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It's always fun to grow something unusual or
uncommon. There are lots of different house plants that fit one or
possibly both of these categories. The unusual house plants are great
conversation starters while many of the uncommon house plants are
plants that at one time were more well known, but have become more
uncommon over the years. Click on a plant name below to order it from
Pernell Gerver's Online Store.
 African
gardenia is an easy-to-grow relative of gardenia that
blooms reliably in the home, blooming almost continuously all year
long with no extra effort. It bears small, star-shaped flowers that
are pink in bud and open creamy white. The flowers are carried in
clusters all up and down its stems and even the smallest stem will
have a few flowers on it. There are dozens and dozens of flowers in
bloom at any one time and their fragrance is wonderful, very similar
to gardenia, albeit a little more subtle. The fragrance easily
carries on the breeze, perfuming a room. It's a shrubby plant that
looks similar to gardenia, but on a smaller scale. It has short,
slender leaves that are carried on woody stems. It rarely grows
larger than a couple of feet high and wide, making a good choice for
even a small windowsill garden. Not a fussy plant, African gardenia
can be grown just about anywhere in the home - in sunny or shady
window, in cool or warm temperatures, and in low or high humidity. |
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 Strawberry
firetails is a trailing house plant with small, deep-green
leaves on semi-woody long stems. Flowers are red, fuzzy
"tails" that appear in the axils of its leaves near the
ends of its stems. It's an everblooming house plant that is always in
bloom. Its stems grow to a foot long or more and it's a great plant
for a hanging basket. It's also a nice plant for a container garden
where its stems can trail over the edge of the pot.
 Piggyback
plant is an unusual and uncommon house plant. It has medium-
to dark-green, hairy leaves that are roughly heart shaped with
deeply-lobed edges. The leaves are also deeply veined, giving them a
quilted appearance. The leaves are two to three inches across and are
borne on four-inch-long leaf stems. What is so unusual about this
plant is that each leaf bears a live, young plant. This method of
reproduction is called viviparous, meaning bearing live young. The
small plantlet appears to sit atop the leaf, but it is actually borne
in the axil where the leaf meets the short leaf stem. The little
plantlet is an exact replica of the mature plant, but in miniature.
The plantlets are bright green that matures to deep green. In
addition to bearing plantlets atop its leaves, piggyback plant also
produces plantlets along runners, similar to the way a strawberry
plant grows. At maturity, piggyback plant can spread 12 to 15 inches
around and be nearly a foot tall.
 Peperomia
rotundifolia is a low-growing creeping or trailing plant
with small, rounded leaves. The leaves are olive green marked with
darker patches. The succulent leaves grow opposite one another along
its thin creeping stems. Its flowers are upright spikes that stand
above the foliage and bloom in late summer and early autumn. This
unusual house plant grows well in bright light and tolerates low
humidity well.
 Foxtail
fern is an attractive, yet uncommon, foliage house plant. It
bears stiff, upright plumes that form a dense clump with age. The
emerald-green fronds have a soft texture and mature plants can grow
several feet high and wide. In addition to being a nice house plant,
it's also a good plant to use in containers mixed with summer
annuals. It provides a nice texture contrast. |
by
Pernell Gerver
Pernell
Gerver, Horticultural Communication Services All rights reserved.