‘Swiss cheese’ plant - Monstera deliciosa
A statement plant that’s great for beginners
Monstera delicosa is one of the most sought-after and talked-about houseplants of the last 70 years. It is an emblem for all things exotic, earning its title of ‘charismatic megaflora’, a select group of huge species including the giant redwood. The difference is that Monstera is the charismatic megaflora you can grow easily at home.
The ‘Swiss cheese’ plant is supremely adaptable: it can grow as a terrestrial plant with its roots in the soil at ground level, live as a lithophyte anchored to rocks, or as a hemiepiphyte, starting off at ground level then climbing trees, or vice versa. However and wherever it grows, if a Monstera can access enough light, space and water, it will become huge: leaves grow more than 1m long, the stems can
