I used to hate this plant and avoid coming in contact whenever I see this species. I'm not being prejudice about the fact that this one is actually poisonous.
(Of course, I have few collection of poisonous plants in my garden)
Rather the fact that they were all too common grown everywhere along the street-sides, shopping malls, restaurants and every turn you take you see this plant sitting there but terribly neglected.
One might find all kinds of debris (rubbish) in between the leaves and in the planter box. (plastic wrappers, cigarette butts, food wrappers, etc) The saddest part is their owners care-less about them and these plants grow leggy and often infested with mealy bugs or scale insects to add more injury.
It did took awhile when a friend of mine passed me this red one. Ever since after that, the white spotted one joined into the collection (rescued and nursed back from an abandoned planter-box) Then the Silver Queen rescued from the dump-site and so they all are now living together in a collection of a happy family.
I bought the last one (pic last below) for RM8.00 with many shoots which I had planted in separately as it is so compact tight that they were struggling.
One thing I can say about this plant is that they are quite hardy for a shaded plant. They do so well with their leopard skin - spotted colours of red and white. I would totally recommend them for gardeners but they are expensive. The new cultivars that has more reds on them are now priced RM20+ which I think is a rip-off.
I noticed that coloured cultivars seemed to be less hardier compared to the green cousins. And they do tend to die easily and grow ever so slowly - I guess it must be the inter-breeding that had weaken the agility of the plant that they are sensitive and require some TLC. (Tender Loving Care)
I have seen this sweet pink one (picture below) planted in a lovely designer flowerpot in a showroom and one can guess that it stayed there extremely beautiful giving a strong contrast with the blue flowerpot.
I'm pretty sure they can do best being as an indoor plant provided they get good bright indoor light.
Hello James! Wow it has been awhile. I agree with all that you have mentioned here about aglaonema haha... mealybugs, expensive and you see them everywhere. I like it primarily for the colour. It brightens my porch more than other plants. When it grows leggy, I cut the stem and let it re-grow again. They grow so so slowly. Still, like you said it is a good plant to have.
ReplyDeleteYes Steph. Its been quite awhile.
DeleteGuess we agree about this plant very well.
Good to hear from you.
Hi James, It's interesting that we overcome our prejudices towards certain plants and see them with a fresh eye. This is a lovely collection.
ReplyDeleteThanks Barry.
DeleteI guess this plant seemed to persistent in being part of my garden.
Lovely plants. Everytime I see it being sold in the nursery, I quietly debate on whether to buy it. The new varieties (the red leaf ones)are rather expensive ane prone to mealy bugs infestation which I can do without. So, I still do not have them but have all the rest as shown in your post.
ReplyDeletePerhaps if you can try getting a cutting from a neighbour or a friend? It grows slower than the green version but it certainly adds a lot of colour in your garden.
DeleteIf you intend to buy this plant from a nursery - do take the time to change the soil of the plant after a weeks time when the plant had accustomed to your garden.
Hello, James! Thanks for rescuing those beautiful plants! That was quite a happy ending after all. I was once worried about mealy bugs but I was told spraying them with soap and water would help to get rid of mealy bugs and eventually it did work! :-)
ReplyDeleteGreat that it worked.
DeleteSometimes these pest are brought by ants in my garden and the battle is quite difficult to win when the ants comes back persistently.