Valentine’s Day is typically a day to gift flowers, primarily roses. But in my household, sometimes gifts of flowers manifest differently. With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, the plant that is forefront in my mind is less traditional, but equally appropriate. The Anthurium is the perfect gift for yourself or your beloved Valentine. It is incredibly easy to care for an Anthurium. Its giant, deep green leaves and large, showy, red flower spathes, are heart-shaped, which makes the Anthurium a highly romantic plant. In fact, one of its many names is the Hawaiian Love Plant. What could be more appropriate in this season of love?

My husband surprised me with this gorgeous tropical plant in 2015. He has always been fond of gifting me tropical flowers since my hatred of cold winters is legendary.  I eschew the cold.  You will find me bundled up in a sweater or blanket even in the heat of summer. 

When he gave this plant to me, I was under the impression that I wouldn’t be able to keep such a tropical beauty alive through the winter, even indoors.  The winters where we were living at the time (central Indiana) were just too cold. That cold seeped through the windows no matter how many panes of glass there were between the indoor and outdoor environments.  I am delighted to say, now, that I was wholly wrong.  My beloved anthurium has been so easy to care for! It has been growing for years in my household and has far outgrown every specification that I have ever read.

Anthurium Description

Like most plants, the Anthurium (scientific name: Anthurium andraeanum) has many names. These include, but are by no means limited to: Tailflower, Flamingo Flower, Hawaiian Love Plant, Laceleaf, Painter’s Palette, to name a few.

While most Anthuriums are relatively small, they can grow quite large. When I received my own plant, it came in a six inch pot. Over time, it grew so much that it needed repotting into an eighteen inch planter!

About Anthurium “Flowers”

Over the years, my beloved anthurium has given me a constant production of giant red and white “flowers,” which are not really flowers at all. The full colored “flower” of an anthurium is called an inflorescence and is the reproductive center of the plant. The inflorescence is made up of a spathe and a spadix.

The spathe is the red colored pallet (which gives the plant one of its common names “Painter’s Pallet”). A spathe is a form of bract, a modified or specialized leaf, especially one associated with the reproductive structure of the plant.

The spikey, pillar part of the inflorescence is called a spadix.  When an anthurium inflorescence first appears, the spadix is rolled up inside the red spathe, which appears as a little tube pushing its way up from the central stalk.

Over the course of about a month, the full inflorescence gains a height capable of reaching sunlight, when the spathe begins to unroll to release the spadix. The flowers themselves lie along this spadix. Over the anthurium’s reproductive lifecycle, tiny, white or yellow flowers bloom in spiraling rows.

How to Care for Anthuriums

Anthuriums care is relatively simple. They are great plants for beginner gardeners or busy people. Their light requirements and water needs are easy to provide for. There’s just a few common things to keep in mind when caring for an anthurium.

Light Levels

As a tropical plant that evolved in the dappled light beneath a rainforest canopy, anthuriums enjoy partial sunlight. They do well in windows that receive filtered light throughout the day. The plant will tell you when they need more light, straining their heart-shaped leaves and floral spathes toward light sources. New leaves and flower stalks will grow unevenly in favor of the side with more light in darker environments. In cases like these where your anthurium might like more light, you may not need to relocate your houseplant. Applying a quarter-turn rotation during each watering will ensure that the anthurium grows evenly.

However, if placed in a window with too much sun (or in unshaded places outdoors for USDA 10+) the tips of the anthurium leaves may become brown and burned. In nature, Anthuriums grow in the nooks of trees and so they prefer filtered light above direct sunlight.

Water Requirements

Brown tips on anthurium leaves may also be a sign of a lack of water. As a tropical plant, they enjoy a humid environment. Anthuriums may need more water if placed near air vents or if they are growing in a dry environment.

In general, anthurium plants are highly forgiving when it comes to how much water they need. For best results, water an anthurium three times a week. However, cut back the water if the tray beneath the anthurium’s planter begins to fill. Anthuriums have thick roots that can be prone to root rot if they become saturated with water. A monthly treatment of one part hydrogen peroxide with three parts water will give an anthurium’s roots some extra oxygen and stave off root rot.

Over the course of their long lives, anthuriums will send out roots above the soil. Don’t worry! This is natural! Due to their tropical origins, anthuriums, like orchids, enjoy having some of their roots out to catch moisture from the air. You may place some moss around your anthurium to shelter them from dry air. Or give the air roots a spritz of water from a spray bottle on the days you’re not watering. They’ll appreciate the attention!

How to Propagate Anthuriums

Propagating by Flower or Seed

Indoors, an anthurium is unlikely to produce seeds because of the way its normal life cycle progresses. The flowers that adorn the anthurium’s spadix are perfect flowers, meaning that they have both male and female parts. However, the female part of the flower matures first, and the male part of the flower matures second. In all but the most rare occasions, this means that the flowers on a single anthurium spadix cannot mingle to produce seeds.

Flowers on neighboring inflorescences, even those on the same plant, can produce seeds if the flowers are at different points of their lifecycle. In these cases, a flying insect or other pollinator is needed to transport the pollen. Fertilized anthurium flowers take over six to ten months to produce seeds, depending on the variety.

Of course, you can help this process along, and even create your own hybrids, by hand-pollinating your flowers. If you’re interested, I have a whole blog post on propagating anthuriums by seed.

Propagating by Cuttings

Because seeds are so difficult, and take so long to produce, the more conventional method of propagating anthuriums is through cuttings. As mentioned earlier, Anthuriums will naturally produce root nodes at the base of a cluster of leaves. These root nodes will produce air roots above the soil or ground roots if placed in soil or water.

When my husband and I moved houses, we had to take many cuttings of that beloved anthurium he had gifted me in 2015. In the intervening seven years, the plant had become so large that it was impossible to transport by SUV! We took ten(!) cuttings plus the mother plant with us, and they all survived the trip. We have given some away (they have made excellent gifts – as they will for your own Valentine), and some we have kept to enjoy in different rooms of the house.

Conclusion

So there you have a brief description of the anthurium, a bold, but easy to care for plant. The heart-shaped leaves and vibrant red flower spathes are so perfect for the Valentine’s season, anniversary, or birthday. Unlike Valentine’s flowers, a potted plant like the anthurium is a gift that will keep on giving for years!

To all my fellow plant-lovers out there, we at Eastborn Gardens wish you all a Happy Valentine’s Day all year ’round!

Related Reading

Looking for other easy, beginner plants? From bold foliage to vibrant flowers, plants are instant additions to home design and many are simple to care for. Check out this post for some more Easy Ornamental Houseplants for a glimpse at some of my favorites.