Philodendron ‘Golden Crocodile’
In the beginning of March, I spent a few days in Miami attending Costa Farms’ Season Premiere event. This was at their trial gardens and for me as a garden communicator, this was an opportunity to see how plants performed as well as learn about new plant introductions and meet the plant breeders. Costa Farms is one of the largest horticultural growers in the world. It is a fourth generation, family-run company that employees more than 6,000 people and grows plants on 5,000 acres. The company started in 1961 when Jose Costa Senior purchased 30 acres to grow tomatoes in the winter and calamondin citrus in the summer. Soon he was growing houseplants and now the company has expanded into annuals, perennials, and tropical plants for the garden.
Philodendron ‘Ring of Fire’
I attended the event with several other GardenComm members. Justin Hancock, senior horticulturist at Costa Farms, treated us to a sneak preview of the 2023 and 2024 introductions for Costa Farms’ Trending Tropicals® collection. He also gave us a tour of the packing and shipping facility where orders are carefully wrapped, packaged, and put on trucks to deliver across the country. Each plant order comes with a postcard providing light, water, and fertilizer requirements as well as growing tips. They have a staff dedicated to answering the customers’ plant questions and a very informative website.
Although you can see their houseplants at Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, and other retail locations, you can also buy direct via their shop costa website.
Most of the Trending Tropicals® collection of houseplants are selected by their plant hunters (yes, that really is a profession) who travel to other countries to look for unique plants that can be grown here. Once they identify possibilities, they bring them back to Costa Farms to propagate and trial before they are sold to the public. Some of the plants Justin showed us were discovered by staff at Costa Farms as “sports” (natural mutations) from their current inventory.
Dieffenbachia ‘Crocodile’
Justin showed us 19 new plants for 2023 and 2024 in one of the production warehouses. In my descriptions below, I hyperlinked to those varieties that are in stock and ready to be ordered directly from their website at the time of this writing.
Of the 19, there are three 2024 introductions that are not available yet and not on the Costa Farms’ website but here is a sneak peek at these fascinating plants. All are large houseplants, perfect for living room décor, and easy to grow in bright light. Philodendron ‘Golden Crocodile’ has large, serrated leaves that first appear as golden yellow maturing to light green. Philodendron ‘Ring of Fire’ has variegated foliage with splashes of white, cream, and yellow. Dieffenbachia ‘Crocodile’ has large green leaves speckled white or light green. The back of the leaves’ midrib has “scales” – like a crocodile’s back.
In the photo above, from left to right in the back: Epipremnum ‘Lemon Meringue’, Aglonema ‘Solar Flare’, Spathiphyllum ‘Sophia’. Two in front from left to right: Alocasia azlanii and Cordyline ‘Mini Me’.
Epipremnum Lemon Meringue is a pothos or devil’s ivy with gold leaf margins. It is very easy to grow and can tolerate low light. Aglonema ‘Solar Flare’ also is easy to grow and can take low light and a bit of dryness — perfect for those who forget to water plants or travel frequently. ‘Solar Flare’ is variegated with white petioles (stems), almost like a bok choi Chinese cabbage. Spathiphyllum ‘Sophia’ (also known as peace lily) has variegated green leaves. Cordyline ‘Mini Me’ is a great tabletop houseplant. Given its small stature, it packs a punch of pink foliage, especially if given bright light. Alocasia azlanii has very dark purple, almost metallic colored leaves. It too is a small plant, perfect for tables or even terrariums.
In the photo above, from left to right in the back: Philodendron ‘Pink Princess’, Philodendron ‘Painted Lady’, and Epipremnum amplissimum ‘Silver Streak’. The two in front from left to right: Philodendron ‘White Knight’ and Philodendron ‘Golden Violin’.
Philodendron ‘Pink Princess’ is a climbing vine with bronze-green leaves splashed with pink. ‘Pink Lady’ has gold green foliage with pink petioles (stems). Epipremnum amplissimum ‘Silver Streak’ is an unusual pothos in that it has narrow, long green leaves. To me, its branching habit makes it look like an orchid. White Knight has white markings on green leaves. Philodendron ‘Golden Violin’ is coming soon; you may not see it on the website now. The new growth is golden yellow, changing to chartreuse. This is a climber that needs bright light, and the leaves get larger if grown vertically.
In the photo above, from left to right in the back: Zamioculcas zamiifolia ‘Chameleon’, Aglonema spathomena, and Monstera standleyana albo-variegata. In front center is Tradescantia ‘Roxxo’.
Zamioculcas zamiifolia is a mouthful; most people just say “ZZ plant.” With ‘Chameleon’, the new foliage is bright yellow because the leaves do not have chlorophyll. This plant can survive in low light plant but you want to give it as much light as possible to encourage new growth, thus new yellow leaves. As the leaves age, the chlorophyll develops and the foliage becomes green. Aglonema spathomena looks like a spathiphyllum but there are no flowers. The foliage is variegated with dark and light green colors. Monstera standleyana albo-variegata is a creamy white variegated monstera plant. Unlike other monstera plants, the leaves do not have the Swiss cheese effect of holes in the foliage. Tradescantia ‘Roxxo’ is an upright form of tradescantia. The thick foliage is dark green with purple undersides.
Dieffenbachia ‘Cool Beauty’
For a fuller, bushy Dieffenbachia, try ‘Cool Beauty’ with green and white variegated leaves and white margins. This plant suckers (puts forth new stems) from the base. It can reach a foot tall — still a good height for a table.
Another new introduction that will appear on Costa Farms’ website soon is Alocasia ‘Jacklyn’. Jacklyn has very large, dark green, fuzzy leaves with reticulated stems (big word for color changes). This unusually hairy alocasia plant just screams ‘Amazon River’!
All of these plants would be great houseplants for your home. Explore their other plant collections on their website and sign up for their newsletter to learn of new plant introductions.
Alocasia ‘Jacklyn’
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If you received or purchased a blooming cyclamen over the holidays, here are tips for taking care of this regal queen. Also called florist’s cyclamen (Cyclamen persicum), this houseplant blooms during the winter with flowers raised high above the foliage, lasting for several months. Cyclamen is available in a range of sizes, from mini to large, as well as magenta, red, pink, and white flower colors. Beautiful as it is, cyclamen is not an easy plant to grow.
After flowering, the leaves will turn yellow. Your first thought may be that it is dying and you need to water or fertilize but don’t do that. The plant is beginning its dormant stage. Don’t try to keep it green with more watering, let it rest during the summer. Put the plant in a cool, dark area with good air circulation. Don’t water or feed during its dormant period.
