Bold upright foliage from desk-sized to floor-sized, hand delivered same day in Brisbane
New leaves open burgundy, darkening as they mature
Broad, high-gloss leaves on short stalks, layered out from a central crown so the plant spreads wide rather than tall. New growth comes up wine dark and settles towards deep green, so an established plant carries both at once.
Long, glossy leaves on a plant that keeps widening
Leaves long enough and glossy enough to read as furniture, carried on a low, spreading frame that keeps widening as it matures. It fills a floor corner on its own, with no pole or trellis behind it.
Cream pinstripes on deep green, compact and upright
Every new leaf opens with its own run of cream pinstripes, so no two are quite the same. Compact enough to hold a shelf or a desk without taking the room over.
Four cultivars, and they fall into two groups. Birkin is the compact one, sized for a desk or a shelf. Imperial Red, Imperial Green and Congo Green are the large-leaved ones that hold a floor corner. All four are self-heading, so none of them needs a pole.
A philodendron is the pick for someone furnishing a new place, or for anyone who wants a plant that looks established the day it lands rather than in two years. Nothing here is a slow grower and nothing here is fussy, which takes the pressure off a recipient who has never kept a plant alive.
The large ones do the most work in an empty room, so Imperial Red, Imperial Green and Congo Green make an obvious housewarming plant gift for a new house or a first apartment. Birkin is the better birthday plant gift, because it fits on a desk that already has things on it. Either size works as a thank you plant for a colleague or a neighbour.
Yes. Philodendron sits in the Araceae family and the sap carries calcium oxalate crystals, so a cat or a dog that chews a leaf can end up drooling, pawing at its mouth and off its food for a while. It stings rather than poisons, but it's reason enough to send something else to a household where the animals treat foliage as a snack.
Three swaps, all non-toxic to cats and dogs. Calathea keeps the same big-leaf look with patterning and purple undersides. Peperomia obtusifolia is smaller and thick-leaved, close to a succulent in feel and very hard to kill. Fittonia plants bring colour instead of scale, with pink or white veining across a low, spreading plant. If you don't know the household well, ask before you order.
Every philodendron on this page grows upright from a central crown, pushing its leaves out in a rosette rather than running out along a vine. That's what self-heading means, and it's the practical reason to choose one: no pole, no trellis, no pinning growth back to a support, and no bare patch behind the plant where the vine has moved on.
It's worth knowing because it isn't what most people picture. The famous philodendron are the vining ones, heartleaf and Brasil, which trail off a shelf or climb whatever you give them. Those are a different plant to live with. If trailing is what you're after, a pothos plant or a syngonium does that job properly, and a self-heading philodendron does not.
Medium to bright indirect light, and no direct sun on the leaves. Let the top of the soil dry out between watering rather than keeping it damp, then water thoroughly and tip out the saucer, because sitting wet is the one thing that will kill it. Keep it in a warm room out of the way of air-con vents. The leaves are broad and glossy enough to show dust, so wipe them over now and then and the gloss comes straight back.
Overwatering, nearly every time. A yellow leaf that goes soft rather than crisp, usually low down on the plant, means the roots have been sitting wet for too long. Let the top few centimetres of mix dry before the next water, check the pot is draining, and stop leaving water in the saucer. The odd yellow leaf on an otherwise healthy plant is just an old one going over.
Around a metre across in a 200mm pot, over a few years. It spreads rather than climbs, so the number that matters is width, not height. Give it floor space away from a walkway and it fills out into a low mound. The leaves get larger as the plant matures, which is why an established Imperial Red looks like a different plant to a young one.
Here's the short version of what the genus wants and where it comes from.
Choose a pot on the product page before you check out, along with any giftware or a greeting card. Our indoor plant pots range covers the 140mm and 200mm sizes a philodendron comes in, so the gift is finished the moment it lands. The card message is one you write yourself at checkout.
Order before 12pm on a weekday, or before 10am on Saturday, and your philodendron goes out the same day. Our own couriers start their run in the early afternoon, and we aim to have homes delivered by 6pm and business addresses by 5pm, Monday to Saturday. Delivery is a flat $19.95 and there's no Sunday run. Check the address against the suburbs on our Brisbane delivery areas page before you order. We run the inner east through to the bayside and the Redlands, so a philodendron can land in Kangaroo Point, Carina or Birkdale on the same day you order it.
Delivered by our own couriers
Flat $19.95 delivery
Gift wrapped as standard
Same day before 12pm
