I just love house plants. They fill the indoor air with the smell of earth, infuse my rooms with pure oxygen, and make me feel connected to living things. And I'd have a whole lot more of them too, if not for my tendency to gently kill them through periods of neglect combined with bouts of zealous over-watering. I just don't know how to keep track of which plants need to be watered frequently, which ones need to rest in always moist soil, and which need drying out between waterings.

These glass watering spheres, available at ImprovementsCatalog.com, look like festive Christmas ornaments, and may be the solution for some wanna-be green thumbs. You fill them with water and stick them in the pots, then your plants draw water from them as needed. You can buy three of them for $24.99.