Grandma’s Plants

A few weeks ago, I found a houseplant in the trash in front of a house in my neighborhood. I recognized it right away: a screwpine (Pandanus tectorius, syn. P. veitchii), a plant that you don’t see in stores anymore. And that’s what gave me the idea for this article: these mysterious houseplants that are never (or almost never) found in garden centers, but are abundant in our homes and apartments. What are they? Where do they come from? How long have they been cultivated? Here are some answers to these questions.

The Fascinating History of Houseplants

The first indoor plants are believed to have arrived here between the mid-1860s and 1880. At that time, major Canadian cities (Quebec City, Montreal, Toronto, Winnipeg, etc.) had large public greenhouses, modeled after London’s famous Crystal Palace, which was built in 1851, and visitors were fascinated by the curious and exotic plants found there. This sparked their interest in trying to grow them at home as well.

Palms and ferns were among the most popular plants with the “first indoor green thumbs.” The Boston fern (Nephrolepis exaltata subsp. exaltata, syn. Nephrolepis exaltata ‘Bostoniensis’), with its long, drooping fronds (found in a shipment of plants intended for cut flower production in 1894), quickly became the plant to place on a pedestal in the grand parlor… along with the equally popular Kentia palm (Howea forsteriana). The Boston fern has never lost its popularity, but the Kentia palm is expensive to produce and rare nowadays.

The snake plant or mother-in-law’s tongue (Dracaena trifasciata) has been available for even longer and had a reputation for tolerating even the darkest locations. Boston ferns and snake plants can still be found in garden centers today, although the large Boston ferns of our grandparents’ era have been largely replaced by dwarf varieties, which are better suited to our smaller interiors.

Des plantes encore bien connues

A new batch of indoor plants joined the more established ones when the 5-10-15 Woolworth store began selling tropical plants for the first time at only 5¢ each. Among the new additions were many familiar plants: philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum var. oxycardium), spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum), crassula or jade plant (Crassula ovata), and arrowroot (Maranta leuconeura), among others. These “Woolworth plants” are still widely available in garden centers today.

The Forgotten of Nursery Growers

But some plants have not been commercially available for a long time. They can only be found in private homes, often passed down from one generation to the next within the same family or among friends, or sometimes at a flea market. Don’t bother looking for them in stores: you’ll be wasting your time. However, ask around at a horticultural society and you’ll easily find a small cutting or division.

In this group, there are at least two begonias with a very long history to tell.

Begonias

The red-leaved begonia (Begonia x erythrophylla, Germany, 1845) is one of the first begonia hybrids ever produced. With its waxy, almost round, wine-red leaves, pink flowers in winter, and slightly trailing habit due to its creeping rhizomes that spill over the pot, it is an excellent choice for hanging baskets. The angel wing begonia (Begonia ‘Lucerna’ [‘Corallina de Lucerna’]) was hybridized in Switzerland in 1892 and is still widely distributed. With its upright habit, beautifully silver-spotted wing-shaped leaves, and pink hanging flowers in summer, it bears no resemblance to its cousin.

Walking Iris

The walking iris (Trimezia northiana syn. Neomarica northiana) was introduced in the 1920s. It resembles an iris with its fan-shaped sword-like foliage and short-lived blue and white flowers. The leaves emerge from a flattened stem resembling an ordinary leaf, but after flowering, the stem continues to grow and forms a baby at its tip. The weight of the baby causes the stem to bend, and when there are several drooping stems, the plant makes a pretty hanging plant. I often see this plant in homes, but never in nurseries.

Screwpine

And now we come to my pandanus, the plant I saw in the trash the other day. This Polynesian tree ended up in the greenhouses of Veitch Nurseries in England in the late 1800s. In the house, it forms a fairly large plant with linear, arched leaves that appear glossy, with small sharp hooks at the margins and on the underside of the leaf. The leaves are variegated with white. The plant produces quite impressive aerial roots… and a profusion of babies that emerge from its base and through the foliage. This is another plant that you never see in garden centers, but I see it in many windows when I walk around Quebec City.

Do you think I left the poor screwpine in the trash? Actually, yes: sometimes you have to be practical, and I didn’t need such a large specimen. But I quickly took a baby before continuing on my way, and it is now taking root in my home. And so I, too, will continue to ensure that this plant is maintained from generation to generation, a noble representative of a select group of heritage plants ignored by nurseries but adored by gardeners.

Do you own a “heritage plant”? If so, I’d love to know.

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Larry Hodgson a publié des milliers d’articles et 65 livres au cours de sa carrière, en français et en anglais. Son fils, Mathieu, s’est donné pour mission de rendre les écrits de son père accessibles au public. Ce texte a été publié à l’origine dans Le Soleil le 12 octobre 2012.