Tropical Growth

New growth is showing up in lots of places. These new shoots on the Hawaiian Ti plant have been making slow but steady progress for awhile but it seems possible that now that the larger one has made it this far it might just speed up.

The Hawaiian Ti plant is, according to one garden book very difficult to grow and to another, very easy. So I’ll give it the prescribed light and water and as always, pray for the best.


Its large, smooth leaves beautifully reflect the morning light, even on gray days like today.

Hand-Me-Down

Hand-me-downs (passing outgrown clothing to the next youngest sibling) have gotten a bad reputation over the years as undesirable and second-rate (not necessarily accurate) but in the garden they can be a boon to smaller plants. Yesterday’s repotting of the Areca Palm freed up the ceramic pot it was sitting in (as a jardinière) for my little Chinese Evergreen. The plant is an offspring of my friend G’s mature one; I had never seen one this small.

The small terra cotta pot I in which, I originally planted it tended to dry out too quickly. The non-porous ceramic pot will hold moisture better but it has to have a layer of gravel or broken pottery in the bottom for drainage. One of my garden books says it grows well even in water alone—with a little charcoal*.

Since Chinese Evergreens do well in low light, this one was a natural for my studio. Everywhere else the sun has returned in abundance.

*Crockett's Indoor Garden;(Little,Brown & Company)26