How and why to grow sansiverias

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You've seen sansiverias, usually in buildings, in restaurants, that kind of place. But they grow great in the Phoenix area, and are easy to care for.

When I was a kid they were called "Mother-In-Laws Tongue", but nowadays they're usually called "Snake Plants". And they come in lots of different variations, not just the common ones you usually see (although those are still my favorite).

I had never heard the word sansiveria until I got some cuttings from a friend of mine a few years ago. I stuck them in the ground, and in pots, and they grew. Yesterday I moved some of them out of the pots they'd outgrown, and out of the garden, where they had become crowded, and planted them in my big pots on my patio. It's an east-facing patio, so it gets morning sun, but otherwise it's shady. And that's what sansiverias like. They don't do well in the hot sun, and they're really not happy without a little sunlight.

They're tough plants, which can stand neglect, but they do better with some water a few times a month. They tend to throw off offshoots, called "pups", which you can dig out and plant separately. I know have so many of these plants, with new pups growing all of the time, that I have to thin them out, and sadly throw some away. I wish I could give them to you!

But you don't need me. Go to any garden center and get a small one, they're cheap. Plant it and it will grow and produce pups. In no time you'll have more sansiverias than you know what to do with!

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