Care and Preferences of Indoor Foliage Plants
Although a blooming indoor plant may be your first choice because of its vibrant hues and buds, if you desire several indoor plants there are a variety of simpler plants to be considered. Most of these foliage plants have fantastic stamina, an attractive feature for those with a brown thumb. Foliage plants have a resilience to adjust to any environment, grow with little maintenance, and propagate effortlessly. As staples to most home d?cor, they grow all year round, with very few exceptions.
Also attractive to any home gardener, there are a multitude of foliage plants, varieties of the same, and hybrids. With such a variety to choose from in nurseries, attributes that may draw you to one in particular are the color of leaves, their shape, and the size of the plant itself. The plants described to follow can be grown across the country and are readily available.
Let’s begin with the Asparagus fern, whose appearance although fern-like, is part of the lily family and related to the vegetable in its name. Its name is truly deceiving, as is the case with many plants. This foliage plant does have blooms of miniature white flowers and produces toxic purple berries not to be eaten. You may have seen its foliage in a dozen roses or floral arrangements as its leaves are popular among florist.
Asparagus setaceus, its botanical name, prefers rich soil, to be fed properly, and to be exposed to abundant light or partial sunlight. This native of Southern Africa attracts red mites. This pest is simply controlled through watering and spraying of the foliage, especially during its growth phase. To maintain a happy Asparagus fern, do not place it close to entryways or vents. It likes to be kept at room temperature and dislikes extreme cold or heat. To best propagate your plant in the effort to make additional house plants, collect its seeds. Increased pruning can assist in the production of these seeds.
Aspidistra, whose natural habitat is on the floors of East Asian forests, is an equally vigorous foliage plant. Also known as the cast-iron plant, it doesn’t mind being neglected nor does it prefer a special soil, temperature, or moisture.
This large leafed indoor foliage plant, when in nature, produces flowers but they rarely do so inside. The leaves that end in a point are oblong in shape growing up to 20 inches long. Less common is a variety that presents green striped and white leaves. The control of red spider mites, found on Aspidistra plants, is to keep the plant well watered and to spray it often. Division, the breaking up of a plant into two or more parts, is used to propagate the Aspidistra. It is important to keep the roots and crown of the plant intact in order to start new plants.
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