PLATE 07 · COURTYARD PENTHOUSE
The living room has the sun until 17:40.
08:05 · sun 4° · 5 of 6 rooms in sun51.5°N · 21 Oct · clear sky
Every room, this minute
Clear sky · hours of direct sun anywhere on the room’s floor, found by the same test that draws the gold in the render above.
Outside
Whole day, clear sky · horizon profile of what stands around it · no glass in the way.
The same rooms, all year
One mid-month day per cell · clear sky · direct beam at the sunniest point on each room’s floor.
Every plant, where it stands
10 standing · 5 getting by · 4 want moving
Aloe veraMaster, east window0.0h
Medium this month · Bright light, some direct sun from Mar
A desert succulent. It wants the brightest spot in the house and most houses cannot provide it.
Leaves go thin and floppy and lose their upright fan.
Aloe vera · Arid Arabian Peninsula; full desert sun.
CalatheaMaster, courtyard corner1.7h
Bright direct this month · Medium light, some direct sun from Nov
Its patterned leaves are solar panels for the dimmest light in the forest; direct sun overwhelms them.
Patterns fade and the plant stops folding its leaves at night.
Goeppertia orbifolia · Deep shade on the floor of Bolivian rainforest.
Fiddle leaf figLiving room, south glass5.7h
Bright direct this month
It begins as an epiphyte near the canopy, so it expects strong light and sulks without it.
Drops lower leaves one at a time and leans hard toward the window.
Ficus lyrata · Lowland West African rainforest, where it starts life high in another tree.
MonsteraKitchen, courtyard glass0.0h
Bright indirect this month
It grows up trees toward light but under a canopy, so it is built for bright, broken light rather than open sun.
Leaves stop splitting and come in small and whole; stems stretch toward the window.
Monstera deliciosa · Understorey of Central American rainforest, climbing toward gaps in the canopy.
OliveLiving room, courtyard side0.0h
Low this month · Bright direct from Nov
A full-sun tree that is miserable indoors in winter; it belongs on the terrace.
Drops leaves steadily and stops growing; a dark winter indoors can finish it.
Olea europaea · Mediterranean hillsides in full, relentless sun.
Peace lilyStudio, under the rooflight1.8h
Bright direct this month · Bright light, some direct sun from Nov
A floor plant that flowers in shade; it needs far less than people give it.
Stops flowering but the foliage stays fine, which is why people rarely notice.
Spathiphyllum wallisii · Shaded, humid floor of Colombian and Venezuelan rainforest.
PothosGallery, south end0.0h
Low this month
Adapted to dim broken light under trees; it will live almost anywhere and grow faster where it is brighter.
Variegation fades to plain green and the vines go leggy between leaves.
Epipremnum aureum · Forest understorey in the Society Islands, trailing and climbing in broken shade.
Rubber plantGallery0.0h
Low this month
A full-size forest tree in the wild; it wants bright light and takes some direct sun in its stride.
Lower leaves drop and the gaps between new leaves stretch out.
Ficus elastica · Lowland forest of northeast India and Southeast Asia, a canopy tree.
Spider plantStudio, courtyard glass0.0h
Medium this month · Bright direct from May
Edge-of-forest light: plenty of brightness, not much full sun.
Stripes fade and it stops throwing out plantlets.
Chlorophytum comosum · Forest margins and riverbanks in southern Africa, in partial shade.
ZZ plantGuest room0.0h
Medium this month · Bright light, some direct sun from Apr
Its rhizomes store water and its glossy leaves shed it; low light slows it, not kills it.
New stems come up long and pale and lean.
Zamioculcas zamiifolia · Dry grassland and forest edge in East Africa, through long droughts.
Fit is a month-long question, read at the plant’s own spot. It does not move with the hour rail.
The brightest spot in a room is found once, over the whole year, so every reading of that room is of the same square metre.