
Stunning Houseplants for Foliage and Flowers
Clip: Season 27 | 6m 6sVideo has Closed Captions
Quick tips to dazzle indoors and bright light patios in summer with orchid companions.
Looking for houseplants as orchid companions? Go for bold foliage and bonus flowers with hoyas, anthuriums and bromeliads to dazzle indoors or shady bright light patios in summer. Power up foliar dimension with staghorn ferns, mounted on wood or in hanging baskets. Melissa Hagen-Wilson from Tillery Street Plant Company explains soil, water, and fertilizer needs.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
Central Texas Gardener is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Support for CTG is provided by: Lisa & Desi Rhoden, and Diane Land & Steve Adler. Central Texas Gardener is produced by Austin PBS, KLRU-TV and distributed by NETA.

Stunning Houseplants for Foliage and Flowers
Clip: Season 27 | 6m 6sVideo has Closed Captions
Looking for houseplants as orchid companions? Go for bold foliage and bonus flowers with hoyas, anthuriums and bromeliads to dazzle indoors or shady bright light patios in summer. Power up foliar dimension with staghorn ferns, mounted on wood or in hanging baskets. Melissa Hagen-Wilson from Tillery Street Plant Company explains soil, water, and fertilizer needs.
Problems playing video? | Closed Captioning Feedback
How to Watch Central Texas Gardener
Central Texas Gardener is available to stream on pbs.org and the free PBS App, available on iPhone, Apple TV, Android TV, Android smartphones, Amazon Fire TV, Amazon Fire Tablet, Roku, Samsung Smart TV, and Vizio.
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSo this Hoya microphylla is starting to bloom.
He's got a peduncle here that is working on his little flowers and he looks kind of red in the leaves.
This is actually sun stress.
So when you have Hoyas in really bright light, it's common for them to turn red or brighter orange colors.
And it goes away when the bright light goes away.
[cheerful music] My name is Melissa Hagen-Wilson.
And today we're going to talk about companion plants for orchids.
Some of the plants that I have chosen to talk about today are all epiphytic and native to tropical places in the world.
So not cold hardy.
We're going to start with anthuriums.
Probably you recognize the Dutch anthurium.
They're pretty common.
They come in a lot of really nice colors.
Since the pandemic, we have had a lot of really awesome hybrids that have become available.
And while they are collector's items, they have collector's prices.
They are really stunning.
A lot of anthuriums can start out pretty small, but over time, some varieties do get quite large .
To care for anthurims, you're going to want to have a very airy barky mix.
These plants as they do grow in trees similar to orchids.
They really like that airy, well draining soil.
When it comes time to replanting your anthurium, they are very similar to orchids as they want to be kind of tight in their pots.
Anthuriums are definitely going to need the most water.
They come from rain forests and the humidity there tends to be a little bit higher.
So make sure you check what variety you're getting and what humidity they like to be at.
Hoyas are not going to need that same humidity, nor will bromeliads.
Most of the time they're not going to complain in the household setting.
You do, however, want to keep your plants in good, bright light.
Light is like carbohydrates for plants.
So if you're keeping them in low light, they might survive, but they may not thrive.
Fertilizing your anthuriums.
I like to use any balanced fertilizer.
I use one that is 7-7-7.
With staghorn ferns you can do the same thing just watering them with a balanced fertilizer.
And all of these plants are really going to love liquid seaweed.
Next, I'm going to talk about staghorn ferns.
These guys do really well in more humid environments.
So if you're going to keep one in your house, I do recommend a bathroom or maybe a kitchen.
These guys do tend to get a little dehydrated if they're not getting quite enough humidity and moisture in your house.
I would say you could mist these daily and wet the moss at least once a week.
Its really common to get fungal issues if you're misting normal houseplants indoors.
We just don't have as good of airflow inside of our houses most of the time.
As they get larger, a little more cold hardy, but still only down to about 30.
We keep ours in the bathroom all year round.
To mount these on wood, you just take them out of their pot, place them on wood or I've seen people put them on pieces of metal grating anything that's really going to support the plant as it grows and we just cover the roots in sphagnum moss drill screws in around the moss and use fishing line and tie the whole thing down.
The next plant that we're going to talk about today is Hoyas.
Hoyas have really blossomed in popularity the last couple of years.
There's a ton of different varieties and they make amazing flowers.
A lot of the Hoyas are really easy to care for.
You can really treat them like a succulent, letting them dry out between watering, making sure they're in a really good well-drained soil.
That means in a small pot you're watering maybe every 7 to 10 days.
If it's a larger pot, 8 to 10 inches may go a little bit longer, up to two weeks, even more in the wintertime.
