This year my favorite plant has been the Lady Palm and the ZZ plant. Ive added 2 three-foot lady palms and 1 small lady palm so far and still on the lookout for more. They grow really well indoors. They grow slow but steady and Im very happy with them.

Ive added about 4 ZZplants as well. They are growing very very slowly for they look so healthy I really cant complain. I keep them in a bright window surrounded by other plants and so far so good. They are a long term plant for sure, and progress will have to measured over the course of several seasons.

Im pretty sure I will have new favorites before springs sets in :)

Overall, I'd have to cast my vote for Monstera & Epipremnum: they're pretty easy & always look lush... and spider plants, for the same reason, although they require more grooming.

The current star at my house is a new Chlorophytum "Fire Flash" - a spider plant relative - that is just stunning. I noticed 2 flower spikes coming up, which is VERY exciting! It's supposed to be very easy to care for, but I've only had it for a few weeks, so I can't comment on that yet.

A very difficult question. Variegated Citrus and Variegated Succulents. know I cheated, lol.

Brad, which direction is your FF in? Toni

Parlor Palm, Anthurium and Spider plant.

botanical_drifter

Hers is mine!
{{gwi:68056}}

:-)

Mike, your new orchid is beatutiful..oh oh, we getting into orchids, too? lol..

Norfolk Island Pines.

Yeah. I'm weird.

My NIP got decorated this holiday and it was a hit! I cant wait to put it outside this spring because the more I look at it the more it looks like it belongs outside :)

Toni:

That's my favorite houseplant because I can put it where I want, no pest issues, it always looks great, requires no humidity, I can spray it with perfume, in fact that one requires no work at all.
Many people compliment me on it when they come over.....It's plastic.lol

Seriously though, I am still trying to come up with one, for this day, since my favorite houseplant changes day to day..It depends which one is not giving me a problem, in bloom, and fragrant which can be any of 60 at any time of the month.

Mike

lol I really fell for that one too!That its not in a window yet in full bloom shoulda been the giveaway but im so desperate for spring right now....

It's great to see that a few people have a fun and good personality around these places lately. God knows many of us could use a few laughs.

Take care Greenchic.:-)

Mike

Right now, African Violets and Streps. Subject to change without notice!

Mike, you stinker.

Mike, how dare you have 'fake' in your house..lol. j/k
I thought it looked 'too perfect,' which is why I said your 'new' orchid..lol..

I agree about people getting along..it's so much nicer, coming here, feeling relaxed. Life is too short, and we all have our own personal demons to fight. Coming to GW is an escape, a place where people discuss one of their favorite hobbies, and get to know a little about each other. Toni

Forgot to add, like Mike, favorites change daily. This week it's E. 'Crown of Thorns.' (thai's and Millii.)
Especially when blooming various colors.

Well this favorite is a permanent one for me. I even refer to it as my Beloved Balfour Aralia. Just can't get enough of this plant, I think it's the perfect combination of design (leaf shape, & ruffle) & color (variegated green & white, more of my favorites):

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Another favorite (not commonly seen)

Ludisia discolor aka jewel Orchid:

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This orchid is unusual in that it's grown for foliage, not bloom. I need better pix of it, but the leaves are a dark foresty green which looks like velvet shot through w/ threads of gold, & pink, so pretty!

It sort of makes me feel a little like an 8-year old & I think of it as a fairy princess plant, 'cause I just want to stroke its beautiful, velvety & gold threaded leaves.

Karen, you've posted pics!! I can't recall you ever posting a picture before..

Both your plants are doing great. Your Var Balfour in its cup/saucer pot is so very cute. Nice blue, too.
I kill Aralias..for one reason or another.

How tall is your Ludisia? Does it bloom in winter? I know they're mini orchids, but mine stands 8+" tall, though spindly. Any suggestions? Should I cut back? If so, is now a good time or should I wait?
A stem broke off several years ago. I place in water, it rooted! It was hanging on some waste-of-money hanging tube, 3+ yrs. I forgot to water, so it kicked the bucket, but the point is it rooted and even bloomed in this little tube. Didn't know orchids rooted from stem cuttings?

