Many succulent plants come from the Tropics and Subtropics such as semi-deserts and high deserts, so they have a tolerance for surviving longer in dry conditions and little soil. This makes them low-maintenance, tolerant and easy to care for, perfect for the stress a home or office can take on a plant!  Succulents like bright indirect light indoors, if exposed to direct light they can sometimes sunburn.   Water these gems thoroughly, but let the soil completely dry before watering again.  Avoid soils with high organic content and stick with a fast-draining cactus mix.

There are so many uses for such a large family of plants from the Cactaceae Plant Family.  But as always, I have to give my two cents and let you know my personal favorite use of Succulents Indoors is in orchid arrangements.  They make the perfect pair not only visually, but also their light and water requirements are surprisingly similar.  A delicate Phalaenopsis (Moth) Orchid planted with trailing and rosette-formed succulents at the base of it’s graceful stem keep your eyes in a constant state of attention.  You can match the rainbow of colors that an orchid comes in with the equally colorful foliage of the succulents or create a sophisticated arrangement with a simple white orchid and succulents in various shades of green.   Mixing and matching is part of the fun and the possibilities are endless.

Other great ideas for Succulents Indoors:

• Dish gardens – create a miniature landscape of texture and form.
• Low table arrangements – Pick 1 variety of succulent and repeat it in small individual containers or a long thin container to give a modern appearance.
• The Vintage Look – Use soup cans or mason jars as containers for succulents and it will give your plants a rustic look.
• Modern Succulents – Plant succulents in a clear glass vase, it can be short or tall, but be sure to fill the vase with some charcoal at the bottom and sand or small pebbles at the top with soil in between.
• The Finishing Touch – don’t forget to top-dressed your creation with large or small stones, river pebbles, designer glass pieces (upscale nurseries carry this in various colors), black, white or colored sand, lava rocks or sea-shells for a beach feel (it’s amazing how much succulents looks like coral and sea anemones).

Chamaedorea plumosa ‘Baby Queen Palm’

Chamaedorea Plumosa, is its real name but better known as ‘Baby Queen Palm’ has fronds like a queen palm, but with a truck that looks like a bamboo! Using this palm indoors, like any palm, requires a high light area near a window or skylight.  It prefers not to get too much heat and would definitely do better in a sub-irrigation container.

You will not seem design-challenged when adopting the Chamaedorea Plumosa into your home/office.  It makes a perfect specimen plant in a Modern, Asian or Tropical Designed home or office. Although, even more stunning would a grouping of these plants look as a loose screen to divide a room!  Just be sure you have tall ceilings because Baby Queen Palms can grow up to 15’ in their life, leaving their gorgeous trunks exposed down below.

Slender Lady Palm is thought to be a native to China, but has completely become extinct from living in the wild and only now survives by propagation of a single male plant that survived.  As a result, every plant in the world is derived from a division or culture of this plant, making Rhapis humilis impossible to grow from seed.

Growing Rhapis humilis is similar to growing Rhapis excelsa.  They are both slow growing and enjoy well drained soil that is moist but not soggy.  They need bright light, but like any palm will deteriorate if the air is too dry and stagnate.  R. humilis is not as easy to locate as R. excelsa or as available in large specimen sizes.  Being such a rare beauty in the interior industry, I have mostly seen them in 5 or 7 gallon containers growing around 4-6 feet tall and not more than 3 feet wide.

Slender Lady Palm is quite a looker and used as a screen or a stand-alone specimen plant in your abode you most definitely will not be disappointed.   I would recommend a topdressing of stones, glass or mood moss to really show off how stunning this plant can be.

Chlorophtum ‘Fire Flash’ was love at first sight for me.  In fabulous contrast with a rosette of broad green foliage is stunning orangey (coral) hues of the petioles and leaf midribs, that appear to be glowing centrally beneath, hence the name ‘Fire Flash’.  These colors remain all year round and ‘Fire Flash’ does great indoors as long as it has medium-bright indirect light.  Only growing up to 12 inches I’ve mostly seen ‘Fire Flash’ available in 4” and 6” containers but becoming increasingly more available.  Although, I’d recommend that when you spot these little plants on the shelves, you should grab them up quick because they will not sit around for long.

