The late winter mantel—a houseplant installation

As our wet winter combined with COVID induced isolation continue to keep me home and not connecting with "real people," I find myself watching more online entertainment. Occasionally I venture into the world of houseplant influencers and Summer Rayne Oaks videos. I watched an episode in which she did a houseplant consultation for a condo owner, he had a strange built in planter sort of situation under an extreme overhang. I'm not explaining it well because I don't really remember it clearly, but it did set my mind to thinking about a different sort of mantelscape based on these planters I spotted during a quick walk through Little Baja, here in Portland...Those long, thin, concrete planters were 12, 18 and 24 inches long. I played around with how to get the best coverage on our mantel and came up with this, two 24 inch and one 18 inch, then filled them with plants that have low-light requirements like ferns and begonias.

The plants include (left to right) Blechnum spicant (deer fern), a Rex begonia hybrid, and the spotted leaves belong to (lord help me I fought using this stupid name) begonia ‘My Special Angel’ hybrid.
Cryptanthus 'Black Mystic', Callisia fragrans, Microsorum musifolium and then a pair of begonia leaves that I rooted from NOID plants in the garden, and finally Adiantum venustum.
Microsorum musifolium (crocodile fern) and one of those NOID garden begonia leaves
Adiantum venustum, Rex begonia hybrid, Blechnum spicant.
I wanted a little height at the center of the mantel so I brought in a tall dark cement planter and it supports a couple of tillandsia.
Blechnum spicant, Callisia fragrans and Cryptanthus 'Black Mystic'.
Cryptanthus 'Black Mystic', Microsorum musifolium, and a rhizomatous Begonia 'Midnight'/
Yes, another rooted begonia leaf from the garden...(these came from the nursery dept at our local Fred Meyer—an "everything" store). Since the coldest temperatures of the last two years are predicted for later this week (maybe as low as 23F—which is really concerning because of just how warm it has been) I think I'll be cutting more leaves to bring inside and root...
This one is just so crazy colorful...
So that's a look at the planters, and plants—which I really love!