Show your love with these heart-shaped houseplants

COLUMBIA, Mo. –  While red roses might be the iconic gift for Valentine’s Day, houseplants with heart-shaped leaves represent a longer-lived expression of affection for a special person in your life, said University of Missouri Extension horticulturist David Trinklein.

Trinklein shares several good candidates for Valentine’s Day gifts.

Heart leaf philodendron

Philodendron hederaceum has glossy, dark green leaves on twining stems that will trail or climb when trained and tied to a support. Extremely easy to care for, this species thrives in indirect light when growing in a highly organic soilless potting medium that is kept barely moist. The terminal portion of stems can be pinched for a shorter, fuller plant.

Golden pothos

Epipremnum aureum, also known as devil’s ivy, is another vining plant with variegated, heart-shaped foliage that can be trained to a support or grown in a hanging container. Golden pothos prefers bright, indirect light but will survive under very dim light conditions. It prefers a well-drained potting medium that is allowed to become moderately dry between watering.

Hoya heart

Hoya kerrii is one of several species known as wax plant. Hoya heart is a vine with fleshy dark green, heart-shaped leaves. There also are cultivars of hoya heart with white-edged leaves. With a bit of care, plants produce an interesting umbellate inflorescence up to 1 inch in diameter. Although hoya heart is a durable plant, grow it at temperatures above 59 F. This species requires light for flowering but no more than two hours of bright sunlight per day.

String of hearts

Ceropegia woodii has green leaves highlighted with white veins that resemble small hearts on cascading purplish stems. A variegated cultivar with white and pink foliage also is available. This succulent plant also develops interesting fountain-like flowers that are about an inch long. Flowers have a bulbous base with a tubular, pale magenta corolla. Petals are fused at the tips, forming a dark purple, crown-like structure.

Cyclamen

Cyclamen persicum not only has heart-shaped leaves but also produces showy flowers available in a multitude of colors. Cyclamen flowers will persist for several months when kept in bright light and a temperature about 70 F during the day and 50 to 60 F at night. Uniform watering during flowering to keep the potting medium moist is important.

Anthurium

Anthurium andraeanum, or flamingo flower, is a colorful plant with large, captivating flowers consisting of a spathe (shield-like bract) that bears a central spadix. Certain cultivars of anthurium bear vivid red spathes that are about 4 to 6 inches wide. Anthurium plants produce flowers continuously, with each one lasting about six weeks. Plants thrive in bright indirect light at day temperatures above 68 and 85 F, and 60 to 65 F at night.

“This Valentine’s Day, consider expressing your affection for a special someone in your life with the gift of a plant with a heart. It will serve as a reminder of your endearment long after cut flowers have withered,” said Trinklein.

Photo

Anthurium. Public domain photo by N. Perrault via Wikimedia Commons.