"CAST IRON PLANTS" FOR INDOOR GARDENERS WITH NO TIME TO FUSS, LESS-THAN-IDEAL GROWING CONDITIONS IN THEIR LIVING QUARTERS... AND "CAST-IRON THUMBS"

By K.A. Linne, Garden columnist to Currents Magazines

We were delighted to get some questions from readers over the past few months, and three of them were almost identical; "What kind of houseplants can you recommend for someone like me (us); people who travel a lot, keep the blinds drawn a lot, get home late a lot, don't have much time to take care of, much less fuss with houseplants...and basically, seem to have ‘cast-iron thumbs' instead of green ones?"

Being in similar circumstances ourselves these days (except for that black-thumb part), but having been instructed at an early age to "always have some real plants and flowers in your house, to stay in touch with nature - and to make it look as if someone actually lives there" we are only too happy to share our top picks:

Plants for hot, dry, dimly lit places - that can go without water for a week or more:

Aspidistra - whose common name is "The Cast Iron Plant" has to be the number-one pick here. Its shiny green leaves will shine for years in the darkest of corners, and with the barest minimum of attention. It loves dry soil - and actually hates rich soil. And, because its tuberous roots store water so efficiently, it only needs water when the soil is really dry. There's a variety with bright white streaks too, that's equally hardy.

Old-Fashioned Fancy-Leaf Begonias - sometimes called "Angel Wing Begonias" because of the leaf shapes - are a darned close second in terms of their ability to thrive in harsh environments. Our original specimen - which has lots of ruffle-edged, four-inch leaves in a pretty green color, speckled with silvery spots, and with reddish undersides - has grown into a whole family of plants. (All you need to do to start a new plant is to cut off a too-leggy stem, discard the ‘inter-nodal' section and stick the ‘nodal end' in the soil).  We've massed them together in two good-sized copper tubs (potted-up however, in six smallish pots, so the soil will never be too wet for too long) and placed them in opposite corners of our not very sunny bathroom. The only tricks of growing them are to keep them pot-bound, in poor, quickly draining soil, watering only when they're really dry, and not giving them any direct sunlight. (In fact, we almost killed our 30+ year old ‘mother plant' when we repotted it into a too-large pot with too rich soil). These plants have really been rebounding in popularity, for obvious reasons, and come in a huge variety of leaf shapes, sizes and leaf colors - everything from bright green to purple.

Palms - it really shouldn't come as a surprise that palms like dry, sandy soil and can go without water for very long periods. But the pleasantly surprising part is that once they're a decent size - say three feet tall or taller - they can go without sunlight for an incredibly long time without looking pale or tired. Sounds like just the kind of plant you need, no?

Snake Plants - while these are kind of spike-ey and stiff looking to be your only houseplant (unless, maybe, you have a Southwestern or ultra-modern kind of decorating scheme) these plants are hard to beat when it comes to tolerance for infrequent watering and long periods of low to no light. Since these really are sun-loving plants, we put ours out for the summer - along with our Christmas cactuses too - under a bush so they don't get a sun burn - and never worry about them again until September, when we bring them back in. (This treatment, by the way, guarantees that your Thanksgiving/Christmas cactuses will re-bloom for you).

Another very nice thing about all the plants mentioned above, except for the palms, is that the most common houseplant pests - like mealy bugs and whitefly - hate them.

The keys to success here are simple ones: Always let the soil dry out quite well before you water. Then, make sure you have watered thoroughly - and that the soil gets moistened from top to bottom. Finally - and, this is critically important for all houseplants - make sure they never sit in water. Roots need air to live...and if soil stays wet for too long - or worst of all, it stays totally wet for several days because the saucer is full of water - your plants will literally drown - and die.

Plants for spots where there's a bit more light, but little or no direct sun:

Boston Fern - is another old-fashioned favorite, for the same old fashioned reasons. Unlike most ferns, this one likes to dry out quite a bit between waterings, and does best with a bit of sun, though not too much.

Ivies - are another big family of plants, most of which thrive under low-to-moderate light, and which are fairly drought resistant. Modern hybrids come in every shade of green imaginable, with a wide variety of leaf shapes and sizes, and with all kinds of streaks and mottlings, in shades of yellow, white and silver. "Boston Ivy" and "Grape-Leaf Ivy" are two other very low care plants, although neither are true ivies, botanically.

Orchids - are among our most-favored houseplants, for a whole bunch of reasons: They too like poor soil (actually, no soil...they grow best in chips of bark) and rather infrequent watering...especially if the humidity is high - say because they're in a bathroom, or sitting on a bed of wet pebbles. Then, of course, there are the flowers - which will usually continue to bloom for weeks, and sometimes, as in the case of those Phalaenopsis Orchids, for months. Once the buds are set, the flowers themselves last longest in a fairly bright but not sunny location. The average light level in the average room is near perfect. While they may seem ‘expensive' at first glance, when you consider the cost of buying cut flowers for three or four weeks in a row, they're dirt cheap! If you have a bright window, or can put them out for the summer, in a semi-shady spot, they'll probably re-bloom for you at least once a year. But if you're a busy commuter, with no time to fuss, simply pitch them out and buy new when the blooming is done.