If you haven’t previously met her, I’d like to introduce you to the genus Aglaonema, also known as the Chinese evergreen. This species, an absolute classic in the houseplant hobby and universal in houses, malls, and offices, can be the perfect blend of decoration and easy to keep alive—so easy, in fact, that you can even grow these plants in water!
Aglaonema ‘Pictum Tricolor’
@actuarialaroids
Aglaonema ‘Pictum Tricolor’ is the most coveted Chinese evergreen cultivar of all. This is a great eye-catcher with its camouflage-patterned leaves in three shades of green, but it’s difficult to find and tends to be expensive.
However, don’t fall for ads offering seeds for sale (it’s difficult to collect seed from this species, so true ones are rare), wet stick cuttings with no leaves (that could be different plant!) or suspiciously cheap plants.
Aglaonema ‘Spring Snow’
@bttbyrose
‘Spring Snow’ is one of the Aglaonemas that can be confused with some Dieffenbachia cultivars. The dark green leaf base of Aglaonema ‘Spring Snow’ is speckled with a profuse confetti of whitish-cream flecks. This is a quite bushy cultivar that is easy to grow and so eye-catching.
Aglaonema ‘Silverado’
@jeonglimyangzzzz
It’s one of the most stunning green and silver Aglaonemas out there, created in India by merging Aglaonema nitidum ‘Ernesto’s Favorite’ and a new, unpatented hybrid Chinese evergreen. The leaves are a light silver in the center, lipsticked in dark green around the margins, and the rest of it is a medium silvery-green.
Aglaonema ‘Stripes’
@kardia.flowers
Aglaonema ‘Stripes’ was revealed in 2008 as the product of a hybrid between Aglaonema ‘Manila’ and Aglaonema nitidum ‘Curtisii’. There are several striped Chinese evergreens, but this one is one of the top choices. The design is very beautiful and well-defined, silvery-green over dark green.
Aglaonema ‘White Joy’
@nossoplanetaflora
If you want a solid, cream-colored plant with almost barely green, ‘White Joy’ is unbeatable. When grown properly, it almost looks like a white form of the ‘Lucky Red’ cultivar, almost completely colorless with just small stripes of green along the midrib and leaf edges.
Because of their low chlorophyll levels, they can be slow grow, and while they require lots of light, they burn easily in direct sunlight.
Aglaonema ‘Chocolate’
@plant_lover57
The leaves of Aglaonema ‘Chocolate’ are very dark green with a slight brown hue. The veins on the leaves are reddish in hue, especially on the back side, which has a distinct pinkish-brown tint. A really lovely plant to look at! The sole concern is its rarity: the ‘Chocolate’ variety is not easy to find.
Aglaonema ‘Tigress’
@watsonsgreenhouse
Aglaonema ‘Tigress’ resembles the aforementioned ‘Maria’ in appearance, but the stripes on its leaf are enhanced and symmetrical. This creates a beautiful feathery look on the slightly elongated leaves.