Exotic tropical philodendrons that are grown as houseplants up north are utilized as ground covers in South Florida. They provide a super tropical look to a garden and are very easy to grow. Here is the common pothos philodendron, growing up a tree. Philodendrons are one of a select group of plants that have juvenile leaves and adult leaves. The juvenile leaves are the more common ones you see growing up north indoors. The adult leaves form in Florida on established philodendrons. The leaves get much larger and often develops swiss cheese like holes in the leaves. Botanists are perplexed as to why the leaves change this way, some hypothesize that in the jungles it allows water to flow through the immense leaves.
This is a swiss cheese philodendron growing up a palm tree.
However the vining philodendrons can become challenging to manage if left unchecked. In the photo below, a vine is growing up a window screen. It is
blocking light causing the room to be unusually dark. If left unchecked, it will climb up over the window up the wall to the roof. In the photo below, you will see some common philodendrons climbing up a wall of my house.
In the lower left corner, these clumping philodendrons from Brazil, are spreaders so make a wonderful ground cover.
Roberto Burle Marx discovered this philodendron in a rainforest in Brazil and named it after himself. It flourishes in a vase filed with water indoors.
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