insomnia. In fact, hops are one of my top recommendations for herbs to help you sleep!

This practice dates all the way back to 9^th century Europe when the hops plant first became a useful tool for herbal medicine. Field workers who were working with hops plants to grow beer would often fall asleep on the job compared to other workers. People connected the dots and started using the sedative effects to help with sleep and anxiety disorders.

You can read more about fascinating herbal histories from around the world here.

Reduces Menopausal Symptoms

The plant also has estrogen-like characteristics as it contains phytoestrogens. These share many properties similar to human estrogen, meaning hops can help treat menopausal symptoms.

Helps with Anxiety

Like many people, I’ve struggled with anxiety and insomnia. Daily stresses, money troubles, family trauma, and chronic pain have done their part to make it hard for me to sleep some nights, which can lead to anxiety.

I work hard to maintain healthy sleep habits because sleep is so important for the body to heal. Including hops in a variety of ways has been really good for me, but please keep in mind that hops’ strong sedative properties mean that they may not be the right herb to use for people with depression.

However, if you’re looking for something to help you slow down and rest, hops are the way to go. Especially when you grow this prolific plant in your own garden.

Hops are one of the best herbs to aid with insomnia.

Growing Hops at Home

Hops (Humulus lupulus) can reach staggering heights in a short growing season. They grow on climbing bines (not vines) where the stems wrap-around support structures (like pole beans) rather than attaching like a vine by tendrils or suckers (like peas).

Hops flowers will always twist in a clockwise direction, even if you try your best to get them to go another way. So let them do their own thing!

Build a tall trellis or arbour to let them twist and climb and you will notice how they fill it up quickly. In fact, they can grow up to 12 inches a day! Talk about a lot of hops.

Hops are a climbing plant and will need something to support their growth.

The plants are hardy in Zones 3-8. They like deep, well-draining soil in full sun. Hops can be started from seed, but they can grow into male or female plants.

Female plants produce the strobiles, or the leaf bracts surrounding small flowers. AKA, the hops flower cones you see pictured above and the ones used to make beer. Instead, take a rhizome division from an established female plant, you don’t need a male plant for flowering.

This is a great video on how to grow hops in your home garden.

Drying and Harvesting Hops Flowers

Hops are in the same family as cannabis and hemp, so if you have grown cannabis before, you may find the hops plant has some similarities. The best time for harvesting hops is when they have ripened on the bines in the late summer. Do not pick them early, or they will not ripen.

They are ready to pick when they are papery, springy to the touch, and a bit sticky. They should smell distinctively hoppy when they are ready. Check them by smelling first, then gently squeezing one between your index finger and thumb to test how they feel.

You can pick ripe hops one by one or remove bines from the plant. Unless you are making beer, you should have plenty to leave in the garden in the fall and winter as well. I only take a small fraction of the plant to use and leave the rest to overwinter.

I hang my hops to dry in my studio and it provides decoration, aroma, and a perfect spot to dry them. You can also use a food dehydrator or oven-dry hops if you are in a hurry. More hop drying methods can be found here.

Dried hops will feel papery to the touch.

Using Hops Plant as an Herb

Beyond beer, what are hops used for? Since it’s such an uncommon herb to grow in the garden, it’s no wonder I often get this question whenever someone sees my hops plant. And before you ask, NO it does not have the same smoking effect as its closely related family member, cannabis.

The herbal part of the plant is the strobiles that hold the flowers and pollen that in turn contain lupulin, bitters, resin, and oil. The herb is used for calming: reducing anxiety, encouraging sleep, taming an upset tummy, and even helping to temper sexual desire. Keep this in mind when you are planning to use hops as an herb. If you have excess energy that could use balancing out, hops could be very helpful.

While you technically can eat hops, I wouldn’t recommend it due to its taste. The best way to enjoy the herbal benefits of hops is with tea.

Hops are quite bitter as a tea, and the flavour can be hard for some people to tolerate. However, their bitterness is actually a plus when it comes to digestion. Bitter herbs help to stimulate digestion, so you can use them to make homemade bitters and take ½ teaspoons before meals.

The hops plant is a wonderful herb to use in natural skincare recipes as well. Try infusing oils with hops to use in soap and healing salves. Hops’ calming effect works on the skin as well to reduce inflammation and help with both wrinkles and acne.

