They grow outside too

Most sansevierias are frost-tender and do best indoors. A few, however, can survive outdoors in Southern California year-round. Half a dozen cultivars of sansevierias can be seen at Lotusland near Santa Barbara. At the Huntington Botanical Gardens in San Marino, desert collections curator John Trager recommends these for outside:S. cylindrica var. cylindrica: Cylindrical leaves grow to 5 feet. Green with darker rings. Planted along the main path by the Huntington’s Desert Conservatory in the shade of a Phoenix reclinata palm.

S. hallii: Also known as S. ‘Baseball Bat.’ Deeply grooved cylindrical leaves grow to 2 feet and are gray-green with thin lines and brown-to-white margins. Trager saw this one growing in dry shade under an oak tree in north San Diego County.

S. masoniana: Sometimes sold as ‘Mason Congo.’ Broad leaves grow 3 feet tall, gray-green with pale mottling and chestnut margins. It also can be seen along the path by the Desert Conservatory.

S. subspicata: The hardiest of the bunch, Trager says. Lance-shaped leaves are a foot long. Deep green and faintly bluish with white edges. An old patch grows under an African acacia in the Huntington’s Desert Garden rockery.

— Lili Singer