Karen, you need to post more pics..Do you have a larger pic of your Ludisia? Toni

Today my favorite plants are E. Crown of Thorns, Pachypodiums, and Scheffleras. lol

This is probably my favorite....
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It looks more like a philodendron bipinnatifidum to me than a philo. selloum, but I read that the latter only reaches a mature height of 4 ft. The tallest leaf on mine is about 7 ft.

Elkay..at first I thought your Philo, 'yes, probably bip' was growing in the ground until I looked at your zone. :)
Very nice..your Spider's doing great too..Toni

BTW, 'eyes are getting bad,' what's the tall plant next to the house?

Yeah, that philo has to be dragged in and out of the house depending on the temp.

Next to the door is a hanging pothos, a spider and then one of my many dracaena warneckii.

Elkay, been there done that..lol.. Every spring plants go out, every autumn hauled back in. Showered, reshowered, sprayed, hosed again..lol..
A few years ago, I bought a 20.00 dolly at HD. It helps to a degree..for large plants anyway. Toni

Today, my fav plant is Aglaonemas and Crown of Thorns.

New to this forum, so please excuse what is probably a stupid question, but where do you get the plants? A greenhouse/gardencenter? A big box store? there is a place called Metropolitan plant exchange not far from where I work and I was thinking I would go there, but I bet it is expensive.

I would love to start adding some pet friendly plants back in to my decor. It has been years for some reason.

Orchids would be my favorite houseplants.

Toni -- Ludisia, a mini? Guess that depends on what one calls "mini". I don't view this one as a mini though small is still somewhat accurate. Jewel orchids like Ludisia (aka Haemaria) can be rooted from stem cuttings but the vast majority of orchids cannot. You can try upping the light a bit and you will get tighter growth. However, the leaves will also likely start bleaching out at that point turning more of an orangy color. You can cut them back any time of year and root them in soil rather like a "Wandering Jew". Mine are currently flowering though the flowers aren't nearly as impressive as many other orchids.

Boop..there's no such thing as a stupid question when it comes to plants..:) Actually, I love questions such as yours.
Are you new to plants?

There are many many places to find plants. 'Stay away from Florists,' talk about expensive!!

Before the net, I'd shop for plants at local green houses/nurseries, 'found in the phone book,' grocery stores, drug stores, pet stores, a limited mail order nurseries, and big box stores such as Home Depot, Ace, Meynard's, KMart, Walmart..Many here on GW shop at Lowe's.

Since the net, I found numerous plant shops..some that specialize in certain plants. For instance, let's say you want an orchid. There are orchid nurseries that sell rare types, many that are hard to find.
Ebay and Amazon sellers sell real beautys.'
If you'd like a list of online nurseries, email me. I will jot down names w/a brief description plus prices.
However, if you're searching for tall, 5'+ trees, you'd do better off shopping locally. Shipping is terribly costly. Same applies to common plants such as Ficus, Dracaena 'Corn Plants, Yuccas, etc.

Starting out, choosing plants can be fun.
In case you decide to email my addy is hopefulauthor@sbcglobal.net or across from my screen name, it says, (My Page.). Click, you should should see, 'Email Me.' That's all it takes, I hope. lol.

Paul...Ludisia is called mini but you're right, small is more accurate. Yep, Jewel Orchid. Dark puple leaves w/pink stripes. There's a second Ludisia w/silvery leaves, supposed to be tiny. I'd call the latter a mini/dwarf.
My Ludisia is before a north window, a few feet from west, and under artificial light..Ironically, 4+ yrs ago, I rearranged the room. The shelf was further from windows. It did fine, bloomed every winter. Now that it's getting more light, it stopped blooming. It could be cooler than it's previous location. That's a guess.

Even though Ludisia flowers are small, they're highly fragrant..One reason I like this orchid, not to mention leaf colors. None of my other Orchids emit fragrance, guess that's the reason I appreciate Ludisia. :)

There's a slight chance it might bloom this winter..should I wait to take cuttings or go ahead and get it over..pruning frightens me, lol.
Wonder why Ludisia roots from cuttings, but no other, or few' orchids will. Vanilla might? Sorry, only know orchid basics.
Paul, btw, what type of medium is your Ludisia in? Thanks much, Toni

It has to be hoyas for me. I have lots of them :). Out of all of them, the most sentimental is my plain old green carnosa. She (I say she because I've named her Nikki after my best friend who died before senior year in high school) is my pride and joy. I hope she blooms this year!

