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a houseplant? Durable doesn’t have to mean boring
By M argaret Roach New York Times
IF ONLY THESE HOUSEplants could talk.
It’s easy to imagine they’d be screaming their indignation at the wintertime perches we’ve assigned them — places of painfully low light near some drafty window — in the inhospitable arid zone that is indoor heating season.
“Enough, I’m begging you!” And: “Get me out of here!”
But they don’t scream, except maybe through body language, dropping leaves or looking crispy to tell us that this just isn’t working for them.
Houseplants don’t read, either, as Karl Gercens, the conservatory manager at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, Pa., is quick to point out. That’s our job.
It’s up to prospective plant parents, he said, to identify houseplants “that will thrive, not just survive” under our particular conditions.
That doesn’t just mean learning textbook protocols by rote. It means learning to read the plants, too: watching for trouble signs — the way the leaves of a spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) will turn a shade of gray, for example, when a drink is required — and figuring out how to get ahead of them.
Rather than inviting another winter of their discontent, Mr. Gercens challenges us to rethink which houseplants we grow and how we care for them.
In the case of this self-described “rule-breaker” — he has been a houseplant person since he was 5, when his family inherited Great Grandma’s collection — that doesn’t always mean using the gentlest hand. When some plants grow leggy or weak, he’ll deliver hard cutbacks.
And he advises that we get braver about repotting, as well — not just up to roomier quarters, but sometimes down.
Where he never applies tough love: by forcing a plant to grow where it doesn’t belong.
The two-acre conservatory at Longwood Gardens, with its ample light and climate-controlled environment, can support most anything. At his home, as in ours, the conditions are less ideal.
Success hinges on an honest assessment of your light and humidity conditions, and matching plant to place.
“Face it: If you only have north-facing windows, there are just a certain number of plants that will work,” Mr. Gercens said.
Don’t set your sights on orchids (or if you do, invest in grow lights). The corn plant (Dracaena fragrans) or peace lily (Spathiphyllum) are better candidates. In low humidity, he recommends stalwarts like the snake plant (Sansevieria) or cast-iron plant (Aspidistra elatior).
But even when selecting for durability, don’t take dull for an answer. As he put it, “You don’t have to just have a plain-Jane green plant.”
Look past generic choices and search out White Aspen, a corn plant cultivar with striking white margins, or Sweet Pablo peace lily, which blooms more heavily than some. Other options include
Lee Reich | In the Garden
