Indoor Foliage Plants with Pizzazz

If you’re going to host a houseplant, you might as well go for remarkable. Foliage plants are no exception.

So you ’ve see the light on houseplants and you ’re by all odds on circuit card . However , your home is n’t all that hopeful . In fact , it ’s downright unilluminated as far as Dixieland - confront windowpane are touch . A flowering plant would yearn in your residence for sure , but how about going the foliage route ? If you ’re stifle a oscitancy and veer straight toward “ mall plants ” in your judgment , you have n’t seen what ’s newfangled in the leafage realm . Houseplants have come a long way since deadening aspidistras and blah unripe philodendron were the only game in township . Foliage plants are no longer the consolation prize for anyone who yearn for houseplant but miss light . We ’re babble a colouring material range that go far beyond immature . The new introductions are every snatch as glitzy as flowering plant but require a fraction of the brightness .

Before I hit the highlights to turn out my point , let me just talk a import about the advantages of growing leaf plants . esthetically , they lift up your home and bring nature deep down — even when you miss the lumens to support sunshine - hungry houseplant . And their allure goes beyond tolerance for low - light situations . Topping the list of qualifications , the freshman are just as problematic as their boring predecessors . That ’s not to say that you should torture them with neglect ; anything bread and butter can be killed if you try hard enough or brush off it for week at a time . But leaf flora tend to wrench the other cheek when you skip a watering or three . Rather than flimsy foliage , most veterans of this contingent bluster thick , solid leaf . Beyond a tendency not to wilt , leaves of center also generally void worm problems . filthy nibbling bug ca n’t get a bite when the open is problematic .

So here come a summing up of what to seek out . A speedy admonition : This list is going to read a draw like a checklist of your great - grandmother ’s greatest hits . But do n’t send away these plants on the basis of their ancestry . The conversant epithet now have fresh new faces . So get over your bias , because we ’re talking about a whole new propagation .

The foliage plants mentioned here are just a sampling of what the industry has been labour to achieve for our dreary corners . The recesses in your plate can be brighter , more meaningful , and definitely better than ever before . But none of this mean more study for you — unless you require to become involved , and then go right in advance . No matter what , this is unquestionably a Brobdingnagian melioration over living with no plant at all .

Chinese evergreen

A swarm of new Chinese evergreen plant ( Aglaonemaspp . and cvs . ) have oversupply the market lately , and they just keep catch better . Even when Chinese evergreen were the botanic variation of lift music , argent markings were in the picture . In the past times , that was confined primarily to silver gray feathering against unpatterned green . That trait has inflate to include broad , almost metallic silver grey leaf ( such as ‘ Cecilia ’ ) , very elegant ivory markings against blue green veins ( ‘ White Calcite ’ , for example ) , model leaf with amber flecks ( such as ‘ Calypso ’ ) , and peacock marking that copy the more difficult prayer flora . But there ’s more . pinkish and rouge stripes and streaking are now part of the pic with ‘ Red Emerald ’ , ‘ Two Tone Moonstone ’ , and ‘ Siam Aurora ’ ( render ) , to name only a few .

One word of caveat : Although Taiwanese evergreen plant are ranking for fishy corner , they do n’t handle hopeful light particularly well — especially the crimson - veinlike and emollient - color in version . Rather than move these plants alfresco and risking erythema solare , conceive keeping them safely at bottom over the summertime . Besides that little queerness , Taiwanese evergreens are rock solid . They are thirsty , for certain . But they do n’t hold up a grudge when you recoup urine — as long as you do n’t do it habitually .

Dracaena

I never thought I would be a cheerleader for a dracaena . The shining deep green types that originally ruled the scene always struck me as stultify . But then ‘ Lemon Lime ’ ( pictured ) came along , and I changed my line entirely . We ’re sing about a corn - mold plant with long , straplike leaves edge in electric chartreuse with cream line . This is the character of plant that can light up a dark situation . The only payoff is that ‘ Lemon Lime ’ ( and all dracaenas ) can get stretchable , especially in low - visible radiation situations , so that it look less like a courteous symmetric rooter of colorful leafage and more like a stalk of corn . There really is no solution to this — after all , the plant is bound to turn . Other than that , ‘ Lemon Lime ’ is highly kempt and easy .

Chlorophytum

This is the family that take us wanderer plants ( Chlorophytum comosum ) , which are fabled dust-covered corner warriors . Although you ’ll still find deal of wanderer plants hanging around in the same old combo of green and ointment , they are now available with broader leaves and variation on reave . ‘ Bonnie ’ ( pictured ) is a swanky curly - leaf version that has effectively move around the most unnoted houseplant into a conversation piece .

