The easiest climbing plant to grow, as easy to care for as pothos, beautiful flowers and foliage, blooms in all four seasons, can be grown indoors too

Introduction

Potted green plants are essential decorative touches for home life. Keeping some flowers and plants at home has many benefits - it beautifies the home and lifts your mood. "Flower Sound Potted Plant Diary · Issue 1218" introduces you to a climbing plant that can be grown indoors.

Today's featured plant

Climbing plants need relatively large growing space and also have light requirements - for example, clematis and climbing roses can mostly only be grown outdoors, and not many can be grown indoors. So if you want to keep a plant at home that climbs walls, what should you do? The flower introduced today is called "dry lotus" (Tropaeolum majus, garden nasturtium), and it is the easiest-to-grow climbing flowering plant the author has ever seen. Not only are its flowers and leaves both beautiful, it can be grown both outdoors and indoors.

Dry lotus

Dry lotus, also known as "dry golden lotus" (garden nasturtium), means "a lotus that grows on land." It got this name because its leaves look very much like lotus leaves. It is a perennial trailing plant in the family Tropaeolaceae, genus Tropaeolum, native to South American countries such as Brazil and Peru. It has been introduced and cultivated in many provinces and cities in China as a garden or indoor ornamental plant. Its flowers resemble small bells and come in rich, varied colors, including purplish red, orange-red, and creamy yellow. They are dazzling and have an excellent decorative effect.

Blooms in all four seasons

Unlike lotus, which only blooms in summer and autumn, this "dryland lotus" blooms all year round. Even in the cold winter, it can produce brilliant flowers, especially the red ones, which are beautiful and festive. Many households grow it as a Lunar New Year flower. Not only are the flowers beautiful, this plant's flowers are also fragrant, with a rich scent. They are non-toxic and harmless, and also have a mosquito-repelling effect.

Easy to cultivate

Dry lotus has strong vitality. Although it comes from tropical regions, it can tolerate short periods of low temperatures down to 0°C. It is generally propagated by sowing seeds - just drop the seeds into soil and they can survive. In many places in the south, it sometimes escapes into the wild, and as a household potted plant it is even easier. It likes loose, well-drained soil; general-purpose nutrient soil can be used for planting. A flowerpot of ordinary size can meet its growing needs. It is drought-tolerant, and it is no problem to go ten days to half a month without watering. It is even easier to grow than lazy-person green plants like pothos and spider plant.

Can be grown indoors too

Dry lotus does not have particularly strong light requirements and is shade-tolerant. In summer, take care to provide shade. For indoor potted plants, place them on a windowsill or next to a balcony where there is indirect scattered light. Set up a flower stand, or guide it onto the wall, and when it reaches full bloom, it can give you a sea of flowers, turning a balcony into a garden. You can enjoy flowers without leaving home. It is a new type of ornamental flower that has become very popular in recent years. It is perennial - plant it once, and it will bloom every year.