“The one everyone pokes to see if it’s real.”

Anthurium

Anthurium

Glossy red hearts on a bed of dark green leaves, blooming again and again. Asks for warm, humid air and repays it in color.

Fling

2.2/5

how easy it is to care for

3.9/5

how much it stands out visually

: Shade to filtered

Blooms best near a bright window, just out of the sun

Steady light near a window, with no sun on the leaves, keeps fresh red spathes coming several times a year. Set farther back it stays green and healthy, just with fewer blooms; direct rays scorch it.

NC State points it toward a south- or west-⁠facing window, kept out of direct rays, which can burn the leaves. A north-facing room keeps it leafy and alive, but expect fewer flowers and slower growth.

In the wild it perches on trees in the shaded rainforests of Colombia and Ecuador (Kew, NC State), and a sheer curtain is a fair stand-in for that canopy.

The spathes are your light gauge. Months without a new one may mean it wants more light; scorched patches on a leaf may mean it wants a step back. NC State also warns that it dislikes cold drafts and sudden temperature swings, so on a January sill, keep the leaves off the frosty glass.

Color is what light buys here: give it all you can, as long as no sun touches a leaf.

: 2-3× a month

Every 7-10 days, 10-14 in winter; dry beats soggy

About every 7-10 days in summer and every 10-14 in winter. A short dry spell does less harm than soggy soil, which can rot the roots; yellowing leaves often point to overwatering.

In the wild it lives on tree branches, not in the ground, so its thick roots are built to grip bark and pull moisture from the air. Indoors, some may reach out over the rim of the pot (NC State notes aerial roots); leave them be.

That rainforest perch is also why its glossy leaves and spathes like steamy air: NC State puts its ideal at 60-80% humidity, far wetter than a heated Chicago room in winter. If the leaf tips brown and that bothers you, set it among other plants or near a small humidifier, or switch to rainwater or purified water, which NC State calls best. It survives without any of it.

Aim the can at the soil rather than the leaves; NC State ties its leaf spots to wet foliage and poor air flow.

If you’d like more blooms, a high-phosphorus feed in the growing season may help. It will live without it.

Gone for a while? Ten days is fine if it’s soaked the day you leave; much longer and it wilts.

: Small

Reaches 1-1.5 feet, its blooms held over the leaves

Heart-shaped leaves up to a foot long, on upright stalks 1-1.5 feet tall and about 9-12 inches wide. Made for a café table; its blooms stand above the leaves, so set it low enough to look across them.

The potted anthurium is a fairly recent idea. For most of its history it was bred for cut flowers, on plants too big and long-stalked for a pot; only since around 2000 have breeders pushed for compact plants that flower heavily (University of Florida).

With age it builds a short stem (NC State), lifting the leaves a little higher above the soil.

Its spathes are held above the leaves (RHS), so they float over the foliage like flags. A spot where people look down on it, a side table or a low counter, shows them off best.

: Mildly irritating

Chewing can sting the mouths of dogs, cats, or kids

DogsMildly irritating
CatsMildly irritating
KidsMildly irritating

If a dog, cat, or child bites into it, needle-like crystals can leave the mouth sore and swollen, with drooling or vomiting that passes. The ASPCA lists it as toxic to dogs and cats, though cases are usually mild.

Its poison severity is rated low (NC State). The culprit is calcium oxalate, found in every part of the plant, flowers included, so a nibbled red spathe carries the same crystals as a leaf. Sap on skin or in the eyes can redden and sting (NC State), so you may want gloves when you snip off spent blooms.

Most bites end with a sore mouth that settles on its own. If it doesn’t, or if anything worries you, Poison Control can help with a child. For a pet that keeps drooling or struggles to swallow, try your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center (a fee may apply).

Those bright spathes are the part most likely to catch a toddler’s eye or a cat’s paw. If you have either, give it a high shelf, or take NC State’s other suggestion: a hanging basket.

ASPCA: mild for dogs.
Merck Veterinary Manual: mild for dogs (rates the whole genus).
Pet Poison Helpline: mild for dogs (rates the whole genus).
ASPCA: mild for cats.
Merck Veterinary Manual: mild for cats (rates the whole genus).
Pet Poison Helpline: mild for cats (rates the whole genus).
NC State Extension: mild for kids.

Cats and dogs: Most of the leading sources agree.

Kids: No poison-centre listing; rated from university extension sources.

: Humid

65-80°F; likes humid air

Happiest at 65-80°F, and it shouldn’t sit below 55°F. Keep it away from cold glass in winter. It likes 60-80% humidity and gets by at 50%.

