(Almost) total recall

I guess I was an unusual child.

I spent a lot of time reading books about houseplants, and memorising their Latin names. Strangely, I have never forgotten those tongue twisting titles and I'm prone to blurting them out at embarrassing moments: when someone shows me a new plant they've bought I'll say "oh, that's a lovely Dracaena marginata triclour!" It can be rather disconcerting, I know, but it does serve a purpose.

When Lynda Penlington emailed me a picture of a houseplant she wanted me to identify, I couldn't quite place it. Then, a few minutes later while doing something else entirely, I suddenly exclaimed "Pteris certica!"

I was very nearly right, although after consulting my houseplant bible, DG Hessayon's The Gold Plated Houseplant Expert, I think it's actually the closely related Pteris ensiformia victoriae. They're both ferns: indeed Hessayon desrcribe's Lynda's variety as "the prettiest of all the table ferns".

The ferns are a huge family of houseplants but they all need roughly the same care: a humid environment, moist soil and indirect light (but not shade). The Pteris types are among the easiest to grow, which is why they are so popular as plants.

Comments

[linda]

Just to let you know Harrod Horticultural have just started a new Weblog and its also worth noting they are suppliers of a lot of organic gardening stuff including seeds, and organic veggie plants etc

[Jane Perrone]

Hi linda

I've now added the blog to my blogroll: thanks for the tip ...