New Leaf On Life : Houseplants From ‘70s Are as Popular as Ever, but Today They Provide Hues, Accents

If you haven’t been in the houseplant section of a nursery since the ‘70s, a fresh visit might feel like deja vu. All the foliage plants you associate with the avocado-pit-rooting-on-the-windowsill era are there: philodendrons, rubber plants, mother-in-law’s tongue, false-aralia (the marijuana look-alike), Chinese evergreens, pothos. And, yes, even Boston ferns.

Hasn’t anything changed in two decades?

Well, yes, and no.

“Nothing has truly gone out of style,” says grower Mark Stansbury of Newport Greenhouses. “Except maybe Creeping-Charlie. All the rest of the classic ‘70s houseplants still sell.”

The way plants are used in the home, though, has changed considerably. While some plant lovers still favor the relaxed, indoor garden look of earlier times, the use and the role of houseplants have evolved.

Today, indoor plants are more often used to provide dramatic accents rather than to create a microclimate. A room is more likely to have single, large plants in it rather than scores of smaller plants; and most plants reach for the skylight rather than trail from hanging planters. Whereas variations on green seemed color enough in an earlier time, now houseplants are likely to bring bold splashes of color indoors with them.

People want living color in their interiors today, just as they do in their landscaping, Stansbury said. They’re scooping up blooming outdoor plants in small pots--things like azaleas, begonias, cineraria, cyclamen and kalanchoe--and bringing them inside to enjoy while they’re in flower.

The interest in indoor blooms has become so strong, in fact, says Stansbury, that many interior plant growers have switched from specializing in foliage plants to exclusively providing indoor seasonal color.

Larry Amling, manager at Armstrong Garden Center in Newport Beach, sees the same trend. Anything in bloom in the interior plant section of his nursery sells, he says, and four-inch pots sell particularly well.

“People are buying several at a time and combining them with small foliage plants like maidenhair fern, just as they would with outdoor seasonal color in containers,” says Amling.

Though theoretically these plants could be transplanted outside after blooming, most people treat them as long-term centerpieces and dispose of them after they flower, he says.

One increasingly popular way to provide long-term color indoors is with orchids; their blooms typically last a minimum of two months. Orchid prices have dropped significantly since the ‘70s, most dramatically in the case of cymbidiums.

“It wasn’t that long ago that cymbidiums were priced according to how many flower stalks were in bloom,” Amling says. “But that’s no longer the case. And prices are much lower, usually $29 retail, versus the $39 to $49 price tags of the past.”

The price of cymbidiums came down because of faster methods of propagation and more growers entering the market, and the same thing will happen soon with phalaenopsis (moth-orchids), Stansbury predicts.

Whereas cymbidiums are generally retired to a patio between bloom seasons, phalaenopsis qualifies as a true houseplant and remains indoors year-round.

“All phalaenopsis requires is good light--morning sun or filtered light all day long--temperatures consistently above 55 degrees, and regular fertilizer,” says Steve Kawaratani of the Laguna Nursery. “They’re pretty easy. My wife has about 30, and there’s always at least one in bloom.”

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Bromeliads are another option for indoor color, says Kawaratani.

“Flowers last up to four months,” he says. Nurseries used to offer only one variety, he says (you’ve seen it; the flowers are bubble-gum pink), but dozens are available.

Since a parent plant will produce only one flower during its lifetime, many people treat bromeliads as disposables. But you could also move them outdoors after they finish blooming and let them produce offsets, which, with a bit of luck, will flower.

Advances in tissue culture technology are directly responsible for most of the new bromeliads, says Stansbury. (The same thing is true of orchids and anthuriums.) Because a laboratory has the ability to produce clones of an original plant in a test tube every few weeks, it no longer takes years to propagate enough of a new hybrid to bring it to market, he says.

Peter Tolley, lab manager at Twyford Labs in Santa Paula, provides a dramatic illustration:

“We cloned some marigold hybrids for a seed company a while back,” he says. “We started with something like five plants and produced a half-million by the end of the year. With traditional propagation methods, you’d get maybe 600.”

