Kalanchoe, other houseplants bring a taste of spring

Want a winter taste of spring?

Just visit to your local grocery store, super center or home and garden center. Right now, the display of houseplants is awesome and glorious hues and textures abound.

African violets, primrose, orchids, foliage plants and even spring bloomers are in brilliant color and most of these plants are easy-keepers and a great addition to any houseplant collection.

Kalanchoe (Kalanchoe blossfeldiana) is one of the plants blooming now at your local store. This colorful, tidy, little flower is a succulent related to the cactus. The Kalanchoe produces blooms of red, orange, yellow or violet and has small, oval-shaped, fleshy leaves.

With proper care, the Kalanchoe will continue to bloom for up to six to eight months of the year. If you buy a flowering plant, wait until the blooms begin to die back, then cut the spent blooms off the plant and let it rest for about three to four weeks in a dark place.

While at rest, the Kalanchoe will not need much water. When new buds begin to appear, move the plant to a place that receives full light and start to water it about once a week. It does not like overwatering and it is sensitive to cold temperatures, so be careful about both. Fertilize the flowering plant every two weeks while it is in bloom.

Although Kalanchoe are available as houseplants in the U.S., they are not nearly as popular as they are in Germany, Switzerland and Denmark.

In the wild, varieties of this plant grow as shrubs and herbaceous plants and are actually toxic to animals, causing cardiac poisoning in animals that graze on them. In some countries, Kalanchoe has been used as a treatment for inflammation, infections, and rheumatism.

Some insects feed on this plants and Kalanchoe are the primary plant food for the caterpillars of the Red Pierrot butterfly. The caterpillars burrow into the fleshy leaves and eat them from the inside out. When the Kalanchoe plant blooms, it opens its flowers by growing new cells on the inner surface of the petals to push them open. It grows new cells on the outside of the flowers petals to close them.

An interesting, colorful, easy-care plant, Kalanchoe is on display now at many stores. The next time you’re out shopping, stop by the plant section and check them out. You may, like me, want to bring one (or two) home to brighten up that drab corner or bare windowsill. They are a bit of spring inside until spring comes back to our area outside.

If you have garden questions or tips for other gardeners, send them in to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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