Striped dracaena

Dracaenas are generally rugged, carefree houseplants with a robust and tropical appearance. They are widely used for both home and office plantings. Many tolerate low light conditions. Barbara H. Dracaenas can grow 2 to 10 feet tall, depending on the cultivar. It is easy to maintain these plants at shorter heights if desired.

Dracaena marginata, more commonly known as a dragon tree, is an attractive plant with green sword-like, red-edged leaves. Native to Madagascar, the eye-catching spiky tree is known as a great entry plant for household gardeners—it's easy to care for, drought-tolerant , and nearly indestructible. The slow-growing plant can be planted year-round and boasts tiny white flowers in the spring though it rarely flowers indoors. This small tree will grow to about 20 feet in warm outdoor climates, but it is generally grown as a potted houseplant and kept pruned to 6 feet or less. Thanks to its tolerance for a wide range of temperatures, dragon trees are very popular as large potted plants for homes and offices. They should be planted in well-draining soil and watered regularly during their growing season.

What interests you the most in indoor plants? Is it their ever-dazzling foliage, or their aptitude to grow stoutly over the years? If the answer is both, then you can never go wrong with most members of the Dracaena family. It forms foliage that grows in a bushy pattern and develops whitish or gray strands on the leaves that make this indoor-compatible plant a sterling beauty throughout the growing seasons. Quite interestingly, the stripes also keep their gleaming effect pretty intact even when the dry months come hammering.

Dracaenas are woody members of the lily family. Along with their close relatives Cordyline and Pleomele, they are very popular as office and mall plants because of their ability to adapt to poorer growing conditions. Dracaenas need warm temperatures and should be watered with day-old tap water, distilled water, or rainwater to avoid fluoride damage.