Brad AKA Moonwolf

Hello All,
With all this snow lately, my house plants have been getting some extra attention, so decided to check out this houseplant forum. Spiders and ivy are my easiest plant to grow in my home and they are both so pretty. I am very fond of my Norfork Island Pine as well. Mine is supposed to be a dwarf but no one told it. I also move mine in and out for the nice weather months. This year I put it in the middle of a half barrel outside my doorway and planted impatients and petunias aroung the base. It was very pretty. This winter I decorated it for the holidays too. Now that my children are grown I would rather do that than bring in a fresh cut tree. I have so many house plants now that room is a factor as well.
I have to mention another favorite... asparagus fern. They don't really like the heat of the house in winter, so
I put them in the shower every once in a while and they do better in the winter, shedding less. They really like being outdoors in the summer months.
Susan in NE CT

Hi again,

Hey Toni,

I'm not the one to advise on Ludisia, this is the first one I've been able to keep alive for a while. Mine's just that little bit & it just separated from the stem at a node, so I'll have to root it.

I think the bloom on these is sweet & charming, maybe no great shakes to Orchid People, but lovely nonetheless.

I sometimes lose these Aralias too, just lost 3 small ones, bought a replacement & have one growing Hydro. I think I'm going to try several others Hydro. These Balfour Aralias sometimes vanish for years at a time, seem to cycle in & out of favor.

Silk-Plants..stop posting here. For one thing, it's against GW Policy to advertize on the forums.
Second, no one is interested in silk plants. This is a house plant forum where people discuss 'LIVING' plants.

Brad, Hoyas are lovely plants. Dorry about your friend..very sad.
Every so often, our grocery store, 'Jewel,' has 3-4" potted house plants for 1.00. A couple wks ago, there was one green Carnosa on the display stand. Don't think I've ever had green, so it jumped in my cart. :)

Susan. Although snow is very pretty, month after month of winter bring many people down. I too have been working on plants, showering/hosing, cleaning felled leaves, and tables/shelves plants live. I don't know how this happens, but I'm always finding soil on shelves and floors. Every so often my female bird takes off like a jet plane, lands on a plant in a neighboring room, and down it goes..lol..it's so much fun picking up soil.

Favorate plants today: Pachypodium, Euphorbias, COT's and Aglaonemas.

Rhizo, you tell them!!! lol

Karen..How will you root your Ludisia? Water or soil?
Perhaps some orchid enthusiasts aren't fond of Ludisias, but their white flowers during winter months brightens a room. Leaf color is beautiful, too. 'There's a Ludisia w/nearly-black foliage and silver stripes.'

HD usually has Aralias, including Ming, Dinner Plant, and Variegated. They're gorgeous plants, but most difficcult.
Was it you who had a large Aralia, a year or two back?

Do you think Aralia's will thrive in water? Toni

Silk plants creep me out. They're kind of like having a realistic, life-sized mannequin in your house. Just... unnatural.

I think one of my other favorites is Ledebouria sociallis. Mine is blooming right now. Or getting ready too, at least. Two flower spikes. Not the most interesting flowers, but flowers nonetheless.

I also really like Platyceriums except since I've started growing more succulentish plants than non-succulentish plants, I've SORT OF gotten rather lax about watering stuff on time, which my non-succulents mostly tolerate except for the ferns, which don't really like it at all.

Amccour..why do silk plants creep you out? lol.
I don't like over-priced, wanna-be plastic or silk, so-called greens, but they don't cause goose bumps..lol

How old is your Ledebouria? Is it planted in a shallow pot? How often do you repot?

You're talking about Scilla, right? lol..hope so. Mine has been in the same, no-drainage saucer, 20+ yrs..
I was sent two different color Scillas as bonus plants. One bulb each, different colors/types.

Today's Favorite plant/s is/are: Aglaos, Adeniums, and COT's. Toni

"You're talking about Scilla, right?"

Yeah, I guess. No idea what the correct taxonomy is nowadays. Mine is relatively young, honestly. Only had it for a few winters. It' not really in a shallow pot. Just a standard terra cotta thing with a fairly fast-draining potting mix. A wide, shallow pot would probably be better in terms of giving the offsets space to... well, offset.

