The image that probably pops into most people’s heads when you mention Ivy is the vine you often see clinging to the sides of houses. In fact, as a vine, it’s often considered invasive because of its aggressive growth.

But Ivy as a houseplant makes a lovely addition to a home, where its leaves will cascade down from pots and hanging baskets.

Caring for Your Ivy Plant

The most important thing your ivy plant needs is the right amount of light. The mostly green varieties like a bright light, but if you have a variegated version with white on the leaves, you might want to bring that down to medium light.

While Ivy like humidity and to be watered regularly (think of English Ivy in the rainy British Isles), it doesn’t like to be soaking in water, which can make the roots rot.

Remember to feed your plant, too. Fertilize your ivy with a water soluble, nitrogen-rich fertilizer about once a month except in winter, when the plant is dormant.

Finally, remember this is a plant from northern Europe, so it tends to like its temperatures on the cool side.

The glamour puss of the ficus world is the fiddle leaf fig or ficus lyrata. Tall and stately, it grows in a column and tends to go up, instead of out, so it works well as a decorative tree that has the drama of big leaves without taking over the whole room. Those leaves are violin or lyre shaped, thus the name.

Fiddle leaf figs tend to get a bad rap as being, well, fiddly, but they honestly are not that demanding.

Probably their biggest concern is getting enough bright (but filtered) light and keeping warm (remember this is a tropical plant – putting one near the fan or the a/c is just torture).

Like most plants, the fiddle leaf fig likes its soil moist but not sopping wet, which will lead to droopy leaves and root rot. A good rule of thumb is to wait until the top 2 – 3 inches of soil are dry and then provide a thorough watering. Here’s a pro tip: water with room temperature water when possible. That will prevent it from getting a chill and going into shock.

What they do like is a little moisture in the air, which can be hard to achieve in dry Arizona, so try misting to make the leaves of your fiddle leaf fig happy.

Another member of the fig tree family, the ficus benjamina is also known as the weeping fig or ficus benjy.

Like other ficuses, it features nice thick foliage with dark rich leaves. It needs a bright room and steadily moist soil.

So why does it weep? Well, it doesn’t like being distressed and when it is, it responds by dropping its leaves. But if you put it in a nice bright room and leave it there (it doesn’t like moving around) and don’t overwater it, it should stay calm and beautiful.

You’ll often see a household Benjy grown to almost six feet, although in nature, these trees can soar to 10 times that height. You’ll also sometimes see braided trunks with this plant to augment their ornamental beauty.

Caring for your Benjy

1. Light: Place it in a room with bright, but indirect sunlight. Again, once you find a good spot, keep the plant there, as it has a high intolerance for being moved.
2. Water: Steadily moist soil is great, particularly during growing season, but don’t let the plant sit in water as this will cause root rot. In the fall and winter, you can scale back and let the plant get drier.
3. Food: This is a plant that likes its meals. To keep up with its heavy feeding schedule, you might want to use slow release pellets at the beginning of the growing season in spring. After that fertilize monthly during the spring and summer and then scale back to once every other month during the fall and winter.
4. Pruning: This plant is a fast grower and should be pruned, but wait until the growing season is over. 

Alocasias are considered some of the most striking houseplants available because of their eye-catching foliage. Native to the subtropics, they have close to 80 varieties with a wide range of looks. 

Some are known for their gigantic leaves like the “elephant ear” varieties. Others feature highly visible veins, typically in a contrasting colors.

Alocasias need bright, indirect light. In nature, these plants thrive beneath tree canopies and direct sun will lead to the leaves getting burned. They are also used to high humidity, so don’t place them in a place where they will dry out easily, such as an air conditioner vent or a heater.

Allow the top 2 to 3 inches of the plant to dry between watering to ensure that the plant isn’t sitting in soil that is too wet.

Move over, venus flytrap – there’s a new carnivore in town.

Nepenthes, which is often called the monkey cup or tropical pitcher plant, is rather exotic looking. From its tendrils you’ll see globe- or tube-shaped protrusions that act as traps. In the tropics, monkeys are often seen drinking rainwater from these “pitchers” which is how it got its most popular nicknames.

