Easter Decorating Tips
By Rob Sproule

Wheatgrass
Eggshell Succulents
Indoor Fresh Air

Easter is a season of rebirth and the threshold to spring. It’s also a classic time to freshen up the house for visiting friends and family, and to flush away the long, dark winter with a blast of indoor life.  Here are my top 3 ideas for easy, kid-friendly ways to put out the welcome mat for spring in your designing:

Wheatgrass:

It doesn’t get easier than this! If you have kids, they’ll love helping with wheatgrass. It’s such a vibrant green plant, so full of life that it’s become a beacon of health, vitality, and rebirth.

You’ll need:
“¢ a container
“¢ regular potting soil
“¢ wheatgrass seed (if you can’t find any, and don’t plan to make smoothies, catgrass seed may be easier to source and will grow the same way)

First, soak a generous number of seeds in water for 12-24 hours. This will soften them up and speed up the growth.  Next, add soil to your container. You’ll only need a couple inches worth (the rest can be rocks, or almost anything).

Then, moisten the soil and layer the wheatgrass seed. It should be so full that you don’t see any soil; no one wants a sparse and patchy herald of spring.  Lastly, place the container in a window and, in a few days, you’ll have green growth so vibrant you’ll want to take a deep breath of fresh, spring air.

Eggshell Succulents:

Eggs and Easter go together like peanut butter and jelly. This Easter, use succulents, being both the trendiest and the easiest houseplants, to take your eggs to the next level.

You’ll need:
“¢ some eggs (6 or a dozen are best, so you can use the carton)
“¢ succulents (you might need to call around; ask for 2″ succulents)

First, using a dull knife, notch and then cut the top off the egg’s pointy end, just enough to pour out the egg (preferably into a hot pan with some bacon and chives).
Then, wash out the shells and let dry for a day or so.

Now the fun part”¦ Take the succulents carefully from their pots. Remove as much soil as you need (gently), and pot into the shell (also gently), using the chopsticks to make sure the soil pushes into air pockets. Use a cactus or succulent blend, or cut peat-based potting soil 1:1 with sand.

Water sparingly (only until the top is moistened) and there you have it: your own Easter succulent-egg carton. You’ll have happy, calcium-munching succulents that require as little care as an occasional, tiny stream of water.

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Indoor Fresh Air:

We crave spring because we want to break out of the house, into the fresh air. This Easter, you can bring fresh air indoors with plants that clean the stale winter right out of your lungs.

Houseplants’ ability to clean the air have given them a recent renaissance of popularity. Making a garden out of the best air cleaners (even if they’re little guys), will bring a bit of spring indoors, freshen things up for Easter, and even help your health, to boot.  The rules are simple: get any container, some soil, and dive in. Here are the best air cleaning plants that will fit nicely into a small space:

“¢ Spider plant
“¢ Peace Lily
“¢ Gerbera Daisy (for splash of colour)
“¢ Ferns (Bostons are best, but any will do)
“¢ Palms (ask for a tiny “Parlour palm”)
“¢ English Ivy
“¢ Mum (pot mum is best and readily available)

Plant them all together, add some fresh spring ornaments, and you’ve got a little spring that will last all year.