Once you have a Chlorophytum ‘Fire Flash’ in your possession, keep the soil moist without over watering it.  ‘Fire Flash’ is the distant cousin of the well-known Chlorophytum Comosum ‘Spider Plant’ and although you can’t see much of a resemblance from the surface, they both have a drought tolerant root structure with swollen water-storing nodules.  ‘Fire Flash’ seems to resist most insects and diseases, but can be susceptible to browning foliage or spots caused by fluoridated water.  To avoid this, use rain or bottled water from time to time to flush the soil.  Occasionally you will spot small unattractive white flowers emerging from the center of the plant.   It’s best to remove this so that the plants energy remains in the leaves and not in seed production.

Some other names you may find this plant listed as:  Chlorophytum orchidastrum, Chlorophytum amaniense, Chlorophytum amaniense ‘Fire Flash’, Chlorophytum orchidantheroides, Chlorophytum filipendulum amaniense or simply Chlorophytum ‘Fire Flash’. Then there is the list of common names: Fire Flash, Mandarin Plant, Green Orange, Tangerine, Fire Glory and Sierra Leone Lily.  There may even be more for all I know, but giving plants multiple names seems to be what horticulturists do for fun just to confuse the public.   It drives me crazy!

Now go get yourself an Orange Spider Plant, stick it in a black pot, buy a plastic black widow spider to place on a leaf and TA-DA! HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Anthurium flowers are often used in tropical bouquets as cut flowers because of their long lasting color, but until I started maintaining interior plants, I hadn’t realized what an easy plant they can be to grow in containers.  To care for these evergreen perennials, they need little care other than giving them high indirect light indoors, a warm environment, and a well draining soil with moderate moisture.  Since they thrive in a tropical environment and actually live as epiphytes in the wild, I treat them as I would an Orchid (see our Tips for Easy Orchid Care).  But, if you are reading this and thinking, “Orchids are not that easy to grow.”  Well, I agree and disagree….I think Orchids are easy to grown given the proper environment, what’s hard is making them re-bloom!  Anthuriums however seem to re-bloom on their own during the warm months and in Southern California we have a lot of those….so imagine that, a plant with gorgeous glossy leaves and long lasting flowers most of the year!!  You can’t get much better.

You can find Anthurium andraeanums in a variety of colors such as, Purple, White, Pink, Orange-Red, Red, Green, Peach and now Black-Red or Blood-Red if you want to sound dramatic.

The leaves of Ficus triangularis are by far the main attraction, with their very cool triangle shape and dark stem coming out of the tips creates contrast on this free-formed plant.

These native Malaysian plants are rare, so when you see them, I would recommend grabbing them while you can.  I bought a beautiful 6 foot specimen for my Mom on Mother’s Day and told her that I’d take care of it for her (knowing how little care it would need).

Being in the Ficus family, these plants need at least medium to bright light and don’t want to be over watered.  I sub-irrigated my Mom’s in a Jardiner and water it about every other week, right now since it’s been hot.   The dark green, fleshy leaves seem to de-tract dust and only fall when you’ve stressed it out, unlike it’s Ficus benjamina relative that seem to rain leaves on a regular basis. I’d consider Ficus triangularis to be a clean interior plant, even with it’s yearly production of pea-sized green figs that dry up and fall off the tree in the summer months. This small nuisance is forgivable given all of the other wonderful aspects of this beauty.  It can grow about 8 feet max and 4 feet wide, but with their slow growth they could easily controlled at shorter heights making Ficus triangularis an excellent choice for any amateur interior plant enthusiast.

The symmetry of the foliage emerging out from the center of these painted rosettes makes this something to stop and admire.  The interior Neoregelia species don’t have towering flower bracts like other Bromeliads you may be familiar with (like Guzmania and Aechmea), their flowers stay closer to the central cup and their new leaves emerge from this blushing center in purple, pink, orange, red, burgundy, chartreuse, yellow, green, grey, stripped, spotted and variegated colors.  They grow in a flat pattern, usually under 10 inches and spreading between 8-20 inches depending on the variety.

