Let's be clear, I'm NOT a housplant person. I like them and all it's just that my house is so crowded that there's really not a lot of good space near windows for plants. In the summer, houseplants get ignored unless they come outside for a summer vacation, in the winter, they get neglected because they're usually stashed in out of the way places. In short, houseplants usually die at chez outlaw if they need things like water. However, when I saw Aglaonema 'Valentine' at Watsons this summer it was love at first sight. I talked myself out of it but when I saw one later at Molbaks I wasn't so strong. Those beautiful green and pink leaves are great, almost like a Polka Dot Plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) on steroids. A few houseplants come with me to work for the winter and seem to do well there under the fluorescent lights. Hopefully this lovely lady will be happy there where it will get a little more attention than she would at home. Or maybe I should just take it with me to the tropics where it could grow outside in the ground! Since that's not in the cards, let's just hope I can keep this beauty alive inside this winter! Some other tender outside kids also winter inside my classroom in the winter. Begonia luxurians looking unhappy being all trussed up. By the way, that red dog in the bottom right part of the picture is Clifford after whom someone named her Magnolia macrophylla. Begonia maculata ' Polka Dot' I hope all of your tender plants are inside and safe for the winter. It's starting to feel a little cooler these days.
