This morning, two house plants took a shower with me.

An orchid and a clementine plant were looking dried-out from lack of humidity. Heated winter air does that to some plants.

I stood them at the drier end of the walk-in shower, where the water wouldn’t hit them directly. While I washed, both plants were surrounded by warm mist. After dressing, I removed each, pouring room-temperature water into the pot and letting it drain before restoring to the windowsill.

Tomorrow, the orchid will be dosed with orchid fertilizer, mixed at half-strength. The clementine will be allowed to dry out for a week. Both plants look better already.

The clementine was grown from a seed I found in a “seedless” fruit two years ago. It has glossy citrus leaves and (unlike my lemon bush) it lacks those cruel thorns. As it grows, it may be shaped into a handsome shrub and will no longer fit on a windowsill.

“Floor” plants, like a tall epiphyllum or orchid cactus, may be trundled to the shower. There’s no need to chaperone the big ones, such as a large philodendron; let the water run for humidity. Sometimes those big leaves need to be cleaned with a mild soap before rinsing. Let that green giant dry off in the shower before returning to its saucer.

Caution! If a plant prefers to be dry, skip the shower. Gently wipe any leaves that need it. Do not use plant shine, milk, olive oil or any other polish to the foliage; that may enrich the manufacturer but clog the leaf’s pores. Water only when needed: every other week or maybe every month.

African violets and all other fuzzy-leaved plants should never be showered, but may be watered judiciously under the foliage.

Anyone with a super humidifying system may ignore this way of regulating moisture. Many kinds of such systems are available; investigate them, remembering that plants and humans both need a lively, slightly damp atmosphere in winter.