Temperature: 65-80°F
Humidity: 60-80%

: Spider mites

Spider mites, mealybugs, scale; look under the leaves

Spider mites hide on leaf undersides, mealybugs in the axils where stalks meet the crown, and scale on stalks, stems and along the veins below. Aphids occasionally settle on new leaves and flower buds.

Spider mites
Mealybugs
Scale
Aphids

A few pests turn up now and then (mealybugs, scale, spider mites, aphids, thrips), and soggy soil brings root rot and fungus gnats.

Mealybugs look like tufts of white cotton where leaves meet the stems; scale looks like small brown bumps stuck to leaves and stalks. Wipe them off with a cotton swab dipped in rubbing alcohol, then check again next week.

Spider mites leave fine speckling and webbing; aphids are small, soft bugs on new growth; thrips leave silvery scars. Rinse the plant in the shower, undersides included, and if they come back, spray with insecticidal soap.

Fungus gnats are tiny black flies around wet soil: let the top of the soil dry between soaks and empty the saucer. Leaf spots come with still, damp air, so give it a little room.

: More

Feed monthly, deadhead blooms, repot every 2-3 years

Feed monthly all year, and cut each spent bloom off at the base as it fades. Mist or wipe the leaves 4 times a year to clear dust. Every 2-3 years, repot in spring, one size up, in a bark-⁠based mix.

Feed12× a year
Deadhead6× a year
Clean leaves4× a year

A rich, chunky mix that drains fast, in a pot with a drainage hole: it wants moisture and air at the roots at the same time. Potting mix with some orchid bark or perlite stirred in works well.

Repot every two to three years, in spring, one size up.

Food helps it flower: a dilute liquid houseplant fertilizer every week or two from spring through summer, and none in winter. Too much yellows the leaves and browns the tips.

: Showy

Glossy red hearts over dark green leaves

Waxy red hearts stand above deep green leaves, and the bold color returns with bloom after bloom. Every surface looks polished, and the foliage hides only part of the soil.

Fun fact

Its name is Greek for 'tail flower,' from anthos (flower) and oura (tail), after the slender spike at its center. This species also goes by painter’s palette.

Designer tips

Glossy and graphic, it reads bold and tropical, a bit of color that doesn’t come and go with the seasons.

In flower on a table beside an east window

The colorRepeats one red, pink, or white already in the roomIts flowers come in red, pink, or white and last for weeks at a time, so choose the color the way you’d choose a cushion: one that already appears nearby. Red in a room of warm wood, white in a pale one.

The textureSets its wax shine against matte plaster and linenThe leaves and the heart-shaped flowers both look lacquered, almost unreal, and a matte backdrop is what proves they’re real. Beside other glossy things they start to look like plastic.

The spotKeeps the warmest bright spot in the roomIt wants the mid-60s or warmer, so keep it off a cold winter sill and a few feet back from a bright window instead, where it keeps on flowering.

Troubleshooting

Why has it stopped flowering?

Usually not enough light. Closer to a bright window, still out of the sun’s reach, it likely blooms again; UF/IFAS growers raise the light when a plant won’t flower, and a little fertilizer in spring and summer can help too.

Why are leaves turning yellow?

Usually too much water, or too much fertilizer. If the soil stays soggy, give it longer between drinks and empty the saucer; if you’ve been feeding often, ease off. An old lower leaf yellowing now and then is normal.

The flower is fading and drooping

That’s an old bloom, not a dying plant. Each one lasts for weeks, then fades; cut its stalk off at the base whenever you like, and new ones follow.

See all 8

The leaf tips are going brown

Dry air or too much fertilizer, most often. If it bothers you, a humidifier or a tray of wet pebbles helps in winter and lighter feeding helps all year; the plant carries on either way.

Some leaves look pale or scorched

Too much sun. Back from the window or behind a sheer curtain, new leaves usually come in dark and glossy; the marked ones stay marked.

My cat bit a leaf

Expect a sore mouth: pawing, drooling, maybe some vomiting, from the crystals in the sap. It’s mildly irritating, and the ASPCA notes cases are usually mild; if vomiting keeps up or swallowing looks hard, call your vet or the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center.

Can I cut the flowers for a vase?

Yes. UF/IFAS says they last several weeks as cut flowers; cut the stalk at its base.

Can it go outside for the summer?

Yes, in shade, like a porch or under a tree, where sun can’t reach the leaves. Bring it in before fall nights turn cool, since it’s happiest at 65-80°F, and check it for bugs first.

Propagation

By division, when you repot: the practical way at home.

In spring, ease it out of the pot and separate a side shoot or a section of the clump with its own roots and a few leaves, then pot it at the same depth it grew before.
It also grows from stem cuttings, but slowly.