Golden Acre Home & Garden Centre's Plant Library

Other Names:  Desert Cabbage, Dog Tongue

Description:

This variety is easily recognized by its paddle shaped leaves that are oppositely arranged and covered with a thick wax; full sun encourages red coloring; tall yellow flower stalks in late winter, when plant matures; great for containers and rock gardens

Features & Attributes

Paddle Plant features bold spikes of yellow bell-shaped flowers rising above the foliage from late winter to early spring. Its attractive succulent round leaves remain green in colour with distinctive antique red edges and tinges of silver throughout the year.

This is an herbaceous evergreen houseplant with a mounded form. This plant should not require much pruning, except when necessary to keep it looking its best.

Planting & Growing

When grown indoors, Paddle Plant can be expected to grow to be about 10 inches tall at maturity extending to 14 inches tall with the flowers, with a spread of 10 inches. It grows at a slow rate, and under ideal conditions can be expected to live for approximately 10 years. This houseplant will do well in a location that gets either direct or indirect sunlight, although it will usually require a more brightly-lit environment than what artificial indoor lighting alone can provide. It is very adaptable to both dry and moist soil, and should do just fine under average home conditions. The surface of the soil shouldn't be allowed to dry out completely, and so you should expect to water this plant once and possibly even twice each week. Be aware that your particular watering schedule may vary depending on its location in the room, the pot size, plant size and other conditions; if in doubt, ask one of our experts in the store for advice. It is not particular as to soil pH, but grows best in sandy soil. Contact the store for specific recommendations on pre-mixed potting soil for this plant.

There are many factors that will affect the ultimate height, spread and overall performance of a plant when grown indoors; among them, the size of the pot it's growing in, the amount of light it receives, watering frequency, the pruning regimen and repotting schedule. Use the information described here as a guideline only; individual performance can and will vary. Please contact the store to speak with one of our experts if you are interested in further details concerning recommendations on pot size, watering, pruning, repotting, etc.

-- THIS IS A HOUSEPLANT AND IS NOT MEANT TO SURVIVE THE WINTER OUTDOORS IN OUR CLIMATE --