Saturday, February 28, 2009

Who Am I?


A couple of days ago, Meital brought home several lovely plants as gift for Family Day. There was an African violet for my mother-in-law, a diffenbachia for Liat, and this plant for Avi and me. Problem is, I can't identify it!

Can you help?

The plant has these long, thin leaves with pointed tips. There are deep pink stripes running along the edges of the leaves, and a pale stripe down the center. I don't know if it likes direct sun, shade, or something in between. What other kind of care does it need? It's already got roots coming out of the little hole at the bottom of the plastic pot; does that mean I need to repot it?

In case you can't tell, I know nothing about plants, and when it comes to houseplants, Avi isn't much different. I would love to take proper care of this gift, so if you have any tips and advice, please pass them along!

4 comments:

Joansie said...

I'll look in my plant book and get back to you. Some plants like to be "root bound" in order to produce flowers, i.e. african violets, Christmas cactus.

Anonymous said...

Could it be a clivia? Looks like it to me. They're a distant relative of amaryllises.

LizzieK8 said...

Looks like some kind of palm to me...but what do I know?

Is there a nursery nearby that you can take it to for identification?

Be sure to let us know what you find out!

And yes, I'd say it's time to repot if the roots are coming out. That's what I'd do anyway.

Elizabeth Delisi said...

Ooh, ooh, I know, I know! (Liz raises her hand and waves it madly)

It's a dracaena marginata. Check it out here: http://www.balconyflowers.com/dracaena-marginata/

or here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dracaena_marginata

I had one that grew to be at least 8 feet tall, with just a tuft of foliage on the top. We called it the "Dr. Seuss tree" because that's what it looked like...

Liz