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“Begonias and other Houseplants”

Rex Begonias make hardy and showy houseplants, needing
little but a light, warm room. Some have gorgeous
flowers, but those grown mainly for their leaves make
the best indoor plants. They succeed in a poorly lit
area that others won’t tolerate. Rex Begonias have
large heart-shaped leaves of various colors and
markings. Some have patches of silver, crimson or
maroon on metallic green leaves, with the underneath
part velvety red.

Begonia Masoniana or Iron Cross Begonia has smaller
leaves with nearly black, cross-shaped markings on
them. All begonias need to be kept moist in both summer
and winter and their minimum temperature is about 7
degrees Celsius.

Chlorophytum, rheoe, tradescantia and zebrina are all
hardy houseplants; thrive in poorly lit areas and with
minimum temperature requirements of 7 degrees Celsius.
All have attractive leaves of creams, whites, pinks and
purples and some are striped. They are trailing in
habit and need to be watered freely, but don’t let
Rheoe get too wet. Feed every 2-3 weeks with a weak
soluble fertilizer solution.

If red spider mites attack your indoor plants, sponge
the leaves with a weak milk and water solution to which
has been added some white oil emulsion.

Ferns are hardy houseplants that require very little
attention. They like to grow with their roots crowded,
so don’t need re-potting very often. They will benefit
from being occasionally left outside on a rainy day to
thoroughly saturate the roots and wash the leaves clear
of dust. The Mother Spleenwort, Asplenium bulbiferum is
a great houseplant so long as the air is not too dry.
The fronds are delicate and graceful and sometimes
you’ll find tiny plantlets on the upper surface.

Maidenhair ferns are also most attractive with their
black stems and bright green tiny leaves that seem to
shiver with the slightest air current. Blechnum gibbum
makes a plume of fronds on a short stem and is
decidedly attractive in spite of an ugly name.

The davallias are all lovely ferns for indoors. D.
canariensis and D. pyxidata are both known as
Hare’s-foot ferns. Their shiny fronds are finely
divided and grow from brown, furry stems that seem to
hug the ground.

The Fishbone Fern has many handsome varieties with a
feature of the fronds being its ladder-like growth
habit, while the Cretan Brake, Pteris cretica, also has
several varieties with narrow, ribbon-fronds that can
be crested, waved, variegated or divided.

While many evergreen plants will benefit from having
their leaves sponged, those with a velvety texture need
to have the dust removes by brushing rather than
sponging, which could harm the delicate surface of the
leaf.

Learn about liming for your backyard vegetable garden.

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