Martha Stewart: Rock your porch with plants, not chairs

A SHADY PORCH is the perfect place for a drink, lunch or even a small dinner party.

I grow a large assortment of ornamental plants that are more commonly found in the tropics or in desert landscapes. These are the plants I love to place on pedestals, in corners, on the stairs and in hanging pots over the porch railings.

During the warm months I often change the mix of plants, sometimes concentrating on aloes and ferns, sometimes on rhipsalis and begonias. The porch is pretty safe for all these plants. Even on very windy days, they stay upright and hang securely because I set each pot carefully, placing heavy stones in the bottoms of tall containers and using strong chains to secure the big hanging baskets.

Try to obtain an assortment of texturally diverse and beautiful plant specimens. The light, feathery maidenhair ferns look great next to kangaroo paws, and the giant staghorn ferns can hang alternately with monstrous Boston ferns. The corners of the porch are great for the placement of really large plants, such as cut-leaved philodendrons.

I water the plants on my pocrch with a hose or a watering can, spraying the foliage lightly and feeding every plant an all-purpose organic plant food at least once a week.

Decorating a porch with houseplants is a simple and effective way to make it a friendly and inviting place to gather, entertain and even take a catnap. And from a distance, the plants do indeed make a home lovelier.

Houseplants brighten interiors during the cold months and add leafy green elegance to a porch or patio in summer.

Always move plants outside gradually to avoid burning the foliage in the bright sun.

Bird's-Nest Fern (Asplenium Nidus): This indoor fern will tolerate the dry air of most homes better than other ferns. Its broad leaves are a good counterpoint to the lacy foliage of the rabbit's-foot fern.

Boston Fern (Nephrolepis Exaltata): This fern has been a porch plant since the Victorian age. It thrives in heat and humidity but can sulk during winter months, even in the greenhouse.

Crested Ligularia (Farfugium Japonicum 'Cristata'): Hardy in Zone 7 and warmer, this plant is good for a cool greenhouse or sunporch. It sends up spikes of bright-yellow flowers in late autumn.

Mistletoe Cactus (Rhipsalis Baccifera): This shaggy cactus prefers bright, indirect light inside and shade outdoors. Although this is a true cactus, it grows in the rain forest - not in the desert. It still prefers soil on the arid side, so let it dry between waterings.

Rabbit's-Foot Fern (Davallia Fejeensis): The "feet" are surface rhizomes covered with furry scales. They absorb moisture and nutrients as roots do.

Rhizomatous Begonia (Begonia Paulensis): This begonia is the newest addition to the collection. As with all rhizomatous begonias, the surface of the soil needs to dry between waterings. It likes high humidity.

Staghorn Fern (Platycerium Bifurcatum): This tropical rain-forest fern is planted in moss-lined baskets.

Spray it gently with a hose every day to keep the humidity up and the growing medium evenly moist. It thrives in bright, indirect light indoors and shade outside.

Tall Kangaroo Paw (Anigozanthos Flavidus): Better in the cool greenhouse than in the house. This Australian native grows spikes of fuzzy yellow flowers in early summer that last for months.

Tree Philodendron (Philodendron Bipinnatifidum): There are newer dwarf cultivars of this big nonclimbing philodendron, but this full-size species is great for filling corners and making a bold statement.

Variegated Japanese Aralia (Fatsia Japonia 'Variegata'): In Zone 7 and warmer, this plant is a large shrub. In colder climes, it makes an easy-care houseplant that enjoys summer outdoors.

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