I got it at a gift shop at a local conservatory actually. Never really seen them for sale elsewhere.

Yep, Scilla..Purple w/siver speckles...blooms little, white flowers.

Since their roots are shallow, I figured a shallow pot is best. The grow like weeds. lol.
I never knew there was so many species. Some leaves are nearly black. Beautiful.

I'm surprised your Lud is fragrant, Toni -- I've never encountered one that was before. To the best of my knowledge there aren't any true mini's for Ludisia (a true mini being a plant whose vegetative growth does not exceed 6" in height), though there are ones that grow more slowly.

It's not so much about not liking Ludisia per se -- many orchid enthusiasts, including myself, have them. It is simply the case that the foliage is the draw, not the flowers. My mix varies based on what is at hand. Generally I use fairly equal parts of regular soil, orchid bark (medium or large grade) and large grade perlite or clay aggregate, or large grade horticultural charcoal. I find they root easily in lightly moist media.

Vanilla can be grown from cuttings but as with many vines, you want to take a section that has root nodes present -- a leaf cutting will not work. (Leaf cuttings won't work for any of the jewel orchids either that I know of.)

With regards to why most orchids can't be grown from cuttings, that has to do with the location of the meristematic tissues. These are the undifferentiated tissues that give rise to roots, leaves, and such. If the cutting taken lacks such tissues then it will be virtual impossible to propagate a new plant from a cutting. For example, you will find nothing but disappointment if you try and propagate an orchid, tulip or even grass from a leaf cutting. That is because the cells in the leaf have already differentiated -- "decided" what they are to become -- and so there is no meristematic tissue present to differentiate into root or other plant tissues. In the case of tulips, the meristematic tissue is located inside the bulb near the base. In many grasses, some orchids, and other plants there are meristemtic cells located in the stems. Even then there seems to be some varience in just how "flexible" such cells are in making such a transformation. For example, while a vandaceous orchid can be "topped off" to obtain more than one plant, it is generally unwise to do so unless the upper section has already formed roots. If the upper section has not done so before getting lopped off the cutting typically dies before roots ever form. In many other orchids such cells are confined to the rhizome.

Posted by SCPearson 5 NE CT
I am very fond of my Norfork Island Pine as well. Mine is supposed to be a dwarf but no one told it.

Susan, do keep in mind that NIPs reach heights of 50-65m [164-213ft] in the wild. So a 'dwarf' could very well constitute a plant that will reach a height of "only" 20m [65ft].

My favorite is whatever blooms with little care. I love orchids, these two are small and easy to grow. I take them to work when they bloom. The flowers last a long time and 'Twinkle' is fragrant, smells like chocolate!

Phal. equestris var. orange
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Oncidium 'Twinkle'
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Jane

Paul...thanks for the orchid info.
Think I mentioned, it's been a couple/few years since my Ludisia bloomed. The last time it flowered it sat on the same shelf as a Maid of Orleans Jasmine.
Still, I placed my nose up against Ludisia flowers and swore it had a faint scent.
Some people detect Hoya flowers scent, but for some reason, when my Hoyas bloom, I smell nothing. lol.

Paul, I didn't think a Ludisia leaf would root. If I said that, sorry, I meant stem cuttings. Yes, it would be similar to trying to root a Tulip leaf. lol. I can't think of any bulb/corm plants that would root via leaf cuttings. Can you?

My dilemma is whether or not to take Ludisia 'stem cuttings,' root, then pot them up w/mom or wait to see if the plant blooms. My Ludisia is a tad spindly. Wish it was compact. What's the worse that can happen???

Jane, your Orchids are absolutely beautiful. How much light do they get, an how often do you fertilize? Toni

Paul, I didn't think a Ludisia leaf would root. If I said that, sorry, I meant stem cuttings.

Nope, you in no way shape or form implied that leaf cuttings would work, Toni. Mentioning that was just my attempt to ensure that I was being clear. Didn't want to mislead anyone.

Well you could wait til spring to chop it up. You might get better rooting action once temps warm up anyway if you keep your thermostat lower in the winter.

As far as potting with mom, if you decide to repot mom anyway, I would probably just stick the cuttings right back in with mom and let them root there. If there is still a great deal of open space in mom's pot you could just make a hole with your finger and stick a cutting in each the hole. Or you could, of course, start another pot of Ludisia by sticking all the cuttings in there and, leaving mom alone, see how much that one resprouts.

