Hi Rachel,
I would separate your plants and put them into a faster draining mix (no sand, no peat), as they will all outgrow the container they are currently in.
The plant in the very front left is a philodendron. The plant to the far right with the two toned leaves is either another type of philodendron or a type of pothos. The striped plants are draceanas (possibly 2 different types), the plant with the arrow shaped leaves is a syngonium, and there is some kind of palm in there (the grassy plant). Others will chime in to correct or confirm. Good luck and have fun!

Nancy

Hi Nancy...think you named all Rachel's plants.

Left, Syngonium
Center plant w/white edging. Dracaena Sanderiana
Right. Parlor Palm
Front. Philodendron scandens.

To the right of the Philodendron, the leaves look slightly variegated. I don't know if it's due to lighting, camera or a different plant.

Rachel. I agree with Nancy. Your plants should be separated since each need different care, such as light and watering. Toni

Thanks to Nancy & hopefulauthor for your IDS and quick responses! I've wanted to get into houseplants for a while--- I just wasn't expecting so many different kinds at once!

I've put the syngonium into its own pot and the parlor palm into its own pot.

I've left the dracaena and philodendron together in the original wagon pot for now because they are really intertwined, and I'm a little nervous about the separation. I pulled out a smaller section of the philodendron for an office pot, aND I removed all the spanish mossy stuff off the top, so it looks much cleaner.

I'm excited about beginning to research all these different plants and their needs.

Hi Rachel. When you said you weren't expecting so many different plants, did you mean the plants in the basket or have you adopted others, too? :)

Let me warn you, adding new plants is easy to do..lol. Especially coming here to GW, and viewing others' plants.
There are soooo many varieties to fall in love and must have.

Eventually, your Syngonium will need staking, unless you prefer it hanging.

Dracaena Sanderiana needs quite a bit of water, but it should be okay until spring.
My Sanderiana is in water held by marbles. lol.

I've seen D. Sanderians grow upright in soil. Mainly in Chinese restaurants. They do well, as long as appropriate light and water is supplied.

Don't worry when it's time to untangle the two remaining plants. Was the soil wet or dry when you tried sorting roots? Roots will probably break, but shouldn't be fatal.

Anyway, your plants are nice and healthy....Toni

Hi Toni!
Hi Rachel! Most importantly, have FUN. If you lose one or two, don't worry about it, use it as a learning tool. All your plants are pretty common and will be easy to replace, should you want/need to. Of your bunch, I've only grown dracaena and philodendron and both, I find, are extremely easy for beginners. The philo can be grown as a hanging plant, or a climbing plant if you provide either a trellis or pole.
All of them look great...a really nice gift! :)

Nancy

Toni & Nancy:

I wanted to give you a picture update, since you were both so nice and helpful! I took one little philodendron into work, but the rest of the plants are all in this little section in my kitchen for now. (Ignore the candles/clutter please! trying to keep the cat away from those edges!) Other than a few brown leaves on the palm, all of the plants seem happy. Now that they're "spreading out" a little bit, I can't believe how much was crammed into the wagon originally. I haven't figured out a plan for staking yet or for dividing the dracaena/rest of the philodendron (especially if I need to find some pretty marbles for the dracaena!), but I'll get there when I need to get there.

Thanks for everything!

Nancy is right. Having fun, enjoying plants is very important. Otherwise, plant care becomes a chore.

Rachel, your plants look great. Instead of clutter, each, individual plant/roots have room to spread.

Baskets, wagons, what have you look nice on a temporary basis, but will not do well in the long run.
Worse, is when they make baskets holding incompatible plants. Cactus and Palm, lol.

Staking should be done when plants get top heavy, start to hang. Especially Syngonium.
Stakes are sold in different sizes and materials. From wood, to bamboo to plastic. Small to extra-large.
Trellises are pretty too.

Your Heart-Shaped Philodendron can hang or stake, but leaves grow larger when staked.

