I first saw these on a trip I made to Las Vegas last winter. I thought they were the coolest plant but I couldn’t find out what they were. Then last March I stumbled across them in HD and Lowes in the house plant section. Both stores had them mislabeled as ‘variegated snake plants’. It took quite a bit more digging to find out they are African Spear plants.
This plant grows like a aloe, it starts out with the leaves growing in a fan shape. The leaves are round like a pencil which is what caught my eye when I first saw it. Like an aloe leaves will grow upright when the plant receives enough light and grow horizontal or become floppy if the light is too low.
It prefers drier conditions about like an aloe and lots of sun like an aloe. Any place aloe is happy the African Spear should be as well. It is drought tolerant.
It can handle temperatures down to 28′F, so it is borderline for Houston and will want protection on colder evenings. It should reach about 5′ tall in full sun.
I’m told it blooms in warm summers though flowers are unimpressive looking but night fragrant.
It spreads by rhizomes but I’m told you can cut off a leaf, stick it in the ground, keep it damp and it will root. I found one person who says you can slice up the leaves and plant the pieces and they will grow. It is interesting how different the young plant looks from a mature plant.
I also read that you will get better color on the plant if you plant it in more shade than sun. That seems counter intuitive. Mine is planted in a shady area so time will tell.
Monday, Aug 20th, 2007 at 21:57
AKA “Put Your Eye Out Plant!” JJ ha ha…
Monday, Aug 20th, 2007 at 22:09
lol!
I guess I’ll have to wear safety glasses to weed near the plant.
Thursday, Dec 20th, 2007 at 16:18
What do you know? It is almost Christmas and I have a bloom coming on this plant. Photos in the Dec 07 photo album.
So far it is unimpressive looking but it’s not done yet.
Monday, Jan 7th, 2008 at 13:37
Despite temperatures down to the high 20’s F this plant still thrives. I still have a bloom coming - it started almost a month ago. The cold seems to have slowed the bloom down but not hurt it otherwise.
Actually, in time, the cold and wet did hurt it. Not either by itself but the cold and wet together damaged the plant. It is still holding on and I’m hoping it’ll fill back out once the weather warms up.
Monday, Aug 25th, 2008 at 12:24
This plant regrouped in the spring and sent out a new cluster this summer. It does not like cold, wet weather, it loves hot dry, sunny weather. Seems to be holding up.
Wednesday, Mar 25th, 2009 at 21:45
This is still slow growing but it did a better job handling this winter than the one before. Perhaps it just needs a few years to get well established?