Variegated Plants Safe For Cats and Dogs

NOTE: This is a WIP. But that's fine because who's reading my new blog anyway?

Colombia closed its borders the day before my flight to Medellín in the middle of March, 2020. To be honest, I was grateful that they reinforced the decision I had just made anyway, due to COVID-19—travel was out for 2020. Yet part of me still yearned for the lush, humid greenery of the jungle.

I started following Gardening Australia on Facebook and through them discovered Craig Milran and his inspiring, plant-filled homes. His instagram account is filled with gorgeous plants, mostly with white variegation. Inspired to create my own indoor jungle with a modern white and green palette, I started looking up all the plants he listed for toxicity to cats.

I had to get rid of most of my plants when I brought home my fur baby a few years ago, so I was not surprised that most of Craig's plants were toxic. However, over time I put together quite the list of variegated and unusual plants that would be safe for a curious cat nibble. The list has expanded past white variegation, to all sorts of exotic variegated catagories. My indoor jungle has ended up being full of tropical bursts of color and unique patterns that are a delight to the eye. I hope other pet owners will be inspired by this list to create their own indoor oasis!

A quick tip on albino plants: White foliage is actually unhealthy for a plant, because it interferes with photosynthesis. Therefore plants with white foliage are usually slightly more of a challenge to maintain. Good luck!

White Variegated Plants

• Kerriodoxa elegans - White Elephant Palm, threatened species
• Stuttgart Canna Lily - Canna lilies have tons of varieties, and foliage similar to a Bird of Paradise. A perrenial outdoors, it may be possible to cultivate year round indoors, as it's originally a tropical bog plant, but there is limited information on this. I'm giving it a try with a Canna Tropicanna and Canna Tropicanna Black. What I've learned is that reduced light means fewer flowers (and greener foliage, in the case of the Black). However, if a stalk does not flower, it's possible you can avoid the cycle of stalks dying and new ones growing. I view this plant as an expirement for a few years. By then, they will have unhappily crowded the pot and will need to exit it. Getting through the winter without them going dormant also means I have to keep the soil consistenly moist. Wish me luck!
• Variegated Bird's Nest fern
• Pteris ensiformis 'Evergemiensis' - "Variegated Brake Fern" or "Silver Lace Fern"
• Pteris cretica 'Albolineata' - "Variegated Cretan Brake Fern" or "Variegated Table Fern". Has long leaves that are white in the center and green on the edges.
• Fittonia 'White Anne' - The Fittonia Nerve Plant typically has cute, little, green leaves with white veins. There are some rare varieties that have more white than green though, including 'White Anne' and 'White Star', which is almost entirely white except for the edges. There's also 'Fittonia cv' which has narrow white leaves.
• Hypoestes phyllostachya - The Polka-dot Plant, which typically comes in White or Pink varieties
• Breynia Nivosa, mini snowbush - Has the look of a mini shrub. You can buy some varieties with more or less pink on them. Could be considered Tricolor.
• Breynia Disticha "minima" (Hawaiian Snowbush). Could be considered Tricolor.

White Flowers: Orchids, Violets

Speaking of albino plants, have you ever heard of the Albino Redwood, nicknamed the "Ghost Tree"? It's a beautiful, but parasitic, tree that cannot photosynthesize at all on its own, and can be found in California's coastal forests.

Ivory Variegated Plants

• Peperomia viridis variegata - Zig-Zagging upright arched stems bear creamy-white margined thick semi-cupped leaves; very stong basket plant. Much slower growing than the more pendant disticha group; much more compact than the acuminata cultivars.
• Peperomia obtusifolia albomarginata - "Hummel White Cloud" Rippled, puckered waxy leaves margined ivory. Interesting petite habit heavily self branching to form a remarkable hemisphere of bright variegation tolerant of less than ideal levels of humidity
• Peperomia obtusifolia alba (or "Baby Rubber Plant") - New leaves strongly and dramatically emerge pure ivory, then gradually fade to pale lime, then glossy jade green; slightly reddish petioles. A Manda selection effective in lightgardens and striking in any greenhouse collection as well as a marvelous houseplant--quite unique yet easily grown; especially valuable as the albinism is strong even when grown in warm conditions--while typically hardy perennials and trees loose this sort of variegation in warm weather.

