What is your Oldest Houseplant?

I saw this question on another gardening site and it made me think of all the poor little plants that I have treasured over the years that have succumbed somehow to this or that. Alas they are no more. I think the house plant I have had the longest is an Amazon Lily which I've had for about 15 years. How about you?

Wow--great question! My oldest plant is one of my newest........my favorite neighbor gave me cuttings off of her 130 year old+ schlumbergia the other day! She's had it for 30+ years, and she got it from a friend who's grandmother had it for eons totalling 100 years (from handing down in the family). Amazing plant. =)

Other than that, my oldest personally raised plant is my 13 year old ficus. It's lovely. =)

130 years old...that's really neat! My oldest is a Philodendron selloum that I bought as a houseplant in 1992. I put it in the ground when I moved here to Louisiana and it's huge now!

Chinese Evergreen - 11 yrs.

There were a handful of unwanted office plants that some of us employees took home when our office moved about 6-7 years ago, and I still have one. It's a draceana but I don't remember which. Legend has it they were all from the 80s and some of the pots were labeled with dates. I also have had a spider plant for probably about 8 years. That's my favorite!

Mine is a pencil cactus I received as a wedding gift in 1970. It has moved with me through the years. It is an absolute monster! The base of the plant (at soil level) is approx 14" around and it weighs a ton. We drag it outside every summer and then have to chop the living heck out of it in the fall to get it back into the house. It's grown about 4' this summer with a few more months to go before it comes in (standing at least 14' high).I sure wish I had a nickel for every cutting I have given away...., lol.

What an fun topic
Mine are my Easter Lillies that belonged to my Great grandmother. She and GGpa used to have a cool garden. She passed the lily bulbs to my GM & she passed them to me. I have some of them in my garden now.
GGpa used to grow the really giant sunflowers, too.


MsC

Ha! Well, during our last vacation our oldest plant died, which was a dieffenbachia we got for housewarming a whopping five years ago. So now it's an African Violet that my mom got us for Valentine's Day probably three or four years ago. Not that impressive, huh? But it's those plants that got me into gardening, and hopefully I'll have lots of gardening years left!

I agree, this *is* a fun topic, and great stories, everyone!

My *personal* oldest plant(s) are a Beaucarnia and a Dracaena marginata that I bought at a supermarket in 1980....they used to keep just a few 4" potted plants in the produce section!
They've both put up with a lot of (unintentional) abuse and neglect....not to mention a few pillow fights!

My absolute oldest, though, is my Grandmother's original (yes, the original) Hoya carnosa plant. I know that it's at least 100 years old, but it's actual age is unknown.

After surgery in 1992, my DH's employer gave me a plant arrangement in a small pot. It had about 5 different plants in it. Three are still alive. The only one I know for sure what it really is [is] a heart-leafed philo. The others are unknown varieties of palm and draceana.

I have had an Angel Wing begonia longer than I can remember. Maybe 25 years or more...The same one--just endlessly propagated from cuttings.

Here's what i do--pretty much each year.

I have a 10" pot that has the "mama" in it. I have to bring it indoors for the winter, where it pretty much loses all but the top bunches of leaves. I forget to water it sometimes. It spends the winter months in pretty much semi-dormant state. Not to worry! I just want the ends to live!

In early Summer I take it outside, cut off all the ends (about 10"-12"), remove some of the lower leaves, cut "Mama" WAY down to the nubs and discard the in-between stalks. I root the cut off ends and repot them in a smaller pot. So, I usually have 2 pots of this going.....About every 3-4 years, I take the WHOLE root-ball of the Mama apart, discard all the old, fibrous, dead roots and re-pot the better ones in fresh soil.

Did that this Spring. here she is all re-grown in all her glory...

My oldest houseplants are a partially variegated Weeping Fig & some cacti that I purchased some time back in the late 1980's.

They've survived 3 moves (one out of state) & lots of temporary benign neglect. Some tough cookies!!

Wow...gorgeous begonia, Gitagal!!

Gitagal ... really beautiful begonia. I have one like it but it was late getting out of the house this year, so isn't as large as yours. The original belonged to my grandmother, who passed away in 1980. My mother and I both had cuttings, and between us have managed to keep it going. Have some cuttings that will be ready to pass on to daughter and daughter-in-law also.