Neoregelias can be planted in mass to make a dramatic statement, but are equally as brilliant as a stand-alone plant on your coffee table or paired with other foliage plants. Talk about a conversation piece, it’s practically living sculpture!  Place them in bright indirect light and you’ll get a thriving color plant for 6-12 months or longer!

For more detailed information, check out this site on Bromeliads.

Chamaedorea falcifera is an elegant and durable new plant related to the Bamboo Palm (Chamaedorea seifrizii).  Bred with thicker pinnate leaflets and similar bamboo style multiple-trunks, this graceful plant can act as a medium sized specimen that won’t overcrowd your personal yoga retreat and only add to the chi of your space. Chamaedorea falcifera’s tropical, upright stature would fit any room of the house or office usually grown 5-7‘ tall and 3-4’ wide.

Chamaedorea is a genus of 107 species of palms, native to subtropical and tropical regions of the Americas.  They are small palms and grow naturally in the understory of the rain forests, making these plants ideal for use indoors. They are durable, clean and easy to care for when they are given the proper care (and love).

When I was first introduced to this plant 2 years ago, it looked like a fragile plant that would surely die a slow death, but after purchasing one and seeing it thrive with little care I was convinced that it was a keeper.  I love this plant for narrow walkways, offices, bedrooms, and yes of course my one-day-Zen-yoga-retreat!

‘Monet’ is a blue-ribbon winner in the Society of American Florists’ new varieties competition. Its multicolored bracts (modified leaves, not flowers) are daubed with shades of red, deep rose, and cream reminding some of Claude Monet’s paintings, hence the name.  Poinsettia ‘Monet’ reminds me of a white poinsettia that has been meticulously sprayed with a can of red spray paint.  It’s gorgeous and pairs wonderfully with both Red and White Poinsettia varieties.

Are Poinsettias’ poisonous?

One common misconception about poinsettias is that they are poisonous.  I did a little research and found out that this is not true.  And although, the sap may cause an allergic reaction, The Poisindex Information Service states that over 500 leaves ingested by a 50-pound child would demonstrate no toxicity.  And honestly, if you plan to ingest 500 poinsettia leaves, I really think that toxicity is the least of your problems. 

The Legend of Poinsettias

The last note I want to leave you with is a charming story I came across about the origin of Poinsettias.  The story is told of Pepita, a poor Mexican girl who had no gift to present the Christ Child at Christmas Eve services. As Pepita walked sorrowfully to church, her cousin Pedro tried to console her. “Pepita,” he said, “I am certain that even the most humble gift, given in love, will be acceptable in His eyes.” Pepita gathered a bouquet of common weeds from the roadside, for this was the only gift she could give. As she entered the chapel and approached the alter, her spirits lifted. Forgetting the humbleness of her gift, the girl laid the weeds at the feet of the Christ Child. Suddenly, Pepita’s ordinary weeds burst into brilliant red blooms! This miraculous event was named the Flores de Noche Buena, or Flowers of the Holy Night. Today, we call these flowers poinsettias.

For more info on your poinsettia, the Do’s and Don’ts, How to re-bloom your plant and other varieties.  Visit the company that popularized this beautiful holiday flower and has been leading the industry for over 75 years.  PAUL ECKE RANCH

If you have any questions or comments about Poinsettias or anything at all, we would love to hear your feedback!

This stunning little gem of a plant may be small in stature, only growing 4-6 inches, but can really make a beautiful and striking impact in your home. Its architectural beauty and natural rosette form gives you the sense of a flower for your indoor garden all year round! Great things come in small packages making ‘Golden Hahnii’ one of my favorite small package plants!

Sansevieria trifasciata ’Golden Hahnii’ is drought tolerant, clean and can thrive in many indoor light conditions. I just love a plant that you can stick in a room and not have to mess with every other day, easy and simple. Plus it has this unique and soft cream variegation which I would always contrast with a dark pot, wall or other plant material to enhance its character. For example, combining, ‘Golden Hahnii’ with its taller, deep green relative, Sansevieria trifasciata (aka Snake Plant or Mother-In-Law’s tongue), dress the soil with river stones and Ta-Da an instant Zen Garden in a pot!

Does this plant interest  you?  Let us know!