Wax Plant
Hoya carnosa · Southeast Asia and Australia · Easy care
The climbing Hoya carnosa, carnosa meaning fleshy, is one of hundreds of species of hoya known for their thick, waxy, otherwise rather unassuming foliage. Everything changes when they begin to flower: the sweetly scented, soft pink starburst clusters look as though they’ve been carved from marzipan. As a tropical plant it enjoys light, which many people forget, and humidity, but it forgives a bit of neglect as long as you never let it sit in water. Proper drainage is key. Its heart leafed cousin gets a full write up in our hoya kerrii care guide.
Did you know? Though Hoya carnosa grows naturally across the region, it’s also a highly cultivated plant, with hundreds of cultivars created over the past two hundred years. Cultivars are varieties bred for desirable characteristics, such as color.
Ficus Audrey
Ficus benghalensis · India and Pakistan · Intermediate care
This beautiful member of the fig family makes similar demands on its caretakers as its African sister plant, the fiddle leaf fig, though it’s definitely less fastidious. It enjoys large amounts of indirect light, evenly moist soil most of the time, and a bit of humidity. Its leaves are covered in fine hairs that give them an almost velvety texture, which also means they collect dust. Wipe them down every now and then to help with photosynthesis, and keep the whole plant away from drafty spots.
Did you know? The ficus Audrey is the national tree of India and considered sacred. In the wild, thanks to a growing strategy in which its roots suppress other roots, the tree can reach a hundred feet tall and several acres wide, so a single specimen can form a forest’s worth of canopy.
Black Velvet Alocasia
Alocasia reginula · Borneo · Intermediate care
Dark green leaves so deep they read almost black, each pointed blade pulled through with elegant silver veins: the black velvet alocasia earns its dramatic name. Calling its maintenance difficult would be unfair, but this native of Southeast Asia’s rain forest floors does have particular requirements. Reginula, after all, means little queen. She wants humidity and, above all, adequate drainage. Leave this plant baby soggy and its striking, stiff foliage will brown, curl, and die. One word of caution: the leaves and tuber roots are highly toxic, so keep them away from little hands and mouths.
Did you know? Alocasias can grow quickly under the right conditions, but individual leaves don’t live long. Seeing one last only a few months is normal, ideally replaced by vibrant new growth.
Chinese Money Plant
Pilea peperomioides · Yunnan, China · Easy care
Round, coin like leaves on slim stems make the Chinese money plant easy to spot from across a room. Bright indirect light keeps the leaves even, and a quarter turn of the pot each week keeps the plant from leaning toward the window. Water when the top inch of soil has dried, and watch for small offsets rising from the base.
Did you know? Those offsets are why it earned the nickname friendship plant: a healthy plant gives itself away one plantlet at a time.
Chinese Evergreen
Aglaonema · Southeast Asia and New Guinea · Easy care
Patterned leaves in green, silver, and sometimes pink have made the Chinese evergreen one of the most forgiving indoor plants. It handles low light and the odd missed watering, so it’s easy to care for and about as low maintenance as a houseplant gets. Let the soil dry out between waterings, and keep it clear of cold drafts.
Did you know? The leaves hold calcium oxalate crystals, so keep the plant out of reach of pets that like to chew.
Rubber Plant
Ficus elastica · Northeast India to Indonesia · Intermediate care
Glossy, oval leaves in deep green and burgundy give the rubber plant its architectural look, and it grows into a tall indoor plant when it likes its spot. Give it bright light, wipe the dust off the leaves now and then, and water when the top two inches are dry.
Did you know? Ficus elastica is a relative of the ficus Audrey and of the fiddle leaf fig, and its milky sap was once tapped to make rubber.
A few plants that feel Asian aren’t. The Swiss cheese plant, Monstera deliciosa, is a Central American native, the snake plant comes from West Africa, and the money tree with its feng shui reputation, Pachira aquatica, grows wild from Central into South America. Golden pothos, Epipremnum aureum, is called the money plant across South Asia, but it comes from Moorea in French Polynesia. The dwarf umbrella tree, Schefflera arboricola, from Taiwan and Hainan, is the true Asian in that crowd.
The Mother of Gardens raised half the plants on your shelf.
Now you know where to send the thank you note.
