CAES Newswire

 College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences UGA Cooperative Extension
Menu
Published on 08/18/05

Foliage plants bring garden indoors for winter

By Bodie V. Pennisi
Georgia Extension Service

Spring and summer in Georgia are green and alive with color outdoors, but they don't last. Indoors, though, your garden can brighten your days year-round with the durable wonders of foliage plants.

Blending well with flowering potted plants, foliage plants make wonderful gifts. They add a remarkable variety of leaf sizes, shapes, textures and colors. Combined in dish gardens, small foliage plants offer delightful displays as instant miniature gardens.

So many species and cultivars of foliage plants are available now. And new ones are introduced every year.

Foliage plant breeders have focused on improving plants' appearance and performance indoors. Each year they select plants for qualities such as repeat flowering, increased disease resistance and tolerance to low light and temperatures. Some show spectacular displays of leaf colors, too.

Some winners

Here are some of the exciting, new foliage plants to look for in the garden center.

Aglaonema 'Red Gold' features green and yellow speckled leaves with very characteristic and unusual pink petioles. As with all Chinese evergreens, it can perform excellently indoors.

Anthurium 'Tropic Fire' features bright fiery-red spathe and white spadix. This new cultivar produces a full pot of rich, medium green, shiny foliage.

Calathea 'Silver Plate' features silver-green, glossy foliage, and long-lasting lighter pink flowers. One of the few flowering calatheas in culture.

Carludovica 'Jungle Drums' is a new plant species for the foliage trade. It's stemless, with rounded, fan-shaped, rich green leaves, usually cut in two parts. They resemble corrugated palm leaves but are much softer. Panama hats are traditionally made of a close relative of this plant.

Chlorophytum 'Fire Flash' has glossy-green, lance-head-shaped leaves with distinct, parallel veins and a bright coral petiole. The coral veins and petioles make a strong contrast with the leaves, while the small flowers are white in a dense, cylindric panicle partly hidden in the foliage. This plant is a close relative of the spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) but has much larger leaves.

Dracaena 'Rikki' has foliage that produces graceful arcs of deep green, glossy leaves, with highlighted yellow bands in the center running the length of the leaf. It is a wonderful companion to all other dracaenas and does a credit to this genus of old favorites.

Homalomena 'Purple Sword' has spectacularly colored dark green and silver-marked leaves with contrasting dark purple on the undersides.

Polypodium 'Green Wave' has distinctive upright, dark green fronds. This new tropical fern grows as vigorously as a Boston fern.

Spathiphyllum 'Hi Ho Silver' is a variant of "Ceres," the European variety that blooms with a symmetrical shape. The leaf veins are lighter, compared to the rest of the lamina, giving the leaf a unique look of a subtle white web on a green background. This beautiful new cultivar resembles a gray-green Aglaonema.

Syngonium podophyllum 'Neon' has bright, new hot-pink foliage. This small plant branches freely and is perfect in large assortments or dish gardens.

(Bodie Pennisi is a Cooperative Extension horticulturist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.)

Bodie Pennisi is a Cooperative Extension horticulturist with the University of Georgia College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences.

Experts/Sources:
Bodie Pennisi
After a hearty climb, Connect Abroad Italy students pose in front of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. (Photo by Angel Bhardwaj) CAES News
UGA ranks as leading doctoral institution for study abroad 12/20/24 Angel Bhardwaj
The University of Georgia remains among the top 10 U.S. universities for study abroad participation, according to the 2024 Open Doors Report released by the Institute of International Education in partnership with the U.S. Department of State. UGA boasts the highest study abroad participation to enrollment ratio of the top 7 ranked doctoral institutions, earning the No. 7 spot in overall participation and No. 3 in short-term study abroad programs.
HurricaneHeleneGreenhouseDamageCropped CAES News
UGA Extension supports resilience in Georgia farm communities after Hurricane Helene 12/19/24 Emily Cabrera
Hurricane Helene wrought sweeping devastation across Georgia’s agricultural sector in late September, leaving an indelible mark on both the land and the people who tend it, bringing focus to vulnerabilities in Georgia’s farming industry and the need for more robust safety nets. In addition to the physical destruction, the hurricane took an emotional toll on Georgia’s farmers. In response, UGA Extension has prioritized mental health support.
From left, CAES Associate Professor Abigail Borron and Fulbright Romanian-American Foundation Scholars Mihai Suteu, Daniyar Memedemin, Alina Zaharia, Andreea Ona and Daniel Chiciudean stand in front of an image of the Romanian flag projected onto a barn at UGArden. CAES News
Fulbright Scholars unite with UGA Extension to envision ag outreach model in Romania 12/18/24 Maria M. Lameiras
Arriving on the Athens campus of the University of Georgia in August 2023, five Romanian scholars experienced the same anticipation, excitement and apprehension as many first-year students.  Chosen as Fulbright Romanian-American Foundation Scholars, each serves on the faculty at one of three Romanian universities, specializing in fields from economics and engineering to plant breeding and biotechnology. The five scholars comprised the first cohort of the Romanian Extension Education Development Program, an ambitious three-year pilot effort to facilitate planning and implementation of extension services in Romania. 
Janiver in sunflower field AI web CAES News
A larger-than-life legacy: CAES student’s contagious enthusiasm inspired others 12/17/24 Jordan Powers
When Miriam Edelkind-Vealey applied for a summer role at a University of Georgia pollinator biodiversity lab in 2020, the junior undergrad didn’t quite know what to expect. After being told she got the position, Edelkind-Vealy didn’t hear anything for a few weeks. It was only then that she learned a collaborator on the project, second-year master’s degree student Amy Joy Janvier, had passed away.
In developing markets where making staple foods is a daily task and warmer climates where food spoilage is common, foods that have more longevity and are easily preserved can enhance economic opportunities by reducing food preparation tasks and lower environmental impact. CAES News
CAES researchers look to reduce food waste by extending shelf life 12/16/24 Lillian Sosbee
“Use by,” “Sell by” and “Best by” dates on food packaging can be helpful indicators of how long a consumer can store a food item before eating, but often these dates lead to high quantities of wasted food. About one-fifth of food produced for human consumption is discarded before it can be eaten, equating to 1 billion meals a day and contributing to global food insecurity.
Recognizing the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UGA graduates CAES News
UGA celebrates 15 years of Bulldog 100 12/13/24 Rachael Andrews
The University of Georgia Alumni Association released the 2025 Bulldog 100, a list of the 100 fastest-growing businesses owned or led by UGA graduates. The program, organized by the Division of Development & Alumni Relations, celebrates 15 years of honoring alumni and their entrepreneurial endeavors. Among this year’s class, businesses are headquartered in a total of eight states, with 87 of the businesses located in Georgia. In total, 142 alumni representing over two dozen industries are being recognized as a part of this year’s list.