White Multicolor/Tri Color

• Pilea microphylla var, Tricolor, Artillery Fern. White and pink filler plant. Looks like an artistic flowering bonsai, or Thyme, except with white and pink variegation. I asked an employee at Ace Hardware what this was and she had no idea. But she did suggest it wasn't Thyme because Thyme is more woody. I disagreed and tried a leaf. Spat it out. Bah. It wasn't Thyme. Did a search for 'variegated Fern' on Etsy one day and Lo and behold, there it was, an Artillery Fern, and safe for cats! I could've bought it at Ace!
• Stromanthe Triostar
• ctenanthe oppenheimiana - Looks almost exactly like the Stromanth Triostar with a few diffs: https://wimastergardener.org/article/stromanthe-sanguinea-tricolor/
• Snow White Purple Waffle Plant - like the White Fusion's ugly step sister. All the same colors, but a diseased looking bumpy leaf.
• All prayer plants/Calathea
• Variegated Fairy Vine - Angel Vine - Muehlenbeckia complexa 'Tricolor'
• Muehlenbeckia axillaris 'Tricolor' - though this one if slightly less clear so you whether it is poisonous and evergreen
• Variegated Swedish Ivy Plant - Plectranthus coleoides

Purple Foliage

• Painted Lady Fern - silver, purple fern. Go with car. 'pictum' or var. 'pictum burgundy lace' Peperomia argyreia, aka watermelon because of its round leaves, which have bands of silver radiating from the upper center with stems of bright red.
• Persian Shield (can get tall and leggy) - variable sun, high humidity.
• Purple Passion -bright indirect light. Snip off orange flower buds to avoid odor.

Pink Foliage

• string of hearts "Ceropegia woodii"

Silver Variegated

• Ghost Lady Fern
• fatsia japonica spiderweb

Lime green, yellow green

This has a really cool pattern: Coniogramme emeiensis 'Golden Zebra' - Striped Bamboo Fern (4.5" Pot)

Air plants Air Plant - Tillandsia tectorum - Fuzzy Wuzzy (One Plant) RARE

Research succulents: I don't recommend succulents mainly because a bitten off tip/leaf looks so bad and makes me feel sad for the plant. This is why I got rid of my zebra haworthia. Haworthias often have white or transparent variegation. e.g. Haworthia cooperi 'Variegata' Echeverias have beautiful colors. Both families are almost always safe for cats.

Honorable mention:

• areca palm - releases oxygen at night and very good for cleaning the air. They do have a rare variegated version as well. "However, there are two reasons they are not the best palms to grow as houseplants: They need fairly bright light and they are especially sensitive to the buildup of fertilizer salts."

Warning: some of these plants are sensitive to Fluoride in water and will require you to buy a water filter, distilled water, or collect rain water. Flushing every time you water can also help. "Most of the sensitive commonly grown species are in a pretty small number of families: avoid the Marantaceae, Arecaceae, Ruscaceae, and Liliaceae" - https://plantsarethestrangestpeople.blogspot.com/2009/02/fluoride-what-it-is-and-how-its-spelled.html?m=1

Bay Area Nurseries

For the locals, I have a couple recommended plant resources:

• Las Selvas - A large variety of exotic, rare plants for cheap. This nursery is run out of a home in Daly City. They do delivery, shipment, or you can select pick up for free, and they will text or email you when your order is ready. But beware, you don't get to exchange a plant unless you send a photo of "essential damage" within 24 hours. You can follow their instagram account to get real time updates of what new plants are available @laselvaz.
• SF Plants - Located on Polk, this is my favorite house plant nursery in San Francisco. Tons of exotic, healthy plants, and even a sale rack where you can find the occasional gem.
• Flora Grubb - A famous local nursery, especially for climate-appropriate, outdoor plants. Though their merchandise is beautiful, I do warn that their outdoor plants usually come with soil mites. Soil mites are healthy for the plant but can be annoying when you intend the plant for indoors.
• If you are looking for orchids, Sloat Garden has large specimins (but in my experience, they came with soil mites). Whole Foods on Market had a nice selection, but they were not that well cared for. Trader Joe's is one of the best places to buy an affordable orchid, if you're willing to stand in COVID-19 lines. (The one near the bottom of SOMA has smaller lines.) SafeWay is another option, but TJ's still wins on price.

(By the way, I googled "variegated plants safe for cats" and was surprised to find there was one other blog already written on this very specific topic by Leaf & Paw, which I recommend you check out next!)

Upcoming

Besides creating an indoor jungle corner, I've also taken to weekly hikes. I'll post shortly on some of the plants my family has taught me to identify in the California countryside. Look out for that blog post!