Plant Problems

A cyclamen covered in flowers in November can look tired two weeks later. Heat, wet crowns, and normal dormancy explain most yellow leaves.

A poinsettia bought from the grocery store in early December, still in its gold foil sleeve, usually looks fine on the way home — and then drops its leaves. The cause is often a short stop somewhere cold: even a quick errand with the plant sitting in a freezing car can be enough. It looks … Read more

Bring an asparagus fern in from a summer on the porch, hang it from a hook in the living room about eight feet from the nearest window, and keep watering it the way it was watered all summer, and the result is predictable: a shower of yellow needles landing on the floor within a couple … Read more

A ti plant picked up at the grocery store because it was red and cheap tends to follow a familiar pattern. It goes on the bathroom windowsill, it gets watered from the tap every few days because the tag says it likes moisture, and within a month nearly every leaf has a brown tip, each … Read more

A grocery-store guzmania with a bright red star in the middle, bought on a whim in February because the kitchen looked gray, is perfect for about three months. Then the red starts fading to a dull orange-brown, the outer leaves go yellow at the tips, and the whole rosette slowly begins to slump. What most … Read more

A staghorn fern that comes on a little cedar plank from a garage sale can nearly be killed within a month by trying to fix something that was not broken. The flat, round frond hugging the board goes brown and papery, like a dead leaf glued to the wood. It’s easy to assume it is … Read more

A big-box areca palm that comes home in a plastic sleeve can have two lower fronds the color of weak lemonade within three weeks. What most people do next is assume it is thirsty, give it a long drink every few days, and move it right up against a south window so it will “perk … Read more

A yucca from a hardware store garden center often comes with three canes and a tag that says “thrives on neglect,” so it gets treated the way everything else on the plant shelf is treated: a good drink every Sunday. By the end of the second month the lower leaves on the tallest cane are … Read more

A parlor palm on top of a bookcase a few feet from a radiator is a good example of how easy it is to blame the wrong thing. Every week a few more frond tips go brown and crispy, and every week they get trimmed and the water gets switched — to a different jug … Read more

A purple shamrock can look dead on its second evening in a new home. Come home from work, flick the kitchen light on, and every single leaf is folded down flat against its stem like a closed umbrella. It is easy to assume the move killed it and give it a big drink out of … Read more