Which common houseplants are harder than stated/thought?

[Urkern]

Hello,

Who doesn't know it: you go to the hardware store or a gardening store and there are all sorts of great things lined up inside that you almost always think can't withstand a single degree of frost. Then you are sad and ask yourself about winter-hardy replacement plants that sometimes fill the gap more, sometimes less.

It rarely comes to the idea of simply planting out one of these plants and seeing whether it is really as tropical as it looks?

In my hardware store you usually see candidates like Dieffenbachia, Alocasia, Caryota, Yucca elephantipes/gigantea, Dracaena reflexa, fragrans, Livistonia, Clivia, Chlorophytum, spathiphyllum, Anthurium, Ficus benjamini, Fatsia, Beaucarnea recurvata and so on.

My experience so far is that the Dieffenbachia was slushy after a bit of frost, while the Fatsia proved to be completely hardy in my region (8a/8b). The Yucca elephantipes also survived a winter forgotten outdoors in a pot.

Dracaena reflexa, on the other hand, did not sprout again after -8°C.

What are your experiences and which houseplant would you think is tougher than everybody think?

Edited April 4, 2024 by Urkern

[Silas_Sancona]

Much depends on where you're located.. 9B and above, 99% of the listed " House " Plants ....and MUCH much more... can survive planted outdoors if provided the proper spot..

That said, factors such as " living in a very arid area, vs. living somewhere humid / that gets a lot of warm season rainfall " etc, etc, can influence which house plant-y things will thrive where..

Could grow Spider Plant and Diffenbachia -easily- outside in California, forget it here ( because they will burn to a crisp )  Ficus Benji can do great ( ...and get HUGE, in some parts of CA  ..and FL ..esp there.. )  but are tough enough to endure 3+ months of 105-120F heat here in the low Desert,  if provided some water thru the hottest part of summer.

Clivia = landscape staple in CA ...Bit tougher here -but possible- if you have good, dense afternoon shade, provide a good layer of leaf litter to help keep the surface of the soil a little cooler.

Orchids are another group of " House " plants many folks don't realize can be far tougher than assumed..  yes, some of the really exotic looking kinds are very tropical ..only thriving in places like Hawaii or S. FL.

On the other hand, there are tons more that are hardy enough to be grown -w/ relative ease- in many areas of California.. Some of the more exotic looking ones that can be grown -outdoors 90 -100% of the year out there would blow most people's minds simply because you'd never expect something you might see growing in a Jungle in Costa Rica/ Columbia growing -quite well- in someone's yard in Orange County, or San Diego.

There are many that absolutely hate heat and can only be grown in cool-ish areas of CA or other similar spots around the world.

There are even a few that can withstand enough heat that they can be grown... ...or do grow naturally... here in the low desert, or just south of here in areas of the Sonoran desert that are about as hot, and are dry for almost as long as it can be here.. Only difference between the climate here and Hermosillo, or San Carlos / Guaymas in Sonora proper is it is slightly more humid down there, esp in Guaymas since it sits right next to the Gulf of CA.

. Desert Rose / Adenium?  great outdoors there ..and in coastal Cen / S. FL.  Tougher here, even though it rarely gets cold enough to kill them here / winters are often dry / warm  enough.  Little tougher still in S. California( More winter rainfall / cooler winter temps there, outside of the Palm springs area at least ) unless you plant them in a spot that stays warm in winter / soil that will drain really well..

Bird's Nest Ferns / flashy - flowered Anthuriums?  some Bird's Nests  can grow outdoors under a shaded patio / planting area, even in hot and seasonally quite dry places like Sonora Mexico, maybe even here.. 

Can't say how true it is since i'm not there to see w/ my own eyes but have heard of Flashy Flowered Anthuriums surviving ( ...and flowering again ) outdoors in a few ideal spots in San Diego.

Vireya Rhododendrons, ..a spectacular group of " Tropical " Rhodies  that are sometimes offered as house plants?  thrive in parts of the San Francisco Bay Area, / Coastal S. CA, and Hawaii, ..but are little bit tougher in S. FL.

Could go on ( ...and on, lol )    but i think you'll get where i'm going..

In cooler areas, as you said, never hurts to try some of the tougher " House Plant " options you might admire in a nursery. Many might fail, but a few might surprise you..

Fatsia, Yucca gigantea / elephantes, Split Leaf Philodendron, Monstera, Pothos, ...maybe even Peace Lilies ( ..Thought i'd heard reports of them surviving being cut down by a freeze in some part of non 9B U.S a couple times here on the forum over the years. )  ....etc...  many of those plants in the indoor plant section can be tougher than many might assume they might be..

All that said, always be careful with the plants you choose to try.. Some are well behaved, others can become a nightmare, even in cooler areas where winter freezes might slow them down, but not kill them off completely if they ...or their kids... escape a garden.

[redbeard917]

Snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata) is pretty tough and my mother grew it outside in zone 8, albeit in a very warm microclimate, never receiving winter damage. It doesn't look as good in a flowerbed though as it does in a pot, in my opinion, because it gets kind of spread out.

