Hi all. It has been too quiet here for my liking, so I am trying to get you all out of the yard, rushing to finish chores before the winter forces so many of us back inside, and back in the house for some new houseplant posts.

Of all your houseplants which one has been the biggest surprise, becoming a fond new favorite. I have two. They are generic run of the mill standards. Not fancy or rare, or expensive. Not at all ones I would have guessed I would delight in, with each new leaf or new stalk shot out just for my entertainment.

I will be away this weekend but will post pics Monday. I hope you will post some of yours. This forum has some great regulars and new peeps too. I am missing seeing what you all are growing inside.

Have a great weekend.

Laurie b

Grew on steroids for summer= Tradescantia zebrina, the tricolored striped 'wandering jew' . I added it to a couple of mixed pots around the house. Wow! Takes sun and heat! No wonder it got so sad in the house over winter.

My steroid champion was Chlorophytum comosum, the lowly Spider plant. In late May I ordered a collection off evil bay, I received unrooted pups and started them outdoors in 4" pots. Today they are in 8" baskets, the largest is 18-20" and I had my first flower last week.

Runner up is my Davallia, Rabbit's foot fern, I bought 4 var. in late May and two are filling 8" baskets already. I let one get to dry and lost all foliage but it's coming back great My D. Canarionsis came as a pair of roots, it took a while to get that first shoot but it's growing and it's going to be much larger than any other. Very large stems and upright growth. First leaf when up 20+ inches.

My silver philodendron took off like a bandit this summer! In May, the growth was really only above the soil, nothing was hanging over the sides of the pot. And look at it now!

AlyssaBlue said:My silver philodendron took off like a bandit this summer! In May, the growth was really only above the soil, nothing was hanging over the sides of the pot. And look at it now!

That's impressive.

Looks a bit "thin" to me. Leaves should be closer together. Ideally. Gene

Yes the thought crossed my mind, Gene, but it's in the brightest spot in the house and gets sun direct through the window several hours a day. I think it's just the plant. I was debating on trimming the long stems to get a little more side growth going, but I wanted to see what it's actually trying to accomplish first.

I should note that I moved the plant to take the photo. It is normally in a sunroom.

It is searching for light. On a side note, I once read about some strange behavior the Devil's Ivy/Photos vine can exhibit. It is native to very dark, dense tropical forests. The seeds fall onto the floor, sprout and the vine grows searching for light. Sometimes it is unable to get through the canopy and find enough light. Then it does an interesting maneuver, it grows towards the dark (the forest floor.) Then more dark (trunk of a different tree.) Then it starts all over growing toward the light again. I have seen this behavior happen in people's living rooms. Gene

I trimmed back my cane begonia early this spring. The mother plant is growing and blooming like gangbusters, needing a trim again and so are her 3 pots of cuttings I got from her. I almost can't tell the difference in size! I confess these house plants live outside.

My cane type begonias were really happy this summer. Ample rain.

@sallyg I cannot grow wandering jew inside anymore, ever since seeing them so healthy in Mexico, outside, I just did not have the heart make them suffer anymore in my pacific nw climate. . @ Madcratebuilder Healthy spiders are so much fun. I find they are either healthy or they are sorta puny. When they grow gangbusters, not many plants have more to offer. @AlyssaBlue I have been eyeing that philly. Glad to see it grew well for you. @ShadyGreenThumb, I propagated some canes early this summer. Finally, they are growing, but I only have one tiny pot. LOL.

My favorite has been a husky little philodendron with white leaves.






And an Asparagus that had about 5 shoots and just grows and grows. Neither are expensive or overly flashy, but the way they grew this summer, made me love em to death.

lauriebasler said:@sallyg I cannot grow wandering jew inside anymore, ever since seeing them so healthy in Mexico, outside, I just did not have the heart make them suffer anymore in my pacific nw climate. . @ Madcratebuilder Healthy spiders are so much fun. I find they are either healthy or they are sorta puny. When they grow gangbusters, not many plants have more to offer. @AlyssaBlue I have been eyeing that philly. Glad to see it grew well for you. @ShadyGreenThumb, I propagated some canes early this summer. Finally, they are growing, but I only have one tiny pot. LOL.

My favorite has been a husky, but short Monstera deliciosa

• White Variegated Monstera (Monstera deliciosa 'Albovariegata')
• Uploaded by lauriebasler

And an Asparagus that had about 5 shoots and just grows and grows. Neither are expensive or overly flashy, but the way they grew this summer, made me love em to death.

Every time I grow an Asparagus Fern, it tries to take over the world.

Edit: I apologize, it didn't occur to me that quoting a tag would also tag those individuals. I didn't mean to tag you two!

Aww, everyone likes to check in.
Hi Alyssa, and Cheryl!
Georgia, I love asparagus ferns, as long as I have a 5 foot plant stand,

My Swiss Cheese Vine (monstera Obliqua) has grown like crazy! It's already too heavy to hang, so I either need a stronger pot or I need to divide it. My husband says it looks like something has eaten it up (he's not a fan) but I love it

My banana also grew like never before, I'm going to hate having to bring her in soon and let her go dormant.

When it was given to me as a gift I was told it was a Zebrina. She is now 4 years old, I bring her in before the temp goes down to 40 at night I leave her on the screened in porch for a couple of weeks, I will start with holding water.I put her in the corner of my living room so she still will get some sun, she looks like she's half dead come spring, I'll post a picture of her this past spring when I put her back out.

Please tell everyone how you handle your banana over the winter. Do you know the species? Gene

I thought that was a banana, but I've never seen purple on the leaves before. She's beautiful.

How about a trellis or pole for that vine, Ibis?
Gorgeous plants, everyone!

I had super awesome fun sticking pieces of ornamental purslane (Portulaca umbraticola) in pots and all over the ground landscape, all multiplies over & over from saving a few pieces inside over winter, right next to S window.


I haven't gotten down in there to figure out exactly how many, but this Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum) cutting made several new stems at its' base.


4/9/16 then 8/13/16, various Begonias with a little false Aralia tree (Plerandra/Schefflera/Dizygotheca):

Wow Tiffany, it's amazing what you do with cuttings! Love them all, especially the begonia/aralia pot