Ti Plants

Ti Plants

 

Today’s plants are the Ti plants (Cordyline Minalis) which come in a wide variety of colours - green, red, chocolate, pink, orange, variegated and combinations of all of these! Till few days back I didn’t even know the name of these plants even though I have two of them since 2017. They have been growing in a tiered rosette and have never flowered.

Suddenly I am in love with these plants because they are tall with an attractive fan-like and spirally arranged cluster of broadly elongated leaves at the tip. These leaves keep drying up so many times and I keep removing them but I just don’t know why I like these plants so much! Perhaps because these are again low maintenance plants!

The Ti plants of mine are bold houseplants with flamboyantly green and red coloured foliage.

Also called the cordyline, cabbage palm, or good luck plant, these plants have been a perfect choice for adding a dash of style and drama to my well-lit window garden. Till recently both the plants were lying neglected in the kids’ bedroom window but I shifted the smaller one to the main hallroom window garden where it looks so dashing now. It has a spider plant growing along with it!

Suddenly these two Ti plants, wonderful Hawaii-native houseplants that is easy to care for, have become absolute darlings! This Plant Momma loves them a lot – not because they give my window garden a bright and tropical note but simply because I have come to know their name and doing a lot of research on them!

I came to know that the leaves of the Ti plants have the ability to shed water which come from their semi-transparent, protective surface called the cuticle. The leaf is covered by a waxy cuticle which keeps water. No wonder sometimes I have found droplets of water on the leaves and wondered from where they must have come from!

Though I have always been interested in plants and gardening; it is sad to note that I never made an attempt to know the names of the few plants I was growing at home. I never researched on them and I never took any extra step to take care of them! This lockdown has really been so constructive for me – I know the names of all my plants except one, I am taking extra care of them, I am reading a lot about them, blogging about them and feeling so proud of them! And I am even planning to make my own compost! I will start with eggshells!

Now I know what it means to be a Plant Momma!