My glossy ZZ Plant

Five months ago, my sister Juliet gave me a ZZ Plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia); it was just an 8-inch long stem with 2 glossy green leaves. It is commonly called the Eternity Plant. My friend Hermi referred to it as Zamia; Gloria Vargas and Juliet called it interchangeably as the Welcome Plant or Fortune Plant due to the fact that most people put this cheerful-looking foliage near entrances, at least here in the Philippines. I potted that single stem with loam soil and decomposed rice hulls. Then, I placed it in a shady area near my gate.

There several things I’ve noticed with this plant.

• First, it likes bright light and tolerates low light.
• Second, its direct exposure to sunlight often results with scorched leaves.
• Third, this plant is cactus-like for it thrives even when neglected. (I didn’t water if for a week and it looked okay!)
• Fourth, regular watering makes it perform well, hence the glossy look of the leaves.
• Fifth, pests seemed to stay away from it.

The fifth observation made me ask this important question: Is ZZ Plant poisonous? I just hope not…but of course the plant is for an ornamental purpose and not to be ingested by humans or animals.

Caladiums

For years, I find the versatility of Caladiums (Caladium bicolor) as colorful accents in my garden.  I like to mix several varieties of their colorful foliage in borders, pots and planters. These ornamental plants have arrow-shaped or lance-shaped leaves which could have combination of colors such as red-green, white-green, pink-green, green-white-pink, purple-green, etc. There is so much varieties available in the market to choose from.

My Caladium-mix plants thrive well in a shady area in my garden; I notice their  leaves usually wilt when exposed to full sunlight.These plants also like damp soil and require slow release fertilizer once every 1 1/2 months. However, I also encounter some problems such as rotting, and pest infestation of aphids and spider mites. Anyway, these are some photos of Caladiums growing in my garden:

Ti plants for good fortune?

I found these Hawaiian Ti plants (Cordyline fruticosa) with stunning foliage at Mugna Garden Fair, Iligan City in the year 1997. These are also known as Cabbage Palm, Good Luck Plant, Palm Lily, Ti Plant, Kī, La’i in Hawaii. According to most dealers in garden fairs, these are the plants they recommend to create an indoor or tropical look in homes or gardens.

Due to busy schedules at work when I was still teaching, I’ve neglected my Ti plants. So, eventually the supposed to be good-luck plants I’ve purchased from Mugna wilted. Fortunately, my friend Tasing gave me various stem cuttings of these fancy-leaf ornamentals in exchange for other plants.

Those stem cuttings are actually trunks of the plant. I started to plant the leafless 5 inches long stem cuttings in sandy soil. After several weeks, shoots and leaves appear on each stem. With proper amount of light and water, and also a good potting medium, the stem cuttings develop to become trunks with colorful leaves.

With many varieties available in the market, these fancy plants are becoming popular in homes and private gardens. I don’t believe that these plants are luck bringers. However, these plants would improve your appreciation for beautiful things, and thus, they would bring positive energy to your home.

Veined and beautiful

Fittonia verschaffeltii

I always like a variety of lace as accents in my clothes, linens, table-runners or doilies, etc. And it’s no different in plants; I’m attracted to foliage with lacy veining such as the Fittonia verschaffeltii. Its scientific name is quite tongue-twisting to pronounce; to make it simpler,I simply called it as Fittonia or Nerve Plant. It is also artistically referred to as the Mosaic Plant or Painted Net Leaf due to the tile-like or net-like pattern in its leaves.

Fittonia verschaffeltii pearcei

This creeping plants are perfect for dish gardens or terrariums  especially with three varieties of Nerve Plants combined. Fittonia verschaffeltii  plants have oval leaves about 3 inches long; the dull green leaves have red veins (see top picture). Fittonia verschaffeltii pearcei have bright green leaves with rose-pink veins. A word of advice: Don’t plant this next to white-veined variety for the color of the veins may turned up into a lighter pink. That is what happened to my pink-veined Fittonia (see the photo above.)

Fittonia verschaffeltii argyroneura

Fittonia verschaffeltii argyroneura plants have rich emerald-green leaves with interconnecting white veins; the foliage of this variety are somewhat firm and thinner than the red-veined or pink-veined varieties. When matured, these plants produce sterile yellow flowers (see the photo below).  And since these plants don’t grow from seeds, the best thing to do to multiply them is by separating the young shoots that have rooted in soil from the mother plant.

small yellow flowers of white-veined Nerve Plant

My Fittonias are outdoor plants. So, I potted them in sandy-loam soil and put them in areas with high humidity. They best thrive in moist soil, and they also require complete fertilizer twice a month. I could say that Nerve Plants are easy to care.

