10 November 2018 During the winter months, many gardeners turn their attention to houseplants. While highly ornamental, houseplants also impact our health. My next two articles will focus on houseplants from Victorian times to the present. By the mid-19th century, homeowners were aware that houseplants mitigated “unhealthy vapors.” The Ladies Floral Cabinet, a popular women’s gardening magazine, espoused the benefits of growing houseplants: “The highest mission of plants is not merely to please our eyes…but they are ever silently but surely eating up what is impure and injurious to us.” This belief was held simultaneously with the idea that houseplants should be kept in the parlor, but not the bedroom, as it was then believed that plants gave out gasses at night which produce stupor, headaches and suffocation. It was far more likely that gas fumes from early heating systems caused these symptoms, and despite this concern, Victorians embraced the growing of houseplants. Today, when we think about “unhealthy vapors,” we usually think about car exhaust, coal emissions, ozone and other sources of outdoor air pollution. But air pollution happens indoors, too. The EPA ranks indoor air pollution as
GardenerNews.com The Garden Historian By Lesley Parness Garden Educator
“Houseplants for Healthy Homes” one of the top-five threats to public health. Our tightly sealed, energyefficient homes trap gases from synthetic materials, such as benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, which are produced by paint, carpeting, cleaning products and building materials. It’s estimated that two eight- to 10-inch potted plants will clean the air in a 100-square-foot room, so plan accordingly. When selecting a houseplant, consider its ability to remove chemical vapors, its ease of growth and maintenance, its hardiness and its transpiration rate. Certain houseplants are better at removing one toxin than another. Keeping that all in mind, here are some great choices to keep your home healthy. Research them first to make sure you have the proper lighting conditions in which they will thrive. Areca, Bamboo, Lady and
Parlor Palms are among the best plants for improving indoor air quality. Victorians loved palms and they imparted an exotic feel to interiors, thereby reflecting the growth of the British Empire. Dracaenas are a good complement to modern décor, and there are many cultivars to choose from, including: “Janet Craig,” which can reach 10 feet; “Massangeana,” with its yellow-striped leaf and occasional small spray of fragrant flowers; “Warnecke’s,” with its dullgrey center stripe; and “Marginata,” featuring a touch of red at its margins. Liberated from its outdoor role as a ground cover, English Ivy can be grown indoors in topiary form or in a hanging basket. There are many variegated varieties and leaf shapes from which to choose. The Boston Fern leads the fern pack in its ability to mitigate indoor air pollution. Right behind it is the
Kimberly Queen Fern. Treasured for their lush foliage by Victorians, ferns require proper misting and watering, but are well worth the effort. The Philodendron family has several good candidates, including the Heart Leaf Philodendron, which will climb a bark armature, the Lacy Tree Philodendron, with its large, deeply cut leaves which ruffle as they grow, and the Red Emerald Philodendron, with its long, yellowveined, narrow leaves. When NASA began experimenting with houseplants as air cleaners in the 1980s for its space missions , the Spider Plant drew their attention. This familiar plant quickly sets out airborne plantlets for propagation, so providing a plant for every room in your house can be accomplished within a year. Flowering houseplants make good choices, too. Among the best for removing indoor air toxins
are the Wax Begonia, Christmas Cactus, Dendrobium Orchids, and Cyclamen. In the easy-to-care-for category fall the Snake Plant and Aloe Vera. Their ability to release oxygen at night (unlike other houseplants) makes them ideal for placing in bedrooms. If only the Victorians had known! What forces were in play during Queen Victoria’s reign that made the keeping of houseplants a national pastime? We’ll find out in January’s issue as we explore the Wardian case, parlor plants, and pterodimania.
Editor’s Note: Lesley Parness offers a variety of presentations and workshops for garden clubs, plant societies, and horticultural gatherings. Recently retired from her position as Superintendent of Horticultural Education at the Morris County Park Commission, and with four decades of teaching environmental science and garden education, her focus now is garden history. A complete listing of her talks can be seen at lesleyparness. com and she can be reached at parness@verizon.net. This column will appear in the paper every other month.
New ‘Apples From New York®’ Logo Announced For more than two decades, New York apples have been represented by the ‘Apple Country®’ logo on everything from trade ads and television commercials to billboards, bags and totes. Today, all that is beginning to change. “We are fortunate that ‘Apple Country’ has had great brand recognition with trade and consumer audiences for so many years,” said New York Apple Association (NYAA) President Cynthia Haskins. “We certainly don’t want to lose valuable brand equity yet, at the same time, we want to reach out to new generations of consumers. Our decision to rebrand New York apples was a strategic one and we want our transition process to be strategic as well.” According to Haskins, expect to see ‘Apple Country’ shown, spoken of, and celebrated while the association simultaneously moves forward in a bold new way. For instance, ‘Apple Country’ bags will remain in stores and in use throughout the year. “New York State is ‘Apple Country’ and always will be,” added Haskins. The organization has a variety of merchandising tools to share with retailers and
is giving trade and consumer audiences a lot to talk about, including many memorable ways to experience ‘Apples from New York’. NYAA is sponsoring a retail display contest beginning in November. The display contest is new this year and is planned for the holiday season. The contest will start in early November and run through the new year. The grand prizes for the contest are multi-day trips to either Lake Placid or Niagara Falls. About New York Apple Association, Inc. A nonprofit agricultural trade association based in Fishers, N.Y., NYAA represents the state’s commercial apple growers. The association supports profitable growing and marketing of New York apples through increasing demand for apples and apple products, representing the industry at state and federal levels, and serving as the primary information source on New York apple-related matters. For more information, visit www. nyapplecountry.com.
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