Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Love my Sansevieria (Snake Plant)

This is one of my favorite houseplants, mainly because it is
still alive after two years!  The Sansevieria is called the Snake
Plant because it has such beautiful stiff upright leaves.  Mine
are now 3 feet tall.  This plant is the Snake Plant, where the
Mother-in-Law's Tongue is very similar but with a yellow
border on the leaves.   According to About.com , these are
the toughest of all houseplants!  I believe it!  I read that these
plants were native to Africa and preferred no water for the three
winter months.  So I tried it.  I took this plant to work, set it in
a corner with only artificial light, and FORBID anyone at work
to water it!  It still looks great!  I brought it home to divide it
and start back watering once a month.

I've always thought the Snake Plant to be just
beautiful!  When I was a little girl,  I remember
the Snake Plants in our doctor's waiting room.  I
would wait in my  big chair with my legs swinging
while I studied all the tropical patterns on the
leaves.  Somehow, the plants were a comfort. 
It sounds funny, but our dentist had a Snake Plant
in his waiting room, too.

Then, when I was pregnant with my boys, my
obstetrician's waiting room had a large sunny
window with all kinds of tropical plants, 
including Snake Plants and Mother-in-Law's
Tongues.  I always enjoyed looking at the plants
and happily chatting with the other new mothers.
Maybe I make too much of houseplants, ...but maybe not.

"Plants have been shown to decrease infection rates in 
nursing homes and lower blood pressure..." (p. 87 YOU
Staying Young, Oz and Roizen)

Maybe my Snake Plant takes better care of me than I take of it.

For some great pictures of Snake Plants and Mother-in-Law's
Tongues, visit Pam at House of Hawthornes.  She has a 50 year
year old Snake Plant!

Love,
Lottie.

5 comments:

  1. Beautiful plant! I'm jealous; I can not keep houseplants alive, no matter how hard I try. I must have the black thumb of death when it comes to indoor plants!

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  2. Your snake plant is very healthy looking.. I never thought of using it as a house plant because I have so many outside growing down by the creek behind my house.. they grow wild here in SoFla...I have been pulling them out each season but they keep coming back..lol
    Following from Southern Day Dreamer....
    Sandy

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  3. Thanks so much for linking to my snake plant post! You really do have to neglect those plants, don't you! And I never knew the snake plant and Mother-in-Law's tongue were two different plants. Good to know!

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  4. My mom used to have those. I love houseplants.

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  5. Oh Lottie, you are bringing back memories of my Mom. She loved those plants and had several of them. Thank you for sharing.

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