A pineapple plant earns its place indoors even before it produces fruit. The spiky, gray-green rosette of leaves looks sculptural on a windowsill, and the payoff for patient growers is a homegrown fruit that took two to three years to form. Because pineapple is a bromeliad, it stores water in a central cup, tolerates missed […]
The stone pine, also called the Italian stone pine or umbrella pine, starts life as a rounded, shrub-like tree and slowly matures into a towering evergreen with a flat-topped, mushroom-shaped canopy. Anyone who has traveled the Mediterranean recognizes the silhouette against coastal hillsides. Pinus pinea is a long-lived tree, and one planted today will still
Cryptanthus bromeliads, better known as earth stars, form tight rosettes of pointed leaves that lie low against the soil, which is how they earned their name. The genus comes from Brazil, where more than 1,200 species and cultivars grow on the forest floor rather than in tree branches like many of their relatives. Foliage ranges
Pearls and Jade pothos (Epipremnum aureum ‘Pearls and Jade’) earns its name from the soft gray-green and creamy white patches that cover every leaf. It belongs to the same group as the golden, marble queen, and neon forms, and the differences between them come down to leaf size, color, and how much light each one
Jade pothos (Epipremnum aureum ‘Jade’) is one of the pothos varieties you will find in nearly every garden center. It is a naturally occurring mutation of the original golden pothos, and it stands out for thick, dark, shiny green leaves, sturdy stems, and extra drought resistance. These tough vining plants look good on shelves and
Philodendrons have been houseplants since the 19th century, but Philodendron mayoi is a newcomer. Botanists found the species in the Brazilian rainforest only in the year 2000, and it reached plant shops even later. What sets it apart from the common heartleaf philodendron are the large, palm-like leaves and the stalks, called petioles, with a
Hoya obovata is a less common relative of the familiar Hoya carnosa, and it is often harder to find at garden centers. What sets it apart are the large, deep green oval leaves that carry a silver splash pattern across the surface. The plant grows as a semi-succulent, so its thick, waxy leaves store water,
The Madagascar palm (Pachypodium lamerei) looks like a palm, grows like a cactus, and belongs to neither group. This spiky succulent shrub from the dogbane family (Apocynaceae) carries a single thick gray trunk, sometimes armed with thorns, topped with spear-like dark green foliage. In spring and early summer it opens large, fragrant white flowers. Landscape
Sourwood (Oxydendrum arboreum), also called sorrel, is the ornamental tree landscape crews reach for when a lot is small and the design calls for a specimen. It stays at 20 to 25 feet tall and 10 to 25 feet wide, blooms after about its fifth season, and grows slowly enough that the wood stays strong
Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris), the tree most Americans call Scotch pine, works harder than most conifers on a building site. It supplies the classic Christmas tree, yields softwood timber for framing, flooring, and joinery, and anchors landscapes from USDA zone 2 through zone 9. A single specimen can live 300 years, so the choice made
