Tuesday, June 3, 2008

House Plant?

I received this house plant as a cutting from a lovely lady at church. It is called "Angel's Wing," so it is meaningful and a sweet, thoughtful gift. It has been so happy in our master bathroom that it is getting too large for the tub deck. I am starting to be a little bit afraid of its size. I am only 5'1" tall; it is at least 3' tall, and I think it is approaching 4 feet. [If you read this, LG, thank you again for it. It's beautiful.]

David is at least 5'6" tall and here is the Angel's Wing, trying to look short, next to him (it's clearly bending over so you won't see how tall it really is).
I asked my brother-in-law, Jim, if it could be planted outdoors when his crew was working on our yard today. He said, "No, it's a houseplant; it will die." Rats!


Does this look like an indoor plant to you? It looks to me as if it wants to go outside, and it would look so pretty in our yard. It grew this big from a CUTTING, I mean, a little plant. I'm not sure how much of my house I am willing to cede to it. I think it might want a home with higher ceilings, or a taller mistress. I know that I am not growing. I feel a sentimental attachment to it, but if it gets as tall as I am, I don't know what I will do...

UPDATE: I found info online about making cuttings, so now I know what to do if I want to spread the joy around to others. Thanks for all of the suggestions!

8 comments:

Me said...

It looks like it wants to eat David! That's quite a big plant. Will it survive outside? Maybe you can replant it into a bigger pot and keep it outside during the warmer months and then bring it inside (or in the garage if it's 10 feet tall) during the winter?

pysanki.blogspot.com said...

I totally have a brown thumb (it works well as a nurse) But what about a little pruning? If it came from a cutting, perhapse you could prune it and share the welth.

I do hear you about sentimental plants. My mom has a prayer plant, her grandmother had one too. I always thought it was so cool how at night the leaves would fold and point up. :)

Najia said...

That's a lovely plant! One of my favorites. It will get a bit bigger, but as long as you stop transferring it to a larger diameter pot, it will not grow much more. I'm thinking you either potted it in that large pot when it was little (hence, allowing the roots to get their party on and spread like crazy), or that you kept repotting it in larger pots as it grew.

If you stay at this pot size, it will eventually stop growing because the roots will have nowhere to go after a while. They'll begin to grow around on themselves, which stunts the plant's growth. That's what you want.

Maybe you can find another more wide, spacious location in the house for it. As a personal greeter somewhere by the front door? In a corner of the dining room? Hmmm...

Wishing you lots of luck!

Gberger said...

Thank you for the input. It came to us in this pot. The thing is, it's about to tip itself over by its own weight. I do have it by the front door right now; funny you should suggest that, KBL. I like the idea of taking cuttings and giving them away. Any interest there? I was thinking of GOOGLE-ing the subject, so I don't just kill it by accident.

Laurie Brandriet Keller said...

That is the biggest Angel Wing I have ever seen. You've got some kind of energy going there, girlfriend! You could send it to me :)

Gberger said...

Seriously, Laurie, if I could figure out how to do that, I would!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that is an impressive plant!

Anonymous said...

I have one from LG also. And it sits on my tub deck. It is growing compactly and producing very nice "angel wings" and even blossoms. Our bathroom is lit generously from a skylight about. Maybe yours is searching for the light thus becoming leggy? Blessings to you, Barb Fox