For anxiety and insomnia, you can try taking a hops tincture or making a dream pillow to fall asleep with at night.

Enjoy hops as a tincture to get the benefits without too much bitterness.

FAQ About the Hops Plant

When is the best time to harvest hops?

Hops are ready for harvest in late summer, usually beginning in mid-August through to September. You want the brines to be fully ripe, as they will not ripen any more once picked.

How do you overwinter hops?

Cut back a majority of the bines and unwind them from their trellis or structure. Leave behind 1-3 ft. of the bine, as this can help prevent crown damage. The plant will remain insulated and fed.

What variety of hops is native to North America?

Hops are native to North America, Europe, and Asia. Only the perennial hops, Humulus lupulus, is native to North America. The Asian annual, Humulus japnicus, is a naturalized weed found in eastern North America, though it is not native.

Are hops poisonous to dogs?

Yes, hops are poisonous to dogs. They can cause severe symptoms and dogs who ingest hops should seek a vet’s attention immediately.

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Stephanie Rose

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October 14, 2024
How to Get a Christmas Cactus to Bloom: Watering, Propagating + More

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A Christmas cactus can add a pop of cheerful colour to your indoor plant collection. Here’s how to care for your Christmas cactus and keep it blooming during the cold winter months.

Pictured: Thanksgiving cactus

The Christmas cactus is one of my favourite holiday plants. Pops of unexpected colour bloom from alien-like tendrils that creep and drape over the plant. These are attractive plants to have all year, but the real magic comes from when they bloom. Those showy flowers bring joy and colour to colder seasons when we need them the most.

If you’ve been gifted a Christmas cactus or picked one up at the grocery store, you may be wondering how to best care for the plant and how to encourage Christmas cactus blooms. Well, with the right care, Christmas cacti can live up to 100 years! Most live for decades and will happily become one of your staple houseplants.

There are a few specific steps you can take to ensure that you get the best show from your plants. This guide also applies to Thanksgiving and Easter Cacti, as long as you tweak the schedule to accommodate the different flowering times.

I get a lot of comments about generalizing Schlumbergera as Christmas Cacti and folks are truly very passionate about properly identifying the different species. Latin names are wonderful for ensuring that there is clarity so that the plants can be properly cared for.

In this care guide, the instructions are the same for Schlumbergera truncata and S. x Buckley but I use the common term Christmas cactus so these tips can easily be found and used.

What’s the Difference between a Christmas Cactus, Thanksgiving Cactus, and Easter Cactus?

Many of the plants that are commonly called and sold as Christmas cacti are in fact not true “Christmas” cacti. There are similar-looking plants that bloom at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Easter.

Whether you have a Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata), a true Christmas cactus (Schlumbergera x Buckleyi), or an Easter cactus (Hatiora gaertneri), the care instructions are the same but with an adjusted schedule.

The best way to tell them apart is when they bloom (near the date of the holiday they are named for), but you can also tell by the leaves: Christmas and Easter cacti have more rounded leaves, and Thanksgiving cacti have pointy leaves. The Easter cactus also has more star-shaped flowers that look quite different from the Schlumbergeras.

How to Care for a Christmas Cactus

Proper year-round care will ensure that your Christmas cactus is healthy enough to thrive and bloom, so let’s start with care basics.

When to Buy a Christmas Cactus

As always when buying a new plant, select one that looks healthy and shows no signs of disease. When choosing a plant, it is also important to pick one that is in the appropriate stage of dormancy so that it will be ready to flower for the holidays.

If you are buying one after October, choose one with visible buds on it. If you are buying one before October, pick one that does not have any buds or blooms.

The Best Soil for Christmas Cactus

Plant them into a well-draining pot in a soil mix made especially for succulents and cacti.

The best potting soil for a Christmas cactus is one specifically designed for succulents. This guarantees that it will have the proper aeration. The best soil for them is made up of light, airy materials with excellent drainage.

It should be noted that despite using cacti and succulent potting soil, a Christmas cactus is not your typical succulent. Rather than coming from a dry and arid region, Christmas cacti are actually native to Brazilian rainforests. This means they have different watering needs than other cacti. More on that in a second!

How and When to Fertilize

Once the plant has finished flowering for the winter, it’s time to grab some Christmas cactus fertilizer. Use a balanced fertilizer throughout the spring and summer. You can use my fertilizer recipe for houseplants, as it has just the right nutrients for potted plants. Fertilize once or twice a month.