We have a dracaena at work that has been there for more than 10 years! At home, I have two plants that were pawned off on me by a friend. She had both of them for about 5 years. One is a giant peace lily, and the other is a beautiful split-leaf philodendron. She kept the split-leaf on the ground, and because she didn't like to bend over and move the leaves, she ended up vacuuming over them. The poor things were very bedraggled when I inherited them.

I cut the philodendron back more than halfway, and this is what it looks like now, after more than 8 months. It has grown almost 6 feet long, and has more than doubled the number of leaves on the top of the plant. Today my living room, tomorrow.... the WORLD!! The peace lily is almost entirely new growth. Every leaf that it had when I got it was torn, or broken, and it was falling over. It is now very healthy, and in need of a new home. I can barely open my front door without running into it... anyone need a new houseplant???

Lori

Lori,

That's an unusual Philodendron! Beautiful heart-shaped leaves!
Do you know the name of it?

Your Peace Lily looks like the big-leaved Spath Sensation.

Gita

Hi, Gita.

I do not know the name of the Philodendron. It was half-dead when it was given to me, and the tag was long gone. I would guess that it is some sort of generic Philo.

Lori

I love peace lily!! too bad i dont live closer!! great plants!

I have to agree that Philo is a keeper!

I was digging through some old photos from my last house, and I found this, which is what the Peace Lily looked like when I got it. Poor thing had been beaten to death, and seriously underwatered. I hadto chop about 1/3 of the leaves off, add a thick layer of topsoil to help the plant stand up correctly, and water very deeply. The tray it was sitting on at my friend's house was cracked... her solution was just to stop watering it!

Nine months later, it looks like an entirely new plant.

Lori

My oldest "house" plant is a 3 foot tall bay laurel, purchased as a little start around 1991. I highly encourage anyone who likes to cook to keep one of these, they overwinter easily even in limited light, then spend the summer outside. I need to repot/root prune it. Although not "old" to me, I do have a cutting from Logee's greehouse lemon, over 100 years old. I hope I can keep that girl going!

Linda

My oldest will be 16 this January. My MIL "Future at the time" sent me a Peace Lily after I rolled my car 4 times.

It even survived a house fire two years ago. However after repotting in May it isn't doing well. I repotted again about a month ago and it still isn't perking back.

Any suggestions.

Enjoyed reading your threads. I'm always interested in old houseplants. I've only been into plants for a few years now. My oldest is probably a jade plant that was bought at the local Wal-Mart. It was reduced down to $3.00 but it was the first time I had actually seen an older jade with the thick trunks in stores. It was a sad looking thing at the time. I downsized its plastic pot from 8 inch to 6 inch clay pot and its been going strong ever since. Its now in a 10 clay pot. I love that plant!

Gitagal:gorgeous cane begonia; one of my favorites. I wonder why we can't find these types of begonias in plant nurseries, etc. I've bought a lot off Ebay but have yet to see them retail.

ladyrowan:that philo is definitely a keeper! I don't know which philo it is but I would say it would have to be one of the rarer varieties. All lovely plants!

Susan

Have a Ficus nerifolia (aka salicafolia) that is somewhere near 35 years old. It is an interesting bonsai.

Al

ooh...Al....you know we'd LOVE to see a photo of that Ficus!!

I wish I had known I'd be asked for a photo of this plant. I would have taken one earlier in the year. Ficus nerifolia (common name - willow leaf fig) is extremely sensitive to decreasing light levels (even worse than Ficus benjamina), so in anticipation of bringing it indoors, I pruned it hard two weeks ago. True to form, the plant lost most of its remaining leaves when I brought it in, but you can see the branch structure & the fact that it is trained in the mother/daughter style. In a couple of weeks, it will have a new flush of foliage.

The composition is 38-1/2 inches tall, measured from the bottom of the pot. Despite its appearance in the photo, the plant is perfectly healthy & very vigorous. ;o)

Al

That is a beautiful Bonsai. Even missing most of its leaves, you can still admire the structure of the base form, which is one of my favorite things about bonsai. No matter what season, they are still striking plants.