Tissue culture technology has affected the traditional houseplant market, too. Take another look at that philodendron in the nursery. Chances are it’s not really the same plant you grew in the ‘70s.

“People like buying something that they have had good luck with before but that’s a little bit different,” Amling says. For example: a trusty philodendron but a cultivar with burgundy-tinted leaves this time around, for instance, or a variegated rather than a regular Ficus benjamina. “In fact, anything variegated goes.”

Ferns are different too. ‘Dallas,’ for example, has pretty much supplanted ‘Boston.’

“It needs less light, less humidity and less room because it stays compact rather than cascading,” Amling says.

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Visit a nursery that makes interior plants one of its specialties and you’ll find differences from the ‘70s that are more dramatic.

The very size of the plants, for one thing. Houseplants as big as small trees have become almost commonplace.

There are two reasons, according to Kawaratani. One is that current architecture encourages it.

“Ceilings are higher, and there’s more glass and skylights,” he says. “Spaces like that call for larger plants that were used in the past, and they provide enough light to support them.”

The other reason is aesthetic. People are buying fewer plants--no more windows totally obscured by greenery in macrame hangers--and instead opting for bolder ones.

“They’re buying architectural-looking plants with strong, graphic shapes--the emphasis is line rather than mass--and treating them like just one more element in the decor,” Kawaratani says.

Palms, still the top sellers among tree-size interior plants, are a good example. Stately Kentia or fishtail palms can soften an empty corner between two windows, serve as a backdrop to a wingback chair, or flank a handsome archway, drawing attention to it.

Similarly, columnar-shaped plants, like dracenas or euphorbias, can substitute for sculpture in an entryway or other narrow space.

Euphorbias, though expensive because extremely slow growing, are excellent houseplants for people who don’t like to fuss, Kawaratani says.

“Since they have virtually no leaves, they need little water or humidity. Their main requirement is sunlight.”

Giant bird-of-paradise is a relative newcomer that’s become very popular. Though common as an outdoor plant, it’s also been found to do well indoors when provided with ample light. And it is a striking example of the current philosophy of less is more. A six-foot-tall plant might consist of just four or five enormous leaves--a dramatic contrast to the thousand-leaved Ficus benjamina that would likely have filled its place in the ‘70s.

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Speaking of the ‘70s, two large plants from that era that weren’t seen much of in the ‘80s are experiencing a comeback. One is Dracaena fragrans ‘Massangeana,’ commonly known as the cornplant; the other is Ficus lyrata , the fiddleleaf fig. Like the other large houseplants mentioned already, these two are decidedly structural in shape.

If you’re looking for a plant six feet tall or larger, you’ll most likely need to visit what the trade calls an “interior scaper.” Instant Jungle of Costa Mesa, a provider of plants for restaurants, hotels and shopping centers as well as for spacious interiors, is one.

“Large Kentia palms are our specialty,” says vice president Andy Blanton, “and they’re still my favorite plant. They’re graceful, versatile and classic. They seem to work with any interior. I think they’ll always be around.”

To satisfy customers’ constant demand for the unusual, however, Instant Jungle has sought out lots of new palms as well. Triangular palm, named for its wedge-shaped trunk, is an outstanding example. In addition to a strong, architectural shape, this tree features a trunk washed in beautiful lavender, gray and eggplant tones. Grass palm from Mexico, which looks like a cross between a giant festuca and agave--looks spiky but feels soft--is another interesting example.

“It’s very architectural,” Blanton says. “And that’s what people seem to want today. They want a specific shape for a specific space, not just a generic big, bushy plant.”

Other exotics stocked by Instant Jungle are giant aloes, ponytail-palm (actually a succulent) and various bamboo with patterned canes, an interesting alternative to dracaena where a columnar-shaped plant is desired.

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In summary, everything you grew in the ‘70s is still out there. Even spider plant is back. In fact, some stores can’t keep it in stock since the National Aeronautics and Space Administration published research citing it as one of the most effective plants for air purification.

Lots of exotic new things are, too. And the majority of these plants are available at prices that are positively retro.

In fact, houseplants just may be the bargain of the ‘90s.

“What else can you think of where prices are actually lower than they were in the ‘70s?,” Stansbury asks.