However, if you are smaller than a monkey, you might want to watch out. While insects are the primary diet for Nepenthes, larger versions of the plants in the wild have been known to trap rats, lizards and even the occasional bird. (Yikes – cue the “Little Shop of Horrors” soundtrack.)

Not to worry, however; the hybrids we offer at Warner’s will most likely stick to bugs.

Caring for Your Nephentes

• Light – These plants love bright (although not direct) sun. A nice windowsill with bright light is perfect for this plant, which needs a hefty dose of light to develop its “pitchers.” Just make sure the plant doesn’t scorch, which will show up as red zones on the plant’s upper most growth.
• Humidity – Although this plants roots are in the tropics, you don’t have to have a hothouse to grow a Nepenthes. They’ll tolerate lower humidity although they probably won’t develop as many pitchers. A terrarium is a great choice for this plant, however, because of the increased humidity it provides.
• Soil – Your medium for this plant should be a mix of moss and perlite, not potting soil (the minerals in potting soil will actually damage the plant).
• Water – Don’t let your Nephentes dry out completely. On the other hand, standing water is a bad idea as it causes root rot. 
• Temperature – As you would expect with a plant that comes from the tropics, Nephentes doesn’t like the cold. Please keep it away from the air conditioner or drafts.

Many common names for houseplants can be misleading; they are often based on what the plant looks like as opposed to what it actually is.

Take, for example, the Asparagus Fern. No, it isn’t a fern, and you aren’t about to harvest some delicious vegetable spears if you cultivate one. (And, in fact, if your Asparagus fern sprouts berries, please note they are not edible.)

Here’s another example where what you see doesn’t quite match reality: those fuzzy, soft-looking fronds? They can hide thorny spurs, so be careful when you tend to your plant.

Caring for Your Asparagus Fern 

Light: Ferns grow in the wild on forest floors where there’s a lot of shade, but this doesn’t mean that your houseplant has to be in a dark corner. It thrives best in bright, indirect light.

Misting: Mist the plant daily, focusing on the arching stems. If the plant appears to be turning brown and droopy, it likely needs more water.

Water: Keep soil moist and water when the top inch of soil feels dry to the touch.

The Bromeliad family of plants is amazingly diverse, with eight botanical subfamilies and almost 3,600 known species. There are bromeliads that grow up to 50 feet tall (the puya raimondii) and bromeliads that you can eat (ananas comosus, better known as the pineapple).

But today we are focused on those species of bromeliads that can be grown indoors as a striking – and not to hard to maintain – houseplant.

Here’s the really interesting thing about bromeliads – they typically only flower once in their lifetimes. The colorful beauty of the plant is actually its leaves, or bracts, that are often mistaken for flowers. A bromeliad grows by added new leaves to the center of the plant. At some point, the center will become crowded and new leaves will no longer have room to form. The plant then starts producing “pups,” also known as offsets.

Caring for Your Bromeliad

Bromeliads have few needs and very few problem pests, so with good maintenance, you can enjoy one in your home or office year round.

• Potting – This may be the most complicated part of having a bromeliad. They can be potted in a variety of media – in addition to traditional pots, you can also have an epiphytic or “air” plant, meaning it grows on a rock, tree bark or is somehow mounted. If you are potting your plant, don’t just use potting soil. It’s too dense and doesn’t allow for the drainage bromeliads need. You can purchase soil specific to bromeliads, or make your own that’s a mix of soil, perlite and some sort of bark, like fine fir bark, orchid bark or pine bark nuggets.
• Light – For the most part, bromeliads thrive in bright, sunny spaces, but keep your plant away from direct sunlight for an extended period of time, as it can damage the leaves.
• Water and Humidity – Bromeliads don’t like overwatering (they’ve adapted to withstand drought), but they do love their humidity.
  • For plants in a potting medium, soak it so that the water runs from the drainage holes. Then, don’t water the bromeliad again until at least the top two inches of potting media are dry. Any more and you could be asking for root rot.
  • If you have an air plant variety (living on a rock or tree bark instead of being planted), you just need to mist it regularly to keep it moist.
  • All bromeliads like about 60% humidity, which is difficult to maintain in our dry mountain desert. Regular misting or a humidity tray can help.
• Fertilizing – Bromeliads don’t need a lot of food, but you’ll want to occasionally use a water-soluble fertilizer. Air plants versions of bromeliads can benefit from a liquid fertilizer diluted (about one-quarter to one-half strength), which you can then spray onto the plant.  

