(Bird's Nest Fern)

This tender evergreen fern from the Old World tropics is a classic houseplant. In its native habitat it is usually epiphytic, growing in trees. In cultivation, however, it also takes well to containers or garden beds. The long linear simple leaves are glossy-green with dark midribs and pointed, often furled tips. The leaves form circular rosettes which accumulate organic debris in their hair-lined centers. The spores are borne in rib-like rows on the underside of the leaf. Numerous cultivars and...

(Sand Dollar Cactus, Sea Urchin Cactus, Star Cactus, Star Peyote)

These tiny round hemispheres make exceptional windowsill cactus due to their unique markings and spinelessness. The species is native to thorn shrub vegetation of southern Texas and northern Mexico. It is often found in the filtered shade beneath shrubs, which act as nurse plants for protection from the brutally hot sun. This proves a tolerance for indoor conditions. Sadly, unscrupulous collectors have gathered so many old wild specimens that it is now listed as endangered in the U.S. Endangered...

(Bishop's Cap, Star Cactus)

Bishop’s cap is an ideal windowsill cactus because it is thankfully spineless or nearly so. This tiny, rock hard gem of a plant does not demand high intensity light and will thrive in any south facing exposure as a house plant. It is native to the Chihuahuan Desert of central Mexico, but has been in cultivation so long there are numerous horticultural varieties. What makes it so unique is that each plant is a perfect five pointed star divided into as many identical segments. Bishop’s cap protects...

(Monk's Hood, Star Cactus)

Monk’s hood is a beautiful windowsill cactus with unique coloring and strong geometric form. This cactus does not demand high intensity light and will thrive in any south facing exposure as a house plant. It is native to the deserts of central Mexico in gravelly dry washes or nooks and crannies in cliff faces. Each plant is technically a stem divided into an average of 8 segments that may twist somewhat as plants age. Widely spaced tubercles line the segment ridges, each one producing several short,...

(Ganges Primrose)

Successful in many warm soils, the spreading foliage of Ganges primrose is a lovely backdrop for the white or yellow blossoms that flush purple with maturity. An exact nativity is uncertain, but believed to hail from eastern Africa, and India eastward into Malaysia. This is a tender perennial or subshrub that sprawls out and is reminiscent of a large petunia plant. It is usually regarded as a pretty weed in the tropics (in lawns), often invasive along the beaches.

The medium green leaves are...

(Ganges Primrose, Variegated Primrose)

Successful in many warm soils, the spreading green and yellow foliage of variegated Ganges primrose is a lovely backdrop for the white or yellow blossoms that flush purple with maturity. An exact nativity is uncertain, but believed to hail from eastern Africa, and India eastward into Malaysia. This is a tender perennial or subshrub that sprawls out and is reminiscent of a large petunia plant. It is usually regarded as a pretty weed in the tropics (in lawns), often invasive along the beaches.

The...

(Carambola, Starfruit)

Carambola, also known as starfruit, is a tropical semi-evergreen tree native to Sri Lanka, Malaysia and southeastern Asia. It is a medium sized, slow growing, ackwardly-branching tree that puts forth leaf stalks with alternating green, finely haired leaves. Its fragrant pink-violet flowers are borne in small clusters on reddish stalks in spring and summer. Orange-yellow oblong, star-shaped fruits with waxy skin develop throughout the warm months and may continue into winter. Trees typically need...

(Black Timber Bamboo, Clumping Bamboo, Timor Black Bamboo)

Newly emerging green shoots of the Timor black bamboo are edible, but allowing the culms to mature to a towering height proves highly ornamental. It’s native to the island of Timor, one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, lying just north of Australia and among the isles of Indonesia. This bamboo is a very tall, clumping bamboo that produces towering, slightly leaning culms. This tree-like grass quickly grows into a loose, non-spreading clump.

All bamboos are grasses with woody-type stems called culms...

(Clumping Bamboo, Hedge Bamboo)

Shrub bamboo is a clumping bamboo native to China. All bamboos are grasses with woody-type stems called culms which are divided into sections and branched. Shrub bamboo is extremely variable, the culms slender sometimes arching, smooth with no teeth or spines. The culms often emerge green then mature to various shades of yellow/gold often striped. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped and produced in pairs, often many pairs are crowded on the branches. Bamboo flowering is unusual, the flowers are...

(Alphonse Karr Bamboo, Clumping Bamboo, Hedge Bamboo)

The Alphonse Karr bamboo is a clumping bamboo native to China. All bamboos are grasses with woody-type stems called culms which are divided into sections and branched. Hedge bamboo selection ‘Alphonso-Karrii’ has slender, arching culms which are smooth with no teeth or spines. The culms emerge with a pink tint and mature to a rich gold, striped with deep green. Bright light also brings out pink at the culm joints or nodes. The leaves are linear to lance-shaped and produced in pairs, many pairs are...