Garden Blog - Top Tropicals

How to make perfect ground cover: this colorful house plant thrives outdoors!

🍀 How to make perfect ground cover: this colorful house plant thrives outdoors!

✳️ Did you know that there is a showy houseplant that makes an excellent ground cover in southern gardens?
✳️ The Iresine, also known as Beefsteak Plant or Chicken Gizzard, is an evergreen perennial that grows up to 3 feet tall. It showcases bright mauve, or variegated puckered foliage that adds a pop of color to any space.
✳️ Perfect for both indoor gardening and warm climate gardens, it thrives in both shady or full sun areas and requires regular water when actively growing, with moderate watering afterward.
✳️ Its striking "Blood Leaf" features purplish-red, oval-shaped leaves with notched tips on vibrant red-maroon stems, forming dense, bushy clumps. It grows fast and spreads fast, making a perfect ground cover.
✳️ You'll find delightful varieties: the traditional Iresine herbstii Acuminata, with its sharply pointed blood-red leaves, and Iresine Aureo-Reticulata, or "Chicken Gizzard Plant," boasting bright yellow-veined, apple-green rounded leaves. And don't miss the Confetti variety, with its leaves sprinkled in green, red, and yellow!
✳️ Whether used indoors or as a ground cover outdoors, Iresine is a colorful choice that deserves a spot in every garden!

Iresine, Beefsteak Plant or Chicken Gizzard

🍀 How to make perfect ground cover: this colorful house plant thrives outdoors!

✳️ Did you know that there is a showy houseplant that makes an excellent ground cover in southern gardens?
✳️ The Iresine, also known as Beefsteak Plant or Chicken Gizzard, is an evergreen perennial that grows up to 3 feet tall. It showcases bright mauve, or variegated puckered foliage that adds a pop of color to any space.
✳️ Perfect for both indoor gardening and warm climate gardens, it thrives in both shady or full sun areas and requires regular water when actively growing, with moderate watering afterward.
✳️ Its striking "Blood Leaf" features purplish-red, oval-shaped leaves with notched tips on vibrant red-maroon stems, forming dense, bushy clumps. It grows fast and spreads fast, making a perfect ground cover.
✳️ You'll find delightful varieties: the traditional Iresine herbstii Acuminata, with its sharply pointed blood-red leaves, and Iresine Aureo-Reticulata, or "Chicken Gizzard Plant," boasting bright yellow-veined, apple-green rounded leaves. And don't miss the Confetti variety, with its leaves sprinkled in green, red, and yellow!
✳️ Whether used indoors or as a ground cover outdoors, Iresine is a colorful choice that deserves a spot in every garden!

😵‍ What is the most spectacular variegated ginger?

🌀 Variegated Spiral Ginger - Costus arabicus (amazonicus) variegata - is a tropical stunner originally from South America but adored in Hawaii and Florida
🌀 This ginger's eye-catching, spiraling stems are streaked with striking white variegation, topped with elegant pure white flowers with yellow centers.
🌀 The pure white blooms are truly a piece of art! Perfect for shade gardens (but also can take sun), this plant thrives in moist soil and loves plenty of water.
🌀 If you're looking to add a bit of drama and elegance to your garden, this beauty is a must-have!

📚 Learn more about gingers from previous posts:

😵‍ What is the most spectacular variegated ginger?

🌀 Variegated Spiral Ginger - Costus arabicus (amazonicus) variegata - is a tropical stunner originally from South America but adored in Hawaii and Florida
🌀 This ginger's eye-catching, spiraling stems are streaked with striking white variegation, topped with elegant pure white flowers with yellow centers.
🌀 The pure white blooms are truly a piece of art! Perfect for shade gardens (but also can take sun), this plant thrives in moist soil and loves plenty of water.
🌀 If you're looking to add a bit of drama and elegance to your garden, this beauty is a must-have!

📚 Learn more about gingers from previous posts: