In its native habitat a coniferous tree which will attain a height of too ft. or more, the Norfolk Island pine is, nevertheless, a plant that is superbly well equipped for cultivation as a house plant. Like the aralia mentioned previously it is a supremely elegant plant, producing tiers of well-spaced leaves of soft green colouring. It is capable of adjusting to a variety of temperatures but is really best suited to the cooler situation where the temperature ranges between 50 and 55F. Good light is also important; other than that it simply requires the standard treatment for easier indoor plants.
We hear many glowing accounts of how one should be able to flower plants regularly over the years, but this is really just so much eye-wash. It is not an easy task to flower second- and third-year plants even in ideal greenhouse conditions.
However, compared to the average life of a hunch of flowers, even if the aphelandra plant should die off completely after six months this is reasonable value for money, and there is a great deal of pleasure to he had in trying to make the plant do was not very easy. It really is quite incredible the number of times that I have emphasised in a talk to a gardening club how difficult it is to grow such and such a subject in the greenhouse only to discover that little Brown in the front row has an embarrassment of them growing on almost every window-sill in his house!
Aralia Sieboldii seems to have survived quite happily with two names for many years, and in many parts of the country it appears to do equally well as a hardy garden shrub and as a house plant. In spite of being a comparatively cheap florist's plant it has always been a particular favourite of mine, one reason being that it does a great deal of work.
In display terms such a plant is one that can be relied on to fill a reasonable section of the exhibition area with very little bother; being pleasantly green in colour it will fit with little difficulty into most colour schemes. It is also particularly useful as a bold individual plant where space can be afforded to show it off to full advantage. The wide temperature variation will give some indication of its toughness, but efforts should be made to acclimatise the plant to a reasonably even temperature, as wild fluctuations between (45 and 65F.) can be damaging no matter how tough it may be. When grown indoors Aralia sieboldii responds very well to standard treatment for the easier type of plant which is moist compost, regular feeding and a light.
In the past there have been several aphelandras offered by the commercial grower as potentially good house plants, but A. squarrosa louisae and the improved variety A. S. Brockfeld have had few really serious competitors. In the popularity stakes the latter of these two appears to be winning the day, mainly on account of its much brighter and more attractive foliage. There is little to choose between the quality of flowers produced.
We hear many glowing accounts of how one should be able to flower plants regularly over the years, but this is really just so much eye-wash. It is not an easy task to flower second- and third-year plants even in ideal greenhouse conditions.
However, compared to the average life of a hunch of flowers, even if the aphelandra plant should die off completely after six months this is reasonable value for money, and there is a great deal of pleasure to he had in trying to make the plant do was not very easy. It really is quite incredible the number of times that I have emphasised in a talk to a gardening club how difficult it is to grow such and such a subject in the greenhouse only to discover that little Brown in the front row has an embarrassment of them growing on almost every window-sill in his house!
Aralia Sieboldii seems to have survived quite happily with two names for many years, and in many parts of the country it appears to do equally well as a hardy garden shrub and as a house plant. In spite of being a comparatively cheap florist's plant it has always been a particular favourite of mine, one reason being that it does a great deal of work.
In display terms such a plant is one that can be relied on to fill a reasonable section of the exhibition area with very little bother; being pleasantly green in colour it will fit with little difficulty into most colour schemes. It is also particularly useful as a bold individual plant where space can be afforded to show it off to full advantage. The wide temperature variation will give some indication of its toughness, but efforts should be made to acclimatise the plant to a reasonably even temperature, as wild fluctuations between (45 and 65F.) can be damaging no matter how tough it may be. When grown indoors Aralia sieboldii responds very well to standard treatment for the easier type of plant which is moist compost, regular feeding and a light.
In the past there have been several aphelandras offered by the commercial grower as potentially good house plants, but A. squarrosa louisae and the improved variety A. S. Brockfeld have had few really serious competitors. In the popularity stakes the latter of these two appears to be winning the day, mainly on account of its much brighter and more attractive foliage. There is little to choose between the quality of flowers produced.
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Indoor gardener can find out more about caring for your houseplant by doing research on the internet.
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