Lori

As for my earlier comments about my two huge house plants, I have no intention of giving away the philo. Just the Spath. I haven't had any takers yet, though and it is now living in my dining area, where it now has more space to spread out.

Thanks for posting that photo, Al.

It's amazing! What's the approximate thickness/diameter of the base?

Much TLC invested in that one!

It's about (an honest) 8 inches. I'll be sure to photograph it next year in July or August when it's at its best. It's much more impressive with foliage. ;o) I have about 25 plants in the Ficus genus, & this one is actually one of the easier to care for.

Al

My grandmother had a green house built in the 70s so she could grow her orchids and other plants. She kept an aloe plant in the greenhouse. This plant became massive over the years. When she died, my cousin took that massive aloe which had been growing for almost thirty years and divided it up. She gave each grandchild part of the plant. We will continue to grow this plant and hope to pass it down to our children.

Wow, Al!! That's even *more* amazing!

I'd be proud of that one, and can understand why you are.

I'll be watching for that 'foliageful' (lol!) photo!

rylaff...I love your story.
That's what we've done with my grandmother's hoya....my brother, who had lived with my grandparents during high school helping them on the farm, originally inherited the plant.

He took very good care of it...it was constantly in bloom.

When he married, his wife gave us all a few cuttings, and mine has since grown into a very impressive plant.

When my brother's asthma became worse, he and his wife decided to get rid of the few plants they had, so the gave the original hoya to me. It had seen better days, but I have since been pampering it, and it's still very much alive and growing, although my 'daughter' plant grown from cuttings is a much larger and more prolific-growing plant.

I have a corn plant over 20 years old that has reached the ceiling twice. Also the oldest Christmas Cactus are about that old too.

I have a snake plant that was given to me in 1982 and aloes of about the same age. Actually, since both have produced about a billion pups since then, I don't know if the original plants themselves are still around. I would think not but there's no way to tell.

My oldest is a pineapple top. Back in 1999 I first started getting into gardening and bought a bunch of plants (most died soon, learning curve was tough on that bunch). I also cut off a pineapple top from the store and planted it, not expecting much. It has kept going for these last 6 years. I'm sure it will never flower or fruit, but it is a novelty to have around.

Mark

I have a christmas cactus my grandmother started when I was born (46 years ago).
My mom has one that my grandmother started for her when she was born (70 years ago).
Mom has the "mother plant" too - not sure how old that one is!

I've got to find a better spot for mine - Its really big and I don't have a great spot for it
in my current house (I moved here 7yrs ago and the plant has been in slow decline
ever since.)

Tam

I have a 30 year old Pony Tail. Got it at a big flower show for $1 as a seedling.
I'm concerned it will outgrow my space so I haven't re-potted it in 20 years.
The base is 8 inches wide in a pot that's 10" wide.
I have to bottom water it because it's rising out of the top.
Andy P

WOW Andy. That was a good buy.
Tam

Wow, Andy. Your Ponytail palm is amazing! Do you keep it inside all year? I have one on my front porch that I'll have to bring inside for the winter, and I'm concerned with my cat chewing on it.

Yes Lady, it stays inside all year. One of only 3 plants that do.
The reason it no longer drags on the floor is my dog, Sarah, occasionally chews on the leaves. That was when it was near an open window and the waving leaves may have attracted her. Lots of fiber, LOL
Yours looks nice and sturdy, outdoor living makes them more robust, I think.
Just give it a bright window and neglect it, it will be fine.
Andy P

This question makes me LOL, if not LMAO! I got a tiny weeping fig my freshman year in college. 15 years later it was maybe 2 feet tall. Every summer it went out, every winter it dropped all its leaves, I may have repotted it once and watered it occasionally. Now my father was Mr. Plant at the time, memorized statistics like how many footcandles were equal to whatever and so on. But I was proud of my sad little tree, and I showed it to my father, probably before it dropped its leaves one winter, and I bragged that it was 15 years old and when I got it was only so tall. And he said "how do you keep it so small? You must restrict its fertilizer very carefully." Hah! Fertilizer? I didn't know plants needed fertilizer! It died for real when I was in the hospital for 6 weeks, which makes me think there must have been something I was doing right.