Thanks Toni. The orchids I posted require 'good light' but not direct sunlight. They make their spikes during summer, as do many orchids, and bloom in winter. Twinkle can take strong light over summer. The more light, the more spikes of flowers.

The nice thing about growing orchids is they make most growth over summer. If you can get them outdoors and give them good light, you'll get flowers in winter. Light is not as important over winter as summer.

I don't have good light indoors. My orchids need to make their growth over summer. I fertilize with a standard orchid fertilizer and regular Miracle Gro. Whatever is at hand. I don't believe it is necessary to use a lot of fertilizer. I find, orchids do better with minimal.

Thanks for the complements,
Jane

Hopefulauthor - thank you so much for the response. I am sorry it took me so long to respond, it has been a tough winter around here (too much work, too much snow, too much flu! :) )

I am basically new to plants. I have had a few over the years that my dad has given me (he has an amazing solarium filled with plants some that were my grandparents!), but I have not done well with them. I feel like I am ready to give a go again though. Maybe because I finally hit 40 ;)

Most of the time my cats eat any flowers I bring in the house and in my last house my DR had doors so I used to lock them out of the room and had a bunch of plants in there. Out of sight out of mind though. They didnt do too well. I have a much more reasonable sized house now and older cats. So time to go for it. If I had my way I would have all my rooms back to the look of my old DR:

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Anyway. Early and I am going on. I am going to print the list of cat safe plants I found and go plant shopping next week. My goal is to find some for the new DR to start. It does get pretty good light during the day, maybe what you would call filtered light? so plants that will do in filtered light and not kill the cats (or a toddler) :)

Then I will be on my way. I grew up with lots of plants in the house and my own home just doesn't feel like home - I think it is just the thing.

Hey All...Sorry it took so long to respond. Because of frigid, icy weather, the outdoor phone line shorted out. No telephone, no computer. Boy, do we take electronics for granted!!

Paul.. If I decide to prune the Ludisia, I might as well cut a section off each stem. For one, it'll be even, compact..second, I'll have multiple cuttings to work with. A couple in water, soil, and mom.

I'm hoping it'll bloom, we'll see. While my computer was down, I viewed old plant journals. Starting from the late 80's into early 90's..When I started these journals, I didn't enter much about plants..'they're actually diaries.' The last 10 or so years I changed the format. The problem now is, since the puter's running, finding time to go through each diary. lol

Jane..You summer orchids outside?? In sun or shade? One year I brought out orchids..they were placed on a shelf, third down from the top, before tall bushes. Every single orchid burned..the leaves were as red as ripe tomatoes. lol.
I still don't know how it happened since they were low on the shelf, facing north, oh and under a huge tree. Most plants don't grow in the area, including grass.
How do you manage?

Boop, I hope you're feeling better and NY warms up. You aren't the first person who mentioned ice and snow in the Big Apple.

Did your dad give you all the plants in his solarium? BTW, he's one lucky man..God, I'd love a solarium.
Do you know which plants he has that were given to him from his parents?

Boop, your DR is gorgeous. So cozy. I love everything from the carpet to chandelier. Beautiful.

There are several sites regarding poisonous plants. Cat Fancy lists quite a few.
One problem I noticed while browsing toxic plants, 'we have birds and dogs,' is they list plants that 'might' be poisonous. Finding a plant 'according to some sites,' would be impossible. lol.
Dieffenbachia is one plant I'd never have around children/pets. When our son was 2-yrs-old, he bit into the trunk..Not once but twice! Thank God he was okay, but to this day, I wonder why he chose to chew a plant that was poisonous. At the time I had about 75 plants, one Dieff.
There are others as or more toxic than Dieff, but I mention Dieff because of the experience. This happened in 1982..it was many many years before another Dieff entered my house.

However, don't give up growing. Everyone kills plants in the beginning. Mostly by over-watering. Over-watering is the Number 1 plant killer.
There are books, online articles and GW to learn. Most here can offer great advice.

You said your cats are older, but what about the toddler? Is he/she still a todler? lol

One more thing. You said the cats ate 'flowers' from outside? Did they munch on flowers or stems?
What type of plants were they? Toni