African violets brighten up the indoors, even in the depths of winter.

The art of growing African violets

Cultivating African violets can be a great way to foster your green thumb through the winter

You have a whole bed of blossoms here, Elma,” my friend and colleague Catherine exclaimed. “How on earth did you do that?” She was looking at the blanket of blooms spreading across my collection of African violets. The plants were doing very well. Nearly every one was topped by a mound of flowers. The answer

Foxtail ferns ready for sale in a greenhouse.

Asparagus fern not a member of the asparagus family

Common name comes from the feathery, delicate-looking foliage

Many of the plants in my sunroom in the winter are ones that I use both indoors and out. Some of them are old tried-and-true favourites, such as the asparagus fern. These are dependable, easy-to-grow plants that can put on an attractive display of foliage. An asparagus fern is delicate looking (although it really isn’t)


The amount of silver on the leaves will depend on how much light
the plant gets.

‘Silver Queen’ is often called Chinese evergreen

Foliage of rich-green leaves with silver patches is main attraction of this easy-care plant

Last month I wrote about houseplants with metal in their name, such as copper, iron, or aluminum. Here’s one with silver in its name — Aglaonema “Silver Queen.” Aglaonema plants are often referred to as Chinese evergreens since they originated in Asia. There are dozens of cultivars but my favourite is “Silver Queen” which has

This heart-leafed philodendron is trained onto a trellis in addition to sitting on a small plant stand
to give it a bit of extra height.

Displaying trailing plants indoors

This can be a challenge as they take up a lot of space but there are ways to do it

It can be difficult to display trailing plants indoors as they can take up a lot of space and are hard to position so that they look like they are part of the interior landscape. There are many attractive trailing plants that are ideal for use indoors because they demand relatively low light levels. Heart-leafed

Some slips finally rooted and produced new plants.

Propagating a polka-dot plant

They do have a short lifespan but it is possible to get new plants from cuttings

Last spring I bought a lovely pink polka-dot plant, big and bushy and about 20 cm tall. The single plant filled a six-inch pot, and I think it had either been kept over for the winter or else grown from seed planted months earlier. I was fascinated by the speckled leaves and the plant’s tidy


The artillery fern is an attractive tabletop plant.

Pilea plant family has lots of species

This family contains over 600 species that are easy to grow and not demanding

Often the common name of a plant perfectly describes it, but the name is inaccurate botanically. The common name has developed over the years because of the plant’s appearance or because of some other unique attribute. Such is the case with the artillery fern, which is not really a fern at all. It got its

The peperomia I rescued has attractive pure-green leaves.

Growing a peperomia plant

Peperomias are a great addition to an indoor plant collection and are easily propagated from cuttings

I rescued a little plant this spring. The local horticultural society had a sale and someone had donated a plant — the person had filled a Styrofoam cup with soil and stuck in three small slips of a green plant. They were quite wilted and not surprisingly did not sell, so I brought the cup

Dieffenbacchia plant.

Dependable dieffenbachia

This plant is easy to grow and adaptable to many conditions

I am always intrigued by the common names of plants because they often tell much about a plant’s history or characteristics. Sometimes these names are based on old beliefs or superstitions and often better describe the plant than a proper botanical name can. Most people do not know any Latin and so common names, although


This One Is Vigorous And Resilient

During the dark days of winter we gardeners like to fill our indoor environments with the beauty of live plants. Even if you don’t have a light garden or a sunny window sill, a number of resilient plants can be grown successfully even in quite low-light environments, some of these being members of the philodendron

A Gem Of A Houseplant

Looking for a popular houseplant to grow? Try a jade plant and watch it thrive in your home. A jade plant (Crassula argentea) is a very easy and productive plant to grow, provided that its needs are understood and met. Having originated in South Africa, jades are members of the Crassula family and are succulent