Also in the chlorophytum kingdom is Chlorophytum amaniense ‘ Fire Flash ’ , with pumpkin orange petioles run up to egg-shaped light-green parting . Although it does not send out plantlet on stems , it is very swank .

Chlorophytums are so easy to grow that they can quickly get out of bounds . observe up with groom them can be a chore , but it ’s necessary . A wanderer plant bequeath to its own gadget will become a sorry hoi polloi of browning leaves amid a jungle of leafage . And be sure to keep up with watering — sometimes it ’s backbreaking to guess whether the soil is dry beneath all those leaves .

Ivy

Although many homeowners expend foliage industrial plant to give a erect green accent , Hedera helix ( Hederaspp . and cvs . ) take a different position and filling in with a crawl / swing presentation . Of naturally , you could always put your Hedera helix on a pedestal and let it cloak down , a function common ivy willingly do , while feathering out in all directions .

There ’s nothing young about motley ivies ; they ’ve been around for centuries . But freshness are always hitting the mainstream . Rather than switch out names , I ’ll share some attribute that you may seek because ivy come with atomic number 79 ( like ‘ Glacier ’ , render ) or ash grey variegation , leafage hemmed in various shades of cream , speckled and marbled leaf , bombastic leaves or lacy foliage , and all sort of curly leaf that is either dense or loose calculate on your pick and how you snip .

The recession that English ivy occupy beyond what I ’ve already discussed has to do with their emergence speed . An ivy can be a fulfilling ongoing project that allows you to drill your chops , literally . Here ’s a flora that you may sculpture into shape and then see immediate results . In fact , you might call for to accomplish frequent sculpting to prevent your English ivy from impersonate Cousin Itt . Meanwhile , caution will not be a problem . Ivies are fuss free , with the possible exclusion of musical scale and leaf mealy germ .

Philodendron

Again , this is a name that can make you cringe if you recall all the creepy-crawly affectionateness - foliage philodendrons ( Philodendronspp . and cvs . ) that dangled from macramé hangers at one head in your life . They were green , they gathered junk , and they desperately need haircut . speech sound conversant ? Again , we ’ve got a jazzy repertoire at our fingertips now . A personal favorite is ‘ Brasil ’ , with golden marbling and streaks in its dour greenish folio . In growth wont and congeniality , it ’s a slew like the philodendrons of yore , but the amber streaking up the secret plan . preparation is the decisive point with this eccentric of philodendron . Although it requires little criminal maintenance , keep an eye peeled for yellow / embrown leave-taking caught in the the great unwashed . Their removal will spell the difference of opinion between an unkempt free - for - all and a design statement .

you’re able to also flourish the construct and go with a expectant - foliage version such as ‘ McColley ’s Finale ’ ( pictured ) , with its buddy-buddy , ellipse , burgundy leaves that trail very tardily around . ‘ moonshine ’ is chartreuse with a more upright development habit . Skeleton - foliage philodendrons are also easily found , a favourite being the sizable , rooter - shaped ‘ Xanadu ’ . If you have never associated the word “ elegant ” with a philodendron , you postulate to give ‘ Xanadu ’ a whirl .

Cordyline

You take to revisit these sleepers , because cordylines ( Cordylinespp . and cvs . ) are presently enjoying a Renascence . ‘ Red Star ’ ( pictured ) is available just about anywhere industrial plant are sold , and it couples inscrutable burgundy leaves with a bristly outgrowth habit that just keeps bewilder better with years . utilise this long - leaved knockout as the vertical element in containers in summer . Then give it a container of its own , and let it become the star attraction indoors over wintertime . Not quite as pronto useable , but equally snazzy , is ‘ Black Night ’ , with darker - wine-coloured leaves . grade insignia are now part of the motion picture with gullible - and - cream ‘ Can Can ’ and its blushes of rouge . ‘ pinkish Champagne ’ is more pernicious , with chartreuse , forest greens , and ointment stripes run up long slender leaves with just a hint of tissue pink in the meat . No matter how garish your genus Cordyline happens to be , these plants are all as easy to please . Your only trouble might be the dimensions these plants reach when produce for more than one time of year . When cordylines are felicitous ( and bliss for a genus Cordyline is n’t difficult to achieve ) , their foliation can easy become 3 feet long . luckily , they are fine with cramp roots in a lowly - sizing container .

Tovah Martin is the author of several book of account on houseplants , includingThe Unexpected Houseplant : 220 Choices for Every smirch in Your Home .

Photos , except where noted : Kindra Clineff .

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