Warm up your home with a jolt of colour
Easy care plants add life to rooms after holiday decor is stashed away
Once the holiday decor is put away, the interiors of many homes and apartments can look somewhat bleak and it doesn’t help that it’s one of the darkest, coldest, dreariest months of the year outside.
We all need a little pick-meup right about now and a few unique, easy to care for plants will do the trick.
In the Northern Hemisphere, traditional succulents like echeverias, aeoniums, cotyledons and dudleyas struggle in the low light typical in most homes, but there are some varieties that perform quite well.
Haworthias are, perhaps, some of the most bulletproof. These South African natives, being tolerant of both low light and humidity, are among the toughest succulent plants that you’ll ever find. Haworthia attenuata (zebra plant) is my favourite because of its great colour and compact habit. Many other varieties are widely available at this time of year and are often found in attractive containers under the brand Live Trends.
Sansevierias (snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue) are hot today. Native to tropical West Africa, they are very resilient plants. Their tall, narrow, rigid, thick leaves come in many colours, including black-green and silver. They can also be striped or banded and many have yellow- or cream-coloured linear edging.
Sansevieria “Hahnii” has a more compact bird’s nest form and looks beautiful used as a point of interest on a coffee table or desk. There is a high demand for the many new forms of sansevierias and the cylindrical varieties are totally unique. So, too, are the huge, wide, strap-like leaves of the “whale fin” variety.
The popularity of tillandsia (air plants) has also exploded. Native to Mexico and South America and related to bromeliads, these epiphytes, like many orchids, simply hang about in trees, depending upon rainforest mists, fog and dew to sustain them.
For retail sales in the past, they were mounted on small bits of driftwood or grape roots, but today we see them more often featured in hanging glass balls where they are easy to mist with warm water without making a mess. The colourful foliage of tillandsia andreana and pink tillandsia magnusiana is quite striking. Many varieties, like tillandsia stricta, bloom as well. When the flowers finish, simply cut them back and offset shoots will reappear on the main stem.
The secret for success with these plants is to acclimatize them by placing them near an east- or north-facing window and misting them with warm water until they adapt to the conditions in your home. Bluish or green foliage types need less water and will tolerate higher light. You must keep an eye on them for the first few weeks and if the foliage tends to curl, submerge them in warm water until they revive.
It always amazes me that the more traditional bromeliads, like aechmea spectabilis, aechmea fasciata and neoregelia carolinae, have never taken off in this part of the world. When I attend the Tropical Plant International Expo, the largest tropical plant show in North America presented each year by Florida growers, the entire bromeliad family is displayed in a stunning fashion.
OK, it’s true, they’re grown outdoors in Florida (as they can be here during our summers), but they are among the easiest to care for when used indoors and most the vibrantly coloured plants you’ll find. They don’t stress about low light, poor humidity or the black-thumbed person looking after them; these plants just perform. They are happiest with soil that is just moist and they like a regular supply of water in the well of their vase-like foliage — and that’s it!
Anthuriums (often known as painted tongue or tail flower) are also growing in popularity. If you’re looking for a plant that removes toxins from the air (according to NASA) anthuriums are among the best for cleaning air in confined spaces.
In the early days of cultivating anthuriums, they offered up only a few flowers and the time between blooming periods was long. Today, new hybrids are almost continually in bloom and they, too, are easy to please. Most anthuriums available locally are grown in Langley and, unlike many tropicals, they are already well acclimatized to our light levels.
The colour range of anthuriums has expanded greatly from the early reds and oranges to white, pink, lavender, green and almost everything in between. In terms of value, anthuriums are probably one of the best because of their relatively low cost and their incredibly long-lasting habit.
In their native environment, anthuriums prefer a shaded location, so at this time of year an east or north window with indirect light would be the best place to situate them. The closer to the window the more blooms you will find redeveloping because they need a good level of light to keep flowering; however, the leaves will burn if in direct sunlight.
Anthuriums are happiest in a six- to eight-inch pot with plenty of room and a well-draining soil is essential because they are susceptible to root rot. To avoid problems, use a half-and-half mix of quality potting soil and perlite. The soil should always be moist to keep new growth coming.
If you look around your home and it seems a little cold and sterile, any one of these plants will instantly add life, colour and a warm ambience — and the bonus is they are all easy to care for!