#aspidistraaddict

Hi, I’m Laura and I’m an #aspidistraaddict. For those of you who have read HPH for a while now, it will be no surprise to you that I have a bit of a ‘thing’ for aspidistra. I currently have four in my collection and recommend them to everyone as I think they are extremely underrated in the houseplant world.

Despite them having been considered a bit of a ‘granny plant’ for quite a long time, I do think that they are increasing ever so slightly in popularity once more. I’d like to try to promote this timelessly elegant and extremely forgiving foliage plant so if you or someone you know owns an aspidistra, please snap a photo of it and upload it to instagram using the hashtag: #aspidistraaddict. For fellow aspidistra lovers, this hashtag can be a place for you to browse other peoples’ plants, and stumble across some of the harder to find varieties to appreciate from afar. I had my heart set on finding a variegated version after stumbling across it in a vintage French houseplant book last summer! A variety I also love seeing online is the speckled ’milky way’ aspidistra – look it up if you’ve not seen one before …if you are in the UK and know where I might be able to find one here please get in touch!

Above are two photos of my section of the aspidistra that belongs to my grandparents – I wanted to share this post today (4th of May) because my nan turns 95! Last summer I divided her plant into three and gave a section to my mum, I kept a bit, and nan has the rest back in her retro plant stand which sits in the hall of her bungalow. I documented the process HERE but I’ve also included some photos below.

It means a lot to me to have a piece of this plant in my home, and as is often the cast with these slow growing but sturdy ‘cast iron’ plants, there is usually a story to tell with many being passed down through families or friends. The other larger of the four plants here is over 100 years old and used to live in a church, but was divided up and sold – I bought this online last year.

Some photos taken of my nan’s (far left) and mum’s (centre and right) plants last week. As you can see, there’s lots of new growth – and I love the way aspidistra leaves unfurl, like little trumpets.

Here’s a close up of my two variegated plants:

I think that one of the reasons the aspidistra elatior is quite elusive is because it is such a slow growing plant, which does make it’s price point higher that similar plants of the same size. It’s not been a popular plant for quite a long time and with there being little demand, not so many were grown.

A NEW ZEALAND ASPIDISTRA

To conclude this post, I’d like to share a cast iron plant I came across from launching the #aspidistraaddict tag, that lives all the way in Christchurch, New Zealand. I spoke to Vivvie about her beautiful new acquisition as this is exactly the type of post I look forward to seeing more of.

” vivvie_the_gardener @_houseplanthouse Both of my great grandmothers owned this plant, literally the stereotypical image. . . I can still see them sitting in a dusty sun dappled corner, in a Victorian decorative pot. I’ve always loved it, and it blew my mind when I found this variegated one…”

 

I am continually blown away by how the internet and platforms like Instagram connect people all over the world with similar interests. I just wanted to add a note of appreciation to you all that I interact with, and say thanks for inspiring me and supporting what I do, it really means such a lot.

So please head over to the #aspidistraaddict tag page which you can find HERE and follow it so that you can see new posts appear on your feed. I will share them on my stories from time to time too – you can find me at HERE

Thanks for reading!

Laura

---