Romance in mother nature

Mother Nature is so romantic that if you had known, you might not have been so frantic going helter-skelter in search of suitable floral gift for loved ones on Valentine’s day. Like the Yoruba saying, “why go searching all the way to Sokoto (a very far distance) when the object of your search is right there in your Sokoto (your pocket).”

So, do you have a garden? Have you noticed your garden has been sending you Valentines? Once you start looking for heart-shapes, you would see them everywhere. Here are few valentines in my garden and others they are easy tropical plants, which with adequate care, would continue growing and blooming, keeping the romance with you for years to come.

Pothos (Epipremnum aureum)
I would bet you have grown this common house plant with such odd common name, pothos. It is very a versatile, climbing or trailing plant and cuttings grown in soil or in vase filled with water for both indoor and outdoor gardening.

Maintenance is easy and even newbies cannot fail with this one.

Ivies
Ever noticed that most ivies have leaves that are more or less heart-shaped?

Elephant’s Ear (Colocasia)
A taro plant, likes ample water, its edible roots are used for food.

Flapjack Plant (Kalanchoe Luciae, Kalanchoe Thyrsiflora)

Kalanchoes are dramatic-looking evergreen succulent that belongs to the Crassulaceae family and thrives in sunny area, as they are native to Africa, Madagascar, Meditteranean, Malaysia and Indochina.

Like most African succulents, it has large fleshy leaves that form a basal rosette. They are light green, with reddish margins and can be found under many nicknames, including flapjack, paddle plant, flipping pancakes, Red Cabbage, Red Pancakes and Paddle Kalanchoe. This is because of its clam-like or heart shape of their leaves that form in rosettes.

They are fast growing, drought-resistant species and are striking house plants that don’t require a lot of maintenance in the right conditions. Flapjacks grow quickly in wide cluster and works well in rock gardens in regions prone to droughts.

Once mature, these plants can produce yellow shaded flowers on long stems. Flowers of the thyrsiflora is a deeper yellow and heavily scented.

Cyclamen
The flowers are beautiful, but I think the leaves of cyclamen are the most beautiful and more interesting part of the plant. The pretty green and silver leaves are heart-shaped.

Caladium
Caladiums are great plants to turn to guarantee colour and spell romance. Many cultivars have patterns with pink or red centres or veinings, with each of its stems having one large heart-shaped leaf at the end.

Fitonia Spp “Mosaic Plant”
Also called nerve plant, mosaic plant (Fitonia albivenis) is a trailing plant with deeply veined leaves, which can be white or deep pink and makes each leaf look like mosaic or stained glass window.

They thrive both indoors in containers and terrariums, because they stay small, usually under six inches.

Anthuriums
Anthuriums have bright heart-shaped bracts and the ultimate in nature’s gift of Valentines plants and romance to us.

Rex Begonia, Painted-leaf Begonias
These types of begonias have an array of leaf-shaped. Many are distinctively heart-shaped in hues of red and pink.

Coleus (Solenostemon)
Coleus are a member of the mint family. Coleus is a fast growing hanging house plants also good outdoors for shades in hot climates, potted or as edge plants. Coleus are fast growing and come in over 100 different leaf colours, textures and mostly heart-shaped.

The Coleus on the leaves may be a mixture of lavender, cream, pink, maroon, yellow, red, bronze and various shades of green. The colour patterns can be marbled, stripped or dappled.

If you have a very bright area that calls for a hanging plant, then a coleus is perfect for you. Its also non-poisonous plant, which makes it a wonderful addition to homes that have small children and pets.

Heart-leaf Philodendron
It is one of the easiest house plants to grow. Philodendron Hederaceum, the heartleaf philodendron, is a specie of flowering plant in the family of Araceae, native to tropical region. Grows in the house, except full sun.

If there was ever a plant that is perfect for people who are terrible with plants, it is the sweetheart or heartleaf philodendron. Not only are they easy to keep healthy (seriously, they are harder to kill than to keep alive), they also come in a variety of beautiful shades and can be kept as cheerful bushy plants or graceful trailers.
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum wallisi)

Peace lily, also known as “white sail plants” and “closet plants,” are popular choice for office and homes. These lovely plants not only brighten up a living space, but are also excellent at cleaning the air of the room. They are like many popular indoor plants and enjoy medium to low light.

Which kind of light you would you need depends more on what you want your peace lily to look like. Peace lilies in low light will bloom less and will look more like a traditional foliage plant.

Peace lilies, placed in more light, would produce the lovely white spathes and flower more. Outdoor plant in shade, potted. Peace Lily is native primarily to tropical rainforest. It is a vibrant and graceful perennial that adds life to any space.

Peace lilies are not true lilies (lilium spp) at all, but rather a member of the Araceae family. Its flowers resemble those of the Calla Lily (both plants belong to the same family).

The showy part of the flower features a white, hood-like sheath (known as spathe), which resemble a white flag of surrender. Because it blooms with white lily-like flowers, the Peace Lily is frequently associated with purity, prosperity innocence, peace and sympathy.

Feng shui experts are known to recommend putting Peace Lily plants at home and in the work place to strike balance, reduce tension and attract positive energy.

Heart-shaped Garden Embellishments
You can have, for instance, heart-shaped pavers instead of the square and round shapes that are commonly seen in gardens and finally, a romantic heart-shaped succulent, a sweetheart hoya plant from me to you (Hoya keni).

My goal is to share with you the beautiful romance of Mother Nature in our gardens and landscapes. Enjoy.