CEROPEGIA - "HEARTS ON STRINGS"

Ceropegia or Hearts on Strings, as it is often called, is a fantastic versatile plant, that can be used in many, many ways. A short description of ceropegia would be difficult as you could mention an endless series of uses.

If one would give it a try though, the description of this plant by Mette Østergaard would not be a bad example:

"Hearts on Strings - on meter long creepers, as made for the indoor design of this time. The creepers can fall free out over the rim of the hanging in the bathroom window or from a shelf on the wall. The strings can hang from a curtain in the kitchen or fling themselves around a beautiful frame in the living room. The plant with all these many possibilities has the name: Ceropegia Woodii.

The hearts are the leaves of the plant, and they are placed two and two along the very thin creepers. These heart shaped leaves has beautiful patterns on the front, while the backside is a uniform purple. There are three kinds of ceropegia, one has leaves spotted with silver colors, one is red tinted and the last is fresh green. Ceropegia is first and foremost a plant that makes itself noticed by the beautiful heart leaves, but it has flowers as well. The flowers are not overly conspicuous, but very charming and they look like small bells or lanterns.

The plant is very easy to keep by water. It only requires a small amount of water and likes to dry out between each watering. The most important thing is not to over water it. Here you have to remember the darker and cooler the place, the less water it needs. In a bathroom it might only need a shower once in a while. In the sommer it can be fertilized gently and in the winter time not at all.
The haert on strings can take much direct sunlight, but it can cope in some of the spaces further back in the room. As for temperatures the plant is very tolorant as well, As long as the temperature keeps above freezing.
Ceropegia originates from the eastern regions of Africa."