Lipstick plants are sometimes overlooked for more well-known plant varieties on the market today, but they’re a beautiful old flame that we think deserves to come back with a fury. Here’s everything you need to know about lipstick plants!
Several species of the Aeschynanthus genus are referred to as “lipstick plants”; the common name comes from their flowers, which are red and tubular like lipsticks. Most people mean A. radicans, A. longicaulis, and A. pulcher when they say lipstick plant.
Lipsticks are celebrated as one of the easier houseplants to take care of, on par with other popular plants such as Peperomia or Hoya. They want to dry out most of the way between waterings and enjoy bright indirect light, but can tolerate some lower light levels.
Many plant parents can remember growing up with these plants - they were extremely trendy at one time and, because they’re so easy to care for, they stuck around to be introduced to later generations in the family. It’s a beautifully nostalgic plant for many.
Because it’s been on the market for a healthy amount of time, there are now quite a number of older specimens widely available and the industry has firmly planted its feet in lipstick plant propagation. We’re very lucky to live in a world with such easy access to such a beautiful plant!
Some plants can be finnicky about flowering; requirements might include things like inducing a dormancy period in the plant before it can flower or getting a very particular set of items for pollination. Not so with the lipstick plant! Once a year and without going out of the way of its normal care routine, lipstick plants will beautify lucky plant parents’ homes with dozens of gorgeous red flowers.
It’s not often you find a plant as easy as this that’s also willing to flower regularly and we can’t recommend it enough! Even if you’re a beginner, it’s a great addition to any collection that’s sure to last you long enough that future generations will get to admire it.
See our Lipstick Plants here: https://urbansproutsstore.com/collections/aeschynanthus
