Hanging with the violet family

Houseplants can help alleviate the yen for one's summer garden in the dead of winter. Let’s talk about some other look alike relatives of African violets.

Episcia

Episcia cupreata, called a hanging violet by some, offers a variegated-leaf plant. The leaves are edged with a dark copper green outside and the interior is a pale green with silver highlights. The leaves are approximate three- to five-inches long.

Don’t confuse this plant with hanging African violets. To be sure you purchase the right plant look for the Latin name.

The Episcia is similar to a spider plant in habit. It grows a stolen at the end of a long stem, which fills out and creates a new plant. If placed in a large pot, the plant will carpet the surface. Or these stolen may be removed from the plant for propagation or left to fill out and hang over the side of the pot.

The plant produces a single flower with a long throat in colors of red and pink.

An Episcia likes 70 F. degree temperatures and despises drafts. It enjoys high humidity and bright but not direct light. Water it thoroughly but don’t let it stand in water. Feed twice a month.

Achimenes

Another member of the Gesneriad family is Achimenes. These plants grow from a rhizome, which looks like a small pine cone, about ¾-inch in length. They make beautiful container plants, but you will need about a half dozen of the ‘cones’ to fill up a pot.

Use this plant to bring color into the house for the winter months and let go dormant during the hot summer months. While dormant, you may retrieve the ‘cones’ and share with a friend. They are difficult to find in the soil and grow very near the soil surface.

Or just allow the plant to go dormant. Slow down the water to match its growth cycle. Once it is dormant, store in the dark where it will be cool until fall. Then bring it out and start watering.

Achimenes may also be started from cuttings, as well. This plant produces smaller leaves than its cousins and stands up rather than hangs. The flowers on the Achimenes are about the size of a fifty-cent or dollar piece and come in a variety of colors. They also have a deep throat.

Provide the same type of growing conditions as for other Gesneriad family members.

Aeshyanthus

The lipstick plant, Aeschynanthus lobbianus, belongs to the same general Gesneriad family. This Indonesian plant has a prostrate form, making it ideal as a hanging pot plant.

The tubular flowers have an almost black calyx from which they protrude. This habit provides its name. It blooms in the summer.

The lipstick plant has the same temperature and water needs according to its growing cycle. It also likes high humidity and will appreciate being misted. It needs a more acidic soil than what is necessary for the other two plants. Use a mix of peat moss and vermiculite. Fertilize once a month in the spring and summer. Adding weak coffee or tea to its water will help to acidify the growing conditions. Slow down the feeding during fall and winter.

To propagate, cuttings may be taken at any time during the year.