When you are looking to create your own houseplant jungle, there are some jungle concepts to keep in mind which will help you to achieve the affect you are after.
Jungle means:
| thick, lush and crowded | covers from floor to ceiling – or as high as reasonable in your home |
| range of leaf sizes | range of leaf shapes |
| dark green shiny foliage | climbing and clumping plants |
| plants grow from the ground up | plants grow from the top and hang down |
If you want clarification about the difference between a jungle (good for indoors) and a rainforest (not so good indoors) read this.
Tiny leaf plants in the jungle:
- Adiantum gracillimum (Fine leaf Maidenhair fern)
- Pilea depressa (Baby’s Tears)
- Sagina subulata ‘Aurea’ (Scotch Moss)
- Selaginella (Club moss)
- Soleirolia soleirolii (also called Baby’s Tears)
Small leaf clumping plants in the jungle:
- Nephrolepis exaltata (Boston Fern)
- Philodendron ‘Birkin’
- Philodendron ‘Super Atom’
Medium leaf clumping plants in the jungle:
- Ctenanthe Setosa
- Goeppertia rufibarba (formerly Calathea)
- Goeppertia zebrina (formerly Calathea)
- Maranta leuconerua
- Spathiphyllum (Peace lily)
Medium leaf climbing plants in the jungle:
- Monstera adansonii
- Monstera laniata
- Monstera lechleriana
- Philodendron cordatum (Heart-leaf)
Large leaf
- Alocasia portadora (Elephant Ear)
- Ficus elastica (Rubber plant)
Huge leaf
- Alocasia macrorrhiza (Elephant Ear Mammoth)
- Ficus lyrata (Fiddle-leaf fig)
- Monstera deliciosa
Broad leaf
- Alcantrea imperialis (Giant bromeliad)
- Aspidistra elatior (Cast iron plant)
- Doryanthes excels (Gymea lilly)
- Ensete ventricosum (Ethiopian banana)
- Platycerum bifurcatum (Staghorn fern)
- Strelitzia reginae (Bird of Paradise)
Strappy leaf
- Chlorophytum comosum (Spider Plant)
- Cordyline
The display
- Many plants in a small space has greater impact than many plants all spread out
- Arrange your display with multiple plants on all levels
- Use hanging space for trailing plants that grow down
- Use moss poles:
- support for climbing plants
- increases humidity around plants
- encourages larger leaves by replicating climbing as the plant would in nature
