Projo Garden Blog

Parlor palm (Chamaedora elegans) is a popular, slow-growing house plant that is known to have been passed from generation to generation.

Mine is a first-generation parlor palm, practically hidden away among dracaenas and the arrow head plant in the mixed planter. The original plant has also unobtrusively sent out a new shoot that has grown into a tiny plant.

Palm plant has very attractive, slightly arched and long, slender, ribbon-like leaves in light green color. The plant looks exotic, elegant yet delicate, fragile and wispy, just opposite of the rubber plant. I must admit that it has never received much attention from me.

There are areas of discoloration on some of the leaves on both the main plant and the young one. I will need to a keep a closer eye on them.

Palm plant belongs in the family Arecaceae or Palmae ( Palm family), with more than 2500 species, originated from rainforests in Mexico and Guatemala. It prefers moderate to high humidity, bright indirect light and very minimal fertilization.

Palm's symbolism, according to Wikipedia:

Palm branch is a symbol of triumph and victory.

In Judaism, the palm represents peace and plenty.

The coconut palm is a symbol of a tropical paradise.

The picture of palm tree is on the flag of Guam, Haiti, Samoa and the state of Florida.

I have had common kalanchoes, the ones with 4-petal flowers...

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...and calandiva, with double flowers, at various times in the past, but have not been able to get either one to bloom again until this winter.

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Kalanchoe is a perennial flowering plant, with multiple blooms and buds, sold in small pots at most flower shops. Yet it is treated more like an annual that gets discarded after the blooming period has passed.

I have been nurturing 2 kalanchoe plants in large planters mixed with several non-flowering house plants since April 2008. I transplanted the smaller one to a 4-inch pot and the bigger one to a 6-inch pot, keeping them as indoor house plants. Neither one produced any buds the entire first year despite their healthy appearance. Nevertheless, I enjoy looking at their succulent, glossy, dark green leaves the same way I do my old jade plant, which also belongs in the same Crassulaceae family.

Last summer I planted both of them in the shady area in my back yard and transplanted them back in the containers before the arrival of the first frost. They have grown much bigger both in height and width.

Two weeks ago I unexpectedly found some buds on the small plant and the blooming period soon followed, one flower at a time.

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Last week several clusters of tiny buds appeared on the other plant and the first bloom has just opened up today.

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I still cannot quite believe that it's really happening ... my kalanchoes are blooming again.

"What the shamrock is to Ireland the rubber plant is to the dweller in flats and furnished rooms..." - The Rubber Plant's Story by O. Henry ( William Sidney Porter, 1862 - 1910)

Rubber plant (Ficus elastica), a cultivated, ornamental house plant, belongs in the family Moraceae (fig family), a native of India and southeast Asia. It is said to be among the oldest plants used as a house plant worldwide. It requires no special maintenance, is adaptable to low light in moist, well-drained soil and occasional fertilizing.

The rubber plant I have is relatively small and has been slow growing since it was given to me 2 years ago. I wish I had paid more attention to it from the beginning and recorded how tall it was or how many leaves there were on the plant. I wonder if it could have started out with just 3 leaves like the one in the O. Henry's story. There are now seven leaves on the plant and the top four leaves appear to be very young.

I have always appreciated the rubber plant. The large, oblong, thick, dark, emerald-color leaves represent special characters/qualities that I associate with toughness, richness, beauty and inner strength. I now look at the plant with fondness and quiet admiration.

I have kept the plant in the same planter it came in and it seems happy being with all other plants. I suppose at some point it will need to be transplanted and to have more space to grow.

I can guarantee that no one who sets foot in my house will ever confuse the rubber plant with magnolia tree.

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My renewed interest in prayer plants began a few weeks ago when I embarked on the series of "Getting to know my house plants".

I had prayer plants years ago, before my gardening venture, when I hardly knew any plant's name. I came across pictures of prayer plants while trying to learn more about my house plants and hoping I could grow one again.

Yesterday I happened to find one at a supermarket in a 4-inch pot for $4.99

Prayer plant, a rhizomatous perennial from rainforest in tropical Central and South America, is in the family Marantaceae, with about 20 species in the genus Maranta.

It is also known as herringbone maranta, because of the red veins on the leaves, rabbit track and rabbit's foot plant because of the appearance of the unusual markings.

I could hardly wait until dark to see the leaves close up like hands in a prayer position and re-open with the morning light, after reading that "This plant will amuse you with its behaviour: close to the evening the leaves start slowly folding up, until completely closed in the dark. Then it will open the leaves back again in the morning."

I placed the plant in a spot with total darkness but the vertical closing of the leaves did not occur for me. I'll keep checking the plant/leaves every night for a while.

In the meantime, I will enjoy looking at the broad, oval, colorful leaves in different shades of green with red fish-bone veins and reddish-purple undersides.

Arrowhead plant ( Syngonium podophyllum) is known to be very popular among the non-flowering house plants for their easy care and attractive, light green leaves with white or cream-colored markings.

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Arrowhead plant, a native of South America, is in the Araceae family, the same as caladium and pothos.

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Care Instruction :

Watering: Keep the potting mix moist in summer. Water less often in winter.

Humidity: Average room humidity.

Temperature: Normal room temperature (60 - 75 degree F)

Soil: Potting mix with good drainage

Light source: Bright light is preferred, but will tolerate low light.

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My lone arrowhead plant is thriving in a large decorative planter, mixed with several other house plants. I have had mine for almost 2 years and it will soon need a trellis for support.

It has continued to give me lots of pleasure and brighten my days.

Silver lace fern is my first indoor fern. I picked it up a few days ago for $6.99 in 4-inch pot.

The fronds are very attractive and quite unusual, with multiple variegated leaflets in silvery white and slightly ruffled, light green borders. They give the feelings of lightness and daintiness. I am sure anyone who sees it will fall in love with it.

Silver lace fern is an ornamental perennial fern, native to China and South East Asia. It belongs in the Pteridaceae family.

Care instruction:

Bright indirect light.

Abundance of water and high humidity.

Moist and well-drained soil.

Fertilize monthly with fish emulsion.

I plan to plant it outside in late spring or early summer and bring it back indoors again in the fall to join all other house plants during the winter months.

Spring is a little over 8 weeks away and the temperature has climbed up into the 40s, melting most of the snow on the ground.

Yesterday, I went grocery shopping in Providence on the East Side and walked by the flower department. One flowering plant in a 4-inch pot ($5.99) with attractive foliage and orange bell-shaped flowers grabbed my attention.

The leaves are succulent, dark green with jagged edges. The multiple blooms, reminding me of hyacinth, varied from yellow to orange. There are many more buds on the upright stems. The accompanying label bears the name Lucky Bells. I have never seen this flower before and considered myself lucky to have found it.

Lucky Bells is "a newly developed variety of Kalanchoe that bears clusters of pale green tubular flowers on the end of the stem that look as though they are floating on air", according to this kalanchoe website, printed on the back of the label.

The care instructions indicate that it needs "much light, can also stand direct sun light. Keep moist, do not let soil to dry out. Feed once every two weeks. Ideal temperature 12-21 C/54-70 F. Dead blooms should be removed".

I hope Lucky Bells will grace my sunny front window many more weeks, perhaps until spring arrives..