The aglaonema or Chinese Evergreen is a tropical houseplant with fun splashes of color and speckled patterns to break up the boring monotony of everyday life! These full, bushy houseplants have long boat-shaped leaves, often peppered with spots or brushstrokes of pinks and whites, with bold, punchy-colored veins.

Native to subtropical regions of Asia and New Guinea, they will love a humid location like a bathroom window. They can tolerate low light, but do best in bright light to encourage those gorgeous colors to pop! Too harsh of light will cause them to develop dry patches of white or brown in the middle of their leaves.

Aglaonemas are often potted in moisture-retentive substrates like peat moss, so use your green thumb to make sure the soil isn’t retaining too much water. You’ll start to see the stems and leaves get limp and pale if you’re overwatering. Wait for the first few inches of potting mix to dry out before you give them another drink.

To encourage bushy plants like these to stay so, keep up on pruning dead material. It’s perfectly normal for houseplants in our dry climate to lose a few leaves every once in a while. Don’t panic if this happens to you. Change one thing at a time, like starting a misting schedule, so that you don’t overwhelm a plant that’s already stressed.

There are over 350 cultivars of aglaonema known to the houseplant world, all equally as stunning as the next. There’s a pattern and color for everyone!