The New Botanist Andrew Galloway & Carinne Piekema

We're on a short break, but will be back soon with more plant advice. In the meantime, just a few things to look out for while your plants wake up from their winter slumber. 

Prayer Plants are formed of several genera of plants, all of which have striking foliage. The leaves of these plants also move, closing during the night and opening during the dawn resulting in their common name. These bold houseplants were first discovered deep within the Amazon jungle. The ornate foliage of Prayer Plants caused its rapid popularity in the 70s, making a comeback fairly recently. 

The Trailing Wax Plant, or Hoya Linearis is a trailing succulent. This beautiful plant with needle like leaves is relatively easy to care for, it's really fast growing and relatively disease resistant. This plant is originally from the Himalayas and prefers bright indirect sunlight with moist soil. In the wild, the trailing wax plant can often be found growing on other plants - it is an epiphyte. When the plant is really happy, it produces clusters of white flowers with distinctive pink and yellow coronas.

The Monstera, or Swiss Cheese Plant, has been an iconic houseplant ever since the 1950s. This gorgeous evergreen climbing plant has evloved holes in its leaves to help deal with the heavy downpours common to the tropical climate of the south of Mexico. This houseplant comes in a huge range of types and colours, including some extremely rare (and very expensive) variegated white ones. 

The Madagascar Palm or Pachypodium lamerei is a lesser known houseplant. It is a highly unique stem succulent from the southern region of Madagascar. The Madagascar Palm grows in bright direct sunlight with regular watering, up to every other day in the summer months! In ideal conditions this succulent can grow up to 30 cm per year. This houseplant will add an unusual tone with its glossy blue stem that comes with long thorns and thin leaves arranged  in a pineapple-like pattern.

The Mother-in-Law's Tongue or Snake Plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) is a perennial evergreen herb that is native to tropical parts of west Africa. This iconic houseplant is highly tolerant to low levels of light and water. It comes in a huge range of colours and snakes that can even be plaited into secondary shapes. It is elegant and can beautify even the smallest spaces in your home.