Featured Plant of the Week (Indoor Decorative Foliage)

Indoor Decorative Foliage

The holidays are over. It's time to pack away the decorations, take down the lights, and double check the tree for ornaments. This is a time for many people to shift gears and change priorities, including BloomRite® Gardens. For us that means lots of foliage. Lots and lots of foliage. During the holidays we must draw down our selection of traditional plants to accommodate the many poinsettias that pass through. With the New Year however, we bring back all of it.

Aglaonema, Rubber Tree, Song of India, succulents of every type and size, all of it is back on the floor. This includes large foliage too, such as dracaenas like Massangeana, Lisa and Janet Craig, or palm trees like Kentia and Chamaedorea. Most of these plants never really disappear from the store floor of Will Call, but during the holidays they have to take second billing to the holiday fare.

Now it's time for foliage to shine.

Indoor decorative foliage brings a couple advantages to the table, even when business slows down at this time of year. First is that in general, foliage has a very good shelf life. Most flowering plants will open within weeks, meaning you have to move it into the hands of customers fairly quickly or be stuck with a plant no one will want or pay full price for. However, something like a fern or palm will last indefinitely and at worst will require some periodic cleaning up so that it stays presentable.

Another advantage of indoor foliage is that it's generally hardier than flowering plants. Orchids, Roses, Begonias, and Kalanchoe are all fairly sensitive to unfavorable conditions, and can die if neglected frequently. In contrast a foliage plant like Ficus Decora (Rubber Tree) is the next best thing to indestructible. And you'd actually have to work hard to kill something like ivy.

You may be thinking at this point that all of this is wonderful, but foliage is so dull. It's all just green stuff right? The answer of course is absolutely not. Tropical foliage offers a bewildering array of color while still bringing the previously mentioned advantages to the table. Look to Bromeliads, Aphelandra, Anthuriums, or Stromanthe Triostar for colors that catch the eye and grab attention. Plus this color is long lasting. Just because Aphelandra or Bromeliads have bloomed doesn't mean they lose their color, and variegated plants like Stromanthe or Calathea will always keep their color so long as they have enough sunshine.

This article only scratches the surface of the selection of the foliage we carry and their advantages. BloomRite® Gardens literally has too many different plants to mention on this page. To find out what's in stock, in what sizes, and for what prices head over to our Availability page and download the latest availability list!