Peace Lilies for fresh indoors

'Domino'

For those who opt to go green, the Spathiphyllum plant is a great alternative to canned air fresheners. I thought about my Spathe plant this morning when an obnoxious smell of a dead rat reeked in my kitchen. This is one of the popular indoor plants that cleanse the air pollutants or harmful gases from the room.

half bloom spathe

This plant is commonly known as Spath, Spathe, Peace Lily, or Snow Flower. I have three varieties of these perennial plants. One is the Spathiphyllum floribundum; the cultivar ‘Domino’ is variegated variety of an intermediate size. Its marbled green and white large leaves are about 12cm to 20 cm long, and 5cm to 9 cm wide. The the flowers in the spadix are surrounded by a greenish-white spathe about 10cm to 20 cm long. Presently, I put this plant with my Anthuriums under the shade of my young Durian tree.

Snow Flower

Second is the Spathyphyllum wallisi. This herbaceous plant is has dark green glossy leaves and its foliage makes an attractive indoor plant even when not in bloom. It is also recommended to place the Peace Lily near a desktop or computer in the house. Its spathe is white or white with green lines and its spadix is cream or ivory.  Most of my potted Peace Lily plants are under the shade of my Mango tree.

Peace Lily

Third is my Spathiphyllum floribundum miniature (not shown). I haven’t seen its flowers for a long time because it grows so dense in a shady area in my garden, I still have to arrange a schedule to re-pot it. These plants thrive well when they are slightly pot-bound.

Anyway, most Spathiphyllum are easy to care; they thrive well in shaded areas as well as with bright light but they dislike direct sunlight and over-watering. I only water them once a week but I see to it that the soil would be moist and not dry.

Attack of the lizard-looking worms

worm caught in the act

I’ve never seen a worm with eyes before until it came to my garden last March 2011. I found the first one munching a leaf of my Aglaonema plant. Since then, I’ve waged war against this odd-looking pest.

reptile-looking worm

The lizard-looking worm has a gray cylindrical body about 1cm in diameter and 5 inches long, with markings like those of a reptile. I don’t know what’s it called but I regarded it as bane in my garden. About 8 o’clock this morning, six of these crawlers attacked one of my Aglaonemas again. The beautiful foliage of my once-gorgeous plant was ruined.

varieties of Aglaonema plants

It is commonly known that Aglaonemas are relatively resistant to pests. The sap of these plants are considered to be poisonous to health. Then again, maybe to humans and other mammals but not to the unidentified worms.

colorful leaves

Aglaonema flower, greenish-white spathe

a pathway lined with potted Aglaonemas

Worth a second glance

“Let no one think that real gardening is a bucolic and meditative occupation.  It is an insatiable passion, like everything else to which a man gives his heart.”  ~Karel Čapek, The Gardener’s Year, translated by M. and R. Weatherall, 1931

I would say that my garden space is small. Yet, that doesn’t keep me from collecting plants that have intriguing or remarkable patterned leaves and shapes.  So, I would often barter some cuttings of my plants with ones that are suitable for limited space and average home conditions.

One of those plants that got my attention is the Peperomia sandersii, most commonly known as the Watermelon peperomia. I was attracted to its silvery-striped fleshy leaves the first time I saw it in my friend’s garden. The plant’s dramatic foliage is a perfect addition to my garden or to any cozy home or urban garden.

Moreover, I also found out that watermelon peperomia is easy to grow as well as to propagate. Basically, all peperomias like medium light and warm temperatures; and as long as you plant them in porous soil, they will thrive well. Also, I avoid to over-water them since peperomias are semi-succulent in nature.

The easiest way to increase them is by leaf cuttings ( leaves with firm stems). I would use a sharp knife to sever the leaves from the mother plant, with 1 inch stems attached.Then, I would insert those leaf cuttings in a pot filled with coarse sand to root.

Variegated Calamondin

variegated lemonsito

Citrus madurensis is an acid fruit that is most commonly grown here in the Philippines.  It is  known as Kalamasi in many areas but here in my hometown its called Lemonsito.

I’ve planted this variegated form (sometimes marketed under the name Peters), with marbled leaves and faintly-striped fruit in my garden for cooking and for landscape purposes.

insect perching on Kalamansi fruit

 

Ornamental Moringa on a pot

variegated Moringa oleifera

I acquired a cutting of variegated Moringa when I attended a seminar on miniature trees held by the Lanao del Norte Bonsai Society around 2004. That cutting given by Mr. Ray Villanueva flourished into an attractive ornamental plant. It is still on training as a miniature tree though.

Kamunggay bonsai

This plant is locally known as Kamunggay and Malunggay in most areas of the Philippines. It is regarded as “Tree of Life” because almost every part of this plant is used for food or has beneficial property. Moreover, Moringa oleifera is considered as one of the most useful trees in the world.

sun-loving plant

Presently, I’ve trained my Moringa plant into a shape I fancy, an informal upright. I put wires on branches to alter direction. I used aluminum wires to control its shape so my bonsai would have a twisted trunk in the future. Also, I wound the plant around a stake driven into the soil in the pot.

variegated leaves

Hopefully, the variegated leaves of this plant would be in proportion to the tree.

ornamental leaves

Basically, Moringa is a sun-loving plant, even if it’s a variegated variety. I’ve been told never to put my plant in a shady spot or its mottled leaves would revert back into plain green.

mottled leaves