Late last year I moved into a new house, and as you can imagine, having lots of well-lit space to grow plants was a big priority. For one, I actually have empty spot that need to be filled! There unfortunately aren’t many good locations for moss pole—which I’ve finally admitted are kinda ugly—so all the wishlist plants this year are free-standing.
Revisiting the 2024 Wishlist
Last year’s plant wishlist contained five different species, of which four were purchased. Let’s quickly revisit them:
Sarracenia (Trumpet Pitchers)
I bought the most beautiful sarracenia at Adelaide’s Exotic Botanic, fairly early in the year. It absolutely thrived, needing to be potted up multiple times throughout the year—even over winter. Then, about two weeks ago, a 40 degree day killed it. On previous hot days, the tops of the trumpets had crisped, so I moved it into a shady spot and gave it a good drink in the morning; but unfortunately the heat alone utterly cooked it. Love this plant though, so I’ll certainly be getting another at the earliest opportunity.
Philodendron El Guapo
I found this plant—at a very reasonable price—at Uprooted. Once considered a “rare plant”, these are now available for under $30. This one has only grown one leaf in my care, so either it takes a *very* long time to settle in after a re-pot, or it’s just an inherently slow grower.
Syngonium Chiapense Variegata
These held their rather high price throughout 2024, but I was able to purchase a low-variegate specimen from eBay for about a hundred dollars. I chopped it into four or five pieces to see if any node was willing to push out a nicely variegated leaf, but so far the results have been mediocre. This one is a work in progress.
Zamia furfuracea
I purchased one of these last year, but didn’t have a well-lit enough spot for it indoors. It’s currently growing in a pot outside, and will shortly be planted directly into a garden bed.
2025 Wishlist Plants
Anthurium Decipiens
This plant seemed to be everywhere a few years ago—included Bunnings stores—but then vanished rather suddenly. Right now, if you Google “anthurium decipiens” the first five stores listed all have this plant listed as “out of stock”.
Decipiens is reputed to be quite easy to grow compared to many other anthurium varieties, and can also grow really, really big.
Philodendron BGB
Hybrid philodendron are all the rage right now, and there is none bigger and better than the Philodendron BGB—or “Big Glorious Bastard”. This plant is a hybrid between P. Gloriosum and P. Giganteum, so one can expect them to grow rather large.
P. Gloriosum is one of the most “bomb proof” philodendrons available, so hopefully the BGB has inherited its tolerance for underwatering, overwatering, and pests. The only issue I’m expecting to have with this plant is finding a big enough spot to put it.
Alocasia Azlanii
The alocasia azlanii is another plant that seemed to be everywhere a few years ago, but has since seen a notable drop-off in popularity and availability. This plant is best described as a slightly more purple-y version of the (quite closely related) alocasia cuprea. Much like the cuprea, the distinctive purple hue only shows up on newer leaves when they’re reflecting bright direct light—or a camera flash.
I’ve always had really good success growing alocasia, having melo, black velvet, silver dragon, jacklyn, pink dragon and cuprea all thriving in my care. And after some recent failures (*looks angrily at anthurium veitchii*) it’ll be nice to buy a plant that probably won’t die.
Philodendron tortum
Arguably the most unusual species in the philodendron genus, P. Tortum could easily be confused for a palm, cycad, or Lovecraftian horror.
There’s nothing particularly rare or valuable about this plant—they’re readily available at Bunnings and virtually every major online plant store. When you have a lot of plants, you start being drawn to the unusual, and this is just a cool weird little plant and I want one.
Queensland Fan Palm
Let me prefix this by saying I seriously doubt I can keep this plant alive, even indoors, here in Adelaide. They need really high humidity, pretty consistent warmth, really bright—bordering on direct—sunlight. They’re also reputed to be painfully slow to grow, which is unfortunate because they only make sense aesthetically if you buy a huge specimen.
Having said all of that, Uprooted have little ones for $25 and I really want to give it a shot. Please don’t judge.
