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Houseplants remain super trendy, and we don’t think that’s ending any time soon!
The Plant Den give us their top 5 houseplants, and there may be a few surprises in there! We met Roscoe and Michelle in their well-stocked plant shop in Norwich and just loved gossiping about the green stuff!
1. Crocodile Fern
By far the favourite fern at The Plant Den, first seen in London’s trendy N1 garden centre and it was the size of the table it stood upon! This is an unfussy fern that enjoys a bright spot out of direct sun. Bathrooms are the perfect places for ferns, which enjoy high humidity environments and this plant is no exception to its family in liking slightly moist soil all year around. New leaves are translucent, and the gorgeous texture on the foliage really does resemble crocodile skin.
2. Aspidistra
This plant fell out of popularity in the past few decades, but has been been creeping back into living rooms in more recent years and we’re not surprised. Native to Japan and Taiwan, it’s a graceful, stately plant, with glossy leaves like paddle-shaped palm fronds atop tall, straight stems. It’s good looks are matched by its tremendously easy care requirements since it will tolerate dust as well as heat, cold, drought, neglect and dimly lit places. The only downside? They’re slow growing, so buy the size you want as it takes patience to grow a small plant up to specimen size!
3. Norfolk Island Pine
This isn’t a true pine, nor is it from Norfolk! It’s endemic to a small island in the Pacific near New Zealand and therefore prefers to be kept somewhere warm and bright, with slightly moist soil all year around. It’s actually related to the strangely shaped Monkey Puzzle Tree. We love its soft, strokable branches (the “needles” aren’t sharp at all.) It’s like having a Christmas Tree all year round!
4. Monkey Tail Cactus
This gorgeous hanging plant LOOKS complicated to care for, but is actually a great plant for beginners. It has soft, white, hairlike spines along its lengths, which are often kinked and absolutely DO resemble monkey’s tails. Native to Bolivia, they require the brightest spot you have, with a minimal watering regimen just over the growing season.
5. Angel Wing Begonia
There are hundreds of varieties of begonia and these are the so-called “cane” type, since their tall, sturdy stems resemble bamboo. Roscoe and Michelle were lucky enough to be given a plant by their neighbour since it had outgrown his conservatory and despite a good “trim” at the time it is now 6 foot tall again! This is a relatively easy care plant, liking a bright spot out of direct sun and a water only once the soil has dried slightly. It has candelabras of small pink flowers and the leaves are attractively spotted with silver. A real stunner!
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‘The current trend of houseplants’ reaches the library on 21st April 2019
The Plant Based Podcast 