They need bright light and especially if you want to get those beautiful flowers, keep them in a good south facing or west facing window and a lot of them will hang and trail.
So sometimes you can give them a trellis, you can let them hang in.
The flowers just drape really lovely.
Hoyas are one plant that can really benefit from bat guano and worm castings.
Not only the nutrients in these fertilizers will help to keep those blooms coming, but also the hormones.
The finlaysonii has these dark veins, also makes a really nice flower.
Some have more dainty foliage, more interesting textures that you can introduce if you're looking for an interesting hanging basket for a bright window.
One of the most common varieties is the Krimson Queen that has variegation in the leaves some pink and white.
This one has been very popular the last couple of years.
The Hoya compacta This one is a Hoya curtisii Another great option for a bright windowsill.
Next, we're going to talk about bromeliads.
So bromeliads come in amazing colors.
Some of them also have really bright flowers, so you can get foliage interest, you can get amazing blooms.
And these are considered tank bromeliads.
You actually want to water in the cup of the bromeliad.
In addition to watering the soil, this is going to help your flowers to last longer.
Watering in the sides of the bromeliad is kind of how it happens in nature.
It collects water in the cup, since it's in the trees.
If the water gets stagnant and old, which can happen, you can just dump it out and refill it every week or two.
For backyard Basics, I'm Melissa.
Earth Connections, Healing Gardens: Shaman Jesus Garcia
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 26s | Gardens heal the spirit, nourish the body, and cultivate play and wonder outdoors. (8m 26s)
Garden Diary of Life’s Progression: Colleen Belk
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 58s | Passion for plants led to a new career and an evolving garden. (8m 58s)
Transition to Urban Native Plant Pocket Prairie
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 9m 18s | Discover the process to establish a native plant progression for wildlife habitat. (9m 18s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 54s | Lawn dominated their new yard when a couple unpacked their imagination on moving day. (8m 54s)
Native Plant Garden from Scratch in HOA: Kathleen Scott
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 33s | Deer and HOA rules didn’t stop Kathleen and Denny Scott’s wildlife habitat vision. (8m 33s)
Stunning Houseplants for Foliage and Flowers
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 6m 6s | Quick tips to dazzle indoors and bright light patios in summer with orchid companions. (6m 6s)
Backyard Adventure with Vignettes: Jo Ann Glanz
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 59s | Surprises and experiences: That’s what Jo Ann Glanz wanted in her standard backyard. (8m 59s)
Remaking a Yard into Flowers, Food, Joy
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 34s | Permaculture restored lifeless soil and wildlife habitat for gardens and outdoor living. (8m 34s)
Suburban Backyard Food Forest: Phố Phạm
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 9m 17s | Phố Phạm scrapped lawn to grow plant-based food for her family’s good health. (9m 17s)
Harvest Prickly Pear Pads for Nopalitos
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 53s | Carlos Monteros shows how to pull off a prickly pear cactus pad (nopal) for recipes. (53s)
Dry Creek Hillside Design: Clay Soil and Shade
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 9m 14s | Design to control rainwater runoff and erosion, planted with shade-lovers in clay soil. (9m 14s)
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 2m 41s | Discover the trick to amending dense clay soil with landscape designer Leah Churner. (2m 41s)
Great Tool for Digging Rocky Clay Soil!
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 1m 5s | Grab a pick to dig into clay soil that’s rocky, too, to get the job done. (1m 5s)
Bicycling With Butterflies: 10,201 Miles with Monarchs
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 8m 40s | To chronicle habitat loss, Sara Dykman followed monarch migration across three countries. (8m 40s)
Blank Backyard to Southwest Cottage Habitat
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 9m 17s | New gardeners honor cultural history and plants that support wildlife. (9m 17s)
Planting a Bat Friendly Garden with Native Plants
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 7m 46s | Bring on beneficial bats with native plants that attract nighttime insects. (7m 46s)
Black Flora: Celebrating Black Flower Farmers and Florists
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 15m 11s | Black Flora: Celebrating Black Flower Farmers and Florists (15m 11s)
How To Grow Microgreens: Easy Fresh Food Indoors
Video has Closed Captions
Clip: S27 | 4m 34s | Grow yummy, nutrition-packed microgreens indoors all year long. (4m 34s)
Providing Support for PBS.org
Learn Moreabout PBS online sponsorshipSupport for PBS provided by:
Central Texas Gardener is a local public television program presented by Austin PBS
Support for CTG is provided by: Lisa & Desi Rhoden, and Diane Land & Steve Adler. Central Texas Gardener is produced by Austin PBS, KLRU-TV and distributed by NETA.