Gardenias are loved for their glossy leaves and strongly scented white flowers, and they have a reputation for being fussy. The reputation is fair but narrow: the plant is not hard to keep alive, it is hard to keep flowering. It wants steady conditions, bright light, humid air, evenly moist soil, and a soil that … Read more
If your gardenia is covered in fat green buds that turn yellow, go soft, and fall off before they open, the plant is not broken. It is reacting to something in its surroundings. The usual first reaction is to water more or to feed it, and both can make the problem worse. Gardenias are well … Read more
Nepenthes are among the most recognizable houseplants, and one of the harder ones to get right in an average living room. The plant itself is not especially fragile. What trips people up is air that is drier than the tropical forest it comes from, tap water that is rich in minerals, and light that is … Read more
If your Nepenthes keeps producing leaves with a bare, curling tendril at the tip, or the pitchers that do appear shrivel before they open, the plant looks healthy but is not doing the one thing it is grown for. The usual first reaction is to feed it, or to pour fertilizer into the pitchers. That … Read more
If a houseplant looks wrong, the leaves are usually the first place it shows. Yellow, brown, curled, drooping or dropping leaves can each come from several different causes, and the same symptom on two different plants does not always mean the same thing. This page is a map of the 67 troubleshooting guides on Wiltwatch, … Read more
An amaryllis is one of the easiest ways to get a big, dramatic flower indoors in the dead of winter, and one of the most confusing to keep going afterward. The bulb arrives, a thick stalk shoots up, and a few weeks later the blooms are open. Then the flowers fade and many people assume … Read more
An amaryllis bulb that produced a spectacular display last winter can sit through the next one with nothing but leaves, or send up a short, weak stalk that never opens. The usual first reaction is to feed it more or water it harder. Neither is likely to help. Amaryllis (Hippeastrum) bloom on a yearly cycle, … Read more
How to keep a florist cyclamen blooming: cool air, bright light, bottom watering, and how to rest the tuber over summer.
A cyclamen covered in flowers in November can look tired two weeks later. Heat, wet crowns, and normal dormancy explain most yellow leaves.
Most poinsettias end up in the compost bin in January, but they don’t have to. A red one from the office party can be kept going on a kitchen windowsill, and by midsummer it will have turned into a leggy green shrub. Getting the red back takes one specific thing: long, completely dark nights starting … Read more