Caring for Princess Flower
QUESTION: We recently purchased a Princess Flower plant, (Tibouchina urvilleana), native to Brazil. It is growing well and produces beautiful purplish flowers. What can you tell us regarding care and upkeep of this plant?
ANSWER: Obviously, whatever you’re doing is right, so follow the old rule: If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. Keep doing whatever you’ve been doing. Both T. urvilleana and its sister plant, T. semidecandra (‘Glory Bush’), are free-branching, tree-like shrubs that outdoors, in their native Brazilian habitats, will grow up to 25 feet tall and produce an abundance of blue flowers.
Both trees have fresh-green, ovate leaves densely covered with soft, white hairs, and indoors need to be kept in a bright sunny window and watered frequently enough so the soil is always slightly moist. This plant also makes an excellent container plant for a sunny patio.
Peace Lily Flops; Water Not the Problem
Q: I have a peace lily that looks perfectly healthy--except it has suddenly flopped over. At first, I thought it needed water, but I felt the soil and it was quite moist. What’s the problem?
A: This happens frequently with peace lilies (Spathiphyllum). The only remedy for this condition is to tie the stalks back into an upright position or repot the plant into a deeper pot.
Chemical Plant Food Is Best for Houseplants
Q: Which do you recommend for houseplants--chemical plant food or organic plant food?
A: I opt for the chemical plant foods--Miracle-Gro, Shultz, Oxygen-Plus, etc.--for your houseplants. I’ve tried them all, chemical and organic, and the chemical fertilizers provide the best results.
If you’re growing plants outdoors in a garden, especially a vegetable garden or any crop on a large scale, I would definitely recommend an organic fertilizer for all the obvious environmental reasons. But I can’t think of any environmental reason not to use a chemical fertilizer--a few drops in a gallon of water--on plants indoors, especially since I’ve always found the results to be stronger, lusher, greener, healthier plants.
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Are your palms pooping? Are your ferns flopping? Send your houseplant questions to the Indoor Gardener in care of the Real Estate section, Los Angeles Times, Times Mirror Square, Los Angeles CA 90053.