Once you hit fall, stop all fertilizing. This will hinder its ability to bloom and you will be left with no blossoms come Christmas.

Stop fertilizing in the fall, as the plant will enter a period of dormacy. Pictured: Thanksgiving cactus.

How to Water Holiday Cacti

Since they’re native to Brazilian rainforests, Christmas cacti need humidity during their growing season. This can be hard to come by indoors as the air is often very dry, particularly during the winter.

To make sure that your Christmas cactus is getting the humidity that it loves, water it often enough that the soil never dries out and spritz regularly with water from a spray bottle.

Water whenever the plant begins to feel dry. The plant should never be bone dry between waterings, but should partially dry out.

You can also make an easy DIY humidity tray to keep Christmas cacti happy when they are in a dry environment.

You can tell if you are overwatering a Christmas cactus if the buds fall off before they bloom. If this happens, reduce watering and misting. Christmas cacti will need significantly less water during their dormant phase (more on that at the end of this post!).

Light Needs for Christmas Cactus

Generally speaking, Christmas cacti do best located in a bright room with lots of indirect sunlight. In the summertime, they can be moved outdoors and placed in a shady spot. In the fall Christmas cacti need twelve hours of darkness per day, so set them somewhere that does not get much artificial light after the sun goes down.

Limp Christmas Cactus

Sometimes, you may find that your Christmas cactus appears limp and wilted. If this happens, it either means it is getting too much direct sunlight or not enough water.

If you suspect that water is the culprit, immediately give it a healthy drink of water. Check on the soil every few days and water so the soil stays slightly damp. However, you don’t want it to be too wet as the plant doesn’t like soggy roots.

If you notice that in addition to the wilted leaves, there may be some scorch marks, the sun may be the problem. Move the plant out of any direct sun and make sure it gets only indirect light. It’s especially important to ensure it doesn’t sit in the hot afternoon sun.

Christmas Cactus Propagation

If you want to spread some Christmas joy, Christmas cacti take well to propagating. Luckily, it is easy to get lots of plants from just one starter plant.

Simply cut off a piece of the stem and stick it into a small pot filled with soil. After a week or two, it will develop roots and begin to grow on its own. Learn more about propagation and how to do it here!

Christmas cactus flowers come in purple-red colour, while Thanksgiving and Easter cacti come in more pink, orange, red, and white hues.

How to Get a Christmas Cactus to Bloom

In addition to proper year-round care, there are a few tips and tricks to getting a stubborn Christmas cactus to bloom. Follow these steps starting in the fall and continue on into the winter. Watch as your Christmas cactus gives you a beautiful display of vibrant flowers!

1. Reduce Watering

Beginning in October, water your Christmas cactus much less frequently. Once every four to six weeks is all it needs during this time of dormancy. When you see buds begin to form, go back to your regular watering schedule.

2. Provide Enough Light and Darkness

During the fall and early winter, Christmas cacti need twelve hours of dark and twelve hours of indirect sunlight each day. You may need to move your Christmas cacti somewhere else to reduce light, or place a cardboard box over top of it to encourage the plant to go into dormacy.

3. Keep Cool

Keep Christmas cacti somewhere cool—around 50-60 degrees F—and away from heat vents, radiators, and fireplaces. Long nights and cool temperatures signal the beginning of the cold season…and will trigger the Christmas cactus to bloom!

When happy, a Christmas cacti will produce plenty of blooms. Pictured: Thanksgiving cactus

More FAQs About Christmas Cactus Blooms

Why are my Christmas cactus buds falling off?

While you plant may have had the right conditions to produce buds, something is off with its current care that needs to be changed. This is often a sign of incorrect watering, not enough humidity, or the wrong temperatures. Refer to the care instructions above and ensure you’re following all the recommendations.

How long do Christmas cactus buds last?

Once they appear, it can take up to 2-3 months for the buds to actually bloom. Christmas cacti can have a very long bloom time for this reason, as different buds will blooms while others remain closed.

Should I water Christmas cactus with buds?

Once a Christmas cactus has buds, you’ll want to start watering as usual, watering it every time the water dries out. While they are dormant and receiving the correct amount of darkness, you want to water very sparingly every 4-6 weeks.

Enjoy your Christmas cactus and its wonderful blooms!

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Stephanie Rose

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October 11, 2024