Greens

This bed under my living-room window has long been a trouble spot, being very narrow and sandwiched between the foundation of the house and a concrete path, both of which are apparently notorious for leeching acid into the soil.  These three plants are almost completely trouble-free and are attractive year-round.  The Sanseveria is so slow-growing that I have not yet had to cut it back.  The aspidistra needs some dead leaves cut away now and then, but the fern is the only rampant grower of the bunch and needs regular (every few months or so) cutting back or it tends to flop over the path.

At left, Sansevieria trifasciata.  This is a common house and garden plant in Southern California.  It has thick, almost plastic-like leaves that grow in sharp, unrelenting blades -- hence the unkind common name of "mother-in-law tongue".  It grows upright from 1 to 4 ft. (0.3 to 1.2 m), in various patterns of green and cream shades.  I chose this one because it did not have the usual cream edges; I tend not to like variegated leaves much.

At right, sword fern, probably Polystichum munitum.  This easy-to-grow fern is native to the western United States.  Its yellow-green fronds grow from 2 to 4 ft. (0.6 to 1.2 m), depending on soil and moisture conditions. 

At the bottom can be seen a single leaf of Aspidistra eliator, or cast-iron plant.  This evergreen perennial certainly lives up to its name: it can apparently survive in some of the worst planting conditions possible, indoors or out.  Glossy dark-green leaves are 1 to 2 1/2 feet long and 3 to 4 inches wide on a 6 to 8-inch leafstalk. The aspidistra has been very popular as a house-plant for decades -- almost every Victorian parlor had one.