Probably the most recognizable type of begonia, the angel wing is a native of South America. It grows on upright stems with wing-shaped leaves in an array of unique colors and fantastic displays of flowers.

These begonias are not difficult to grow, provided you meet a few basic requirements. 

Caring for Your Angel Wing Begonia

Angel wing begonias can bloom throughout the year with the right kind of care.

• Plant your angel wing begonia in a soil or soilless mix high in organic material.
• This plant likes moist, but not soggy, soil. Allow the soil to dry between waterings. Add pebbles or broken pot shards in the pot to aid in drainage.
• Angel wing begonia houseplants like bright, indirect light, in moderate temperatures. Plants located in low light conditions will grow, but will not likely flower.
• What you feed your begonia will depend on whether you are growing it for the beautiful foliage or the flowers. A food with more nitrogen will promote larger leaves, while one with more phosphorous will encourage flowers. Either way, fertilize every two weeks.
• Repot each spring, moving into a slightly larger pot each year.

Grape Ivy goes by the formal name Cissus rhombifolia. Technically isn’t an ivy plant, but it does allow you to bring that vineyard look right into your home. It’s also sometimes referred to as the Oak Leaf Ivy because of the shape of its leaves.

It can be potted, trail down from a basket or climb – and no matter how you use it, it always looks good.

This is a low-light vine, which makes it a great indoor plant. However, if you are using it as a climbing plant, know it will climb towards the nearest light source (and it can grow to about five feet indoors). However, you can just prune it if it grows past where you want it.

The most important part of caring for your Grape Ivy is making sure it has enough, but not too much, water. That starts with planting it in a rich soil and drains well and in a container with plenty of drainage holes.

During the growing season, provide your Grape Ivy with steady water to keep the soil consistently moist, but not drenched. You can cut back on watering in the winter and allow the soil to dry in-between doses of water.

Though they need a lot of water, grape ivy plants are especially susceptible to root rot, so it’s important to plant them in the right soil and keep an eye on their reaction to your watering. If you notice the plant dropping leaves, it’s likely a sign that it’s receiving too much water and you should adjust accordingly.

This week’s houseplant star is actually several different plants living together under glass. Highly personal and creative, a terrarium is a work of living art that can add much to your home décor – or be a terrific gift!

Simply put, a terrarium is a container, typically made of glass, that is fully or partially enclosed and filled with small plants. A fully enclosed terrarium will essentially create an ecosystem that’s self-sustaining, but some plants (like succulents) require a container that’s at least partially open to allow for airflow.

For your terrarium, you will need:

• A container to hold your plants. This can be one specifically designed for terrarium use, but you can also use any clear glass container with a wide mouth, from a goldfish bowl to a cookie jar.
• Small plants that don’t grow too fast. African violets, pothos, small ferns, lucky bamboo, club moss and creeping figs are all good choices. And, of course, succulents, but again we’d suggest not fully sealing the container if you do.
• Some gravel or crushed stone
• Sheet moss and potting mix
• (Optional) some decorations.

Putting Together Your Terrarium

Terrariums don’t have drainage holes, so you’ll want to build up your terrarium to create a drainage layer that keeps water away from the plants’ roots. That’s where your gravel or crushed stone comes in, to give water a place to go.  Then you’ll want to use a little moss to create a layer between the stone and your potting soil. After that, add about 2 inches of damp potting soil, then the plants.

Think about what you want the finished product to look like. Arrange your taller and shorter plants so they are visually interesting. Contrast colors and leaf shapes to make them stand out – much like you do for your outside garden beds!

When you take your plants out of their containers, tease out any roots that have become rootbound. You also might want to trim the roots a bit (this retards the growth of the plant, but be careful not to cut too much back). Create holes for each plant and place the plants in the terrarium, gently patting the soil down to keep them secure and eliminate any air pockets.

Once your plants are in, you can add fun decorations to your terrarium to truly make it your own.