Arty's Garden: Cast-Iron Plant Lives Up to Its Name

Originally published in the Jan. 22, 2014, issue

 

I love cooking in cast iron. Cornbread tastes better out of a cast-iron skillet, and I use an old Dutch oven from my aunt for everything from chicken to popcorn. Cast iron is easy to clean and care for and so durable my pieces will be handed down to a younger generation just as that Dutch oven was handed down to me.

 

Aspidistra (Aspidistra elatior) is sometimes called “cast-iron plant” because it is almost as durable as cast-iron pots and pans. It is especially noted for its tolerance of low light, but also gets accolades for drought tolerance and its resistance to insect pests, diseases and hungry deer.

 

Of course, durability and ease of care mean nothing if the plant isn’t attractive or useful. Aspidistra is welcome in the garden for its large evergreen leaves that add tropical flair and provide good contrast with finer-textured plants.

 

Though the solid green form is by far the most common type available, many specialty nurseries are carrying aspidistras that are streaked, speckled or splotched with white, cream, yellow or pale green. These are good for bringing splashes of color to dark areas. There are even a few other species available now with wider or narrower leaves and other differences from the common cast-iron plant. Aspidistra flowers are insignificant, but its large leaves are useful in floral arrangements, especially contemporary ones. 

 

Aspidistra does not like full sun, but is not particular about soil. Good companion plants that thrive in similar conditions include pachysandra, Lenten rose, rohdea, asarum, Christmas fern, holly fern, autumn fern, ebony spleenwort, butcher’s broom, dwarf mondo grass, acorus, poet’s laurel and strawberry begonia.

 

Generally speaking, aspidistra is not winter hardy in north Georgia, but even someone in the coldest mountain cove can grow aspidistra because it is one of the few plants that can serve double duty as a houseplant. In the days before weeping fig and other tropical plants became the norm, aspidistra was the houseplant of choice because it looked tropical but could tolerate cool temperatures and low light levels.

 

The ubiquity of aspidistras in respectable British homes may have inspired George Orwell when writing Keep the Aspidistra Flying, a socially critical novel set in 1930s London. On a more light-hearted note Dame Gracie Fields began delighting audiences in 1938 with her comic song “The Biggest Aspidistra in the World,” about her brother cross-breeding an aspidistra with an oak tree. She was still performing it in 1977 as seen in the YouTube clip from Michael Parkinson’s television show.

 

Arty Schronce is the Department’s resident gardening expert. He is a lifelong gardener and a horticulture graduate of North CarolinaState University who encourages everyone to discover the pleasures of plants and gardening.