[Silas_Sancona]

2 hours ago, redbeard917 said:

Snake plant (Dracaena trifasciata) is pretty tough and my mother grew it outside in zone 8, albeit in a very warm microclimate, never receiving winter damage. It doesn't look as good in a flowerbed though as it does in a pot, in my opinion, because it gets kind of spread out.

Have noted only two Mother in law's Tongue / Snake plants i'd actually grow, angolensis, and a rare red flowering species.. Rest are just ...meh. 

Planted areas in front of my apartment had them growing beneath trees. Swore if i'd stayed there longer than i did, i'd have yanked out all the ones planted in a bed near my building ..Them and the Purple Heart in the same planter. Why people plant those when there are much more attractive things to choose from, i still haven't figured out  lol.

[aabell]

Aspidistra (Cast iron plant) seems to have fallen out of favor a bit as a houseplant and not always easy to find, but they are hardy down to zone 8 or so and can take sun or shade outdoors. 

[Silas_Sancona]

3 hours ago, aabell said:

Aspidistra (Cast iron plant) seems to have fallen out of favor a bit as a houseplant and not always easy to find, but they are hardy down to zone 8 or so and can take sun or shade outdoors. 

Pretty tough, though one plant i haven't tried here yet  ( ...Just to see if they are desert  tough ) 

Imagine they'd likely do ok in the same kind of spot Split leaf Philodendron can handle here.  Variegated form is one of the few ( ...emphasize few  )  variegated plants i can actually tolerate / looks attractive, lol.


 

[metalfan]

Speaking from experience in zone 9A Florida....Spathiphyllum will make it here if it grown as a pond plant actually IN the pond....I don't know about in the ground, never tried it that way.

Some of the tougher Philodendrons will make it (Jose Buono, King of Spades, maybe a few others) if they are in a protected location. Thaumatophyllum bioinnitifidum (formerly Philodendron selloum) is almost bulletproof here. Thaumatophyllum Xanadu is not.

Monstera deliciosa and Epipremnum aureum are iffy. If you have a great microclimate you can do them, if now, they can freeze back (but come back...but you lose all the growth of maybe a few years to one single bad night)

Ti plants do very well here.

Birdnest ferns and bird nest (Pachyneurium) anthuriums are quite hardy here.

Dieffenbachia will also survive a hard freeze in the pond, not so much in the ground.

Tacca integrifoila (the white bat plant) will make it, the black bat (Tacca chantrieri) usually will not

Fatsia japonica is totally hardy, as is lady palm.

Sansevieria (now dracaena) are very hardy here

Cast Iron plants are a staple.

Bromeliads of many genera are unfazed by the 20's

 

[Elim North]

How about Aucuba japonica (aka. Japanese laurel, gold dust plant)? 

[Silas_Sancona]

17 hours ago, Elim North said:

How about Aucuba japonica (aka. Japanese laurel, gold dust plant)? 

Supposedly hardy to 7A, possibly even Zone 6 ( This link : https://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/PlantFinder/PlantFinderDetails.aspx?taxonid=271718   )   though at that end of the hardiness spectrum, i'd think they might experience some degree of damage, though it is entirely possible they don't.


Grew like weeds in 9B CA when i was a kid..

 
 

[Keys6505]

I had a Monstera Siltepecana and a Pothos N'Joy come back after 20 degrees this past winter (pics attached).  The more standard issue Epipremnum always come back, but this is the first time I tried the N'Joy.  Monstera Adansonii comes back every year for me and has survived lows of 15, 17, and 20 degrees.  The Adansonii usually gets about 8' or so up the oak it's planted under before winter gets it again.  I know Lowe's (in TX anyway) sells Fatshadera in the cheap 4" houseplant section and they're zone 8ish plants.  Spider Plants aka Chlorophytum are reliably hardy here.  I made a separate post regarding my success with in-ground Calathea here in 9a and they all survived 20 degrees this past winter.

[Silas_Sancona]

18 hours ago, Keys6505 said:

I had a Monstera Siltepecana and a Pothos N'Joy come back after 20 degrees this past winter (pics attached).  The more standard issue Epipremnum always come back, but this is the first time I tried the N'Joy.  Monstera Adansonii comes back every year for me and has survived lows of 15, 17, and 20 degrees.  The Adansonii usually gets about 8' or so up the oak it's planted under before winter gets it again.  I know Lowe's (in TX anyway) sells Fatshadera in the cheap 4" houseplant section and they're zone 8ish plants.  Spider Plants aka Chlorophytum are reliably hardy here.  I made a separate post regarding my success with in-ground Calathea here in 9a and they all survived 20 degrees this past winter.

Mentioned this in the past i'm sure  but years ago,  my mom stuffed some spider plants in a planting bed under the living room window at a house we'd lived in in San Jose.   Survived what cooler / frosty winters we'd had in the early 90s and grew -with a vengeance- the rest of the year with very little water applied during the drier months.

Talk about a snail fest   ..Would " harvest " a small " Bucket- O' -Snails " about every 3-5 days, esp. during wetter periods during the winter / early spring.  Great fertilizer when " processed " haha.