BTW, I like your containers. Good luck, Toni

Great gift! I've looked at this a couple times and it looks to me like there's some kind of peace lily or Dieffenbachia or something right in the middle of the original pic. The still-curled-up leaf doesn't look like palm, Syngonium, Philo, Drac. Nor does the longish leaf, middle-right.

The Drac may be happiest staying in soil at this point. People often move them from water to soil when purchased as lucky bamboo, but not so much the other way around. Looks like there's two, though, so it would be perfectly natural to remove one, or at least a tip if the idea appeals to you. Experimenting is fun, and *usually* goes well.

purpleinopp:

Thanks for pointing out the middle plant (still in the wagon in the second pic). I'd been wondering about it too with the leaf size and "shinyness" of it compared to the smaller philodendron. I think it might be a peace lily after looking at some pictures, but here's an up-close version of that leaf just in case.

Yes, I am ready for some experimenting as I work to make happy plants!

I think it's a peace lily but I don't have one here to look at, been a while. I'm sure someone will confirm or deny soon. Those leaves ARE shiny!

Hi,

I agree, it does look like a Spathypyllum (Peace Lily). Perhaps leave your watering can out overnight a day or 2, then water w/ that & see if the brown tips go away.

Another picture update for everyone! I took the dracaena out of the peace lily wagon and put them into its own pot (back left). Decided to keep the two as a pair in soil for now since that's what they're used to, but I might be brave enough to experiment with the water idea later. I've chopped off all the brown tips on my peace lily, and I've been leaving the water out as pirate_girl suggested, so we'll see if that fixes the brown tips. I also couldn't resist adding two more pots (a jade plant on the right and the succulent in the gray pot is an alpenglow / vera higgins / graptosedum).

Now that I've had the original plants for nearly two weeks, I think that the syngonium is the happiest of the bunch. Glad they've all made it so far and that they now all have their own space.

Thanks everyone!

Hi Rachel,

Your plants look good. Please be careful when repotting. Sometimes, changing pots stresses plants, especially once they're established. Know what I mean?

Do you keep your plants on the shelf where the picture was taken? Is there a nearby window?

Do you have a closeup pic of your new succulents? BTW, succulents require more light than say, Syngonium, so if possible, set in a very sunny window.

Resisting new plants is very difficult. lol. One day you'll think back to 9/2012, look at your jungle, and ask yourself, 'what happened?' :) Toni

Toni:

Yeah, I worry a lot when repotting. I've got a lot of daylilies and other plants in a container garden outside and I've traumatized a few by unintentionally "rough repotting". I'm a newbie to houseplants, but not a total newbie for outside plants! :)

Yeah. I keep my plants there, two kitchen islands stuck together. It's the only place in my house out of reach of the cat (who will eat everything). Lighting is fine. I've got a big kitchen window (east) that lights up the area for most of the morning/early afternoon, plus some extra light from a dining room window. My camera just makes everything look dark. I don't know why the flash makes things look dark! My husband knows the right settings, but I don't!

I've thought about scooting the succulents over to the window if I can figure out a way to block the area from the cat, but so far they seem to be doing well where they are. The alpenglow / vera higgins / graptosedum looks much healthier already than it did when I bought it (50 cent clearance plant--it didn't have any green to it. It was completely gray, hence the gray pot). I accidentally broke one jade leaf when I was checking the soil, but other than that, no jade issues so far.

Here are the dark closeups! :)

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I've never grown bulbs/perennials in containers..only annuals. I bet your containers are lovely.

Aw, the kitty-cat..lol..they are curious. Some nibblers.
I swear, when we adopted our little dog, he thought he was a cat. Our larger dog, 'now in heaven,' never bothered plants, in or outdoors..he'd pee on outdoor plants, but didn't eat them. lol.

Your succulent, Graptoveria Sedum, 'depending on species and light' come in different colors including blu-ish gray, but can revert to green in shadier locations.

Is it possible to hang before a south or west window? Same with the Jade.

Why is it husbands know about adjusting cameras, fixing tv's, ect, but won't stoop to pick up a piece of paper? lol.