Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

They said it would never happen. Some even said it couldn't be done. But I've done it: I cleaned and replanted Nina's terrarium.

She got part of a strawberry as a house re-warming gift, though as far as I could tell she didn't actually eat any of it.
Gone is the Pellionia pulchra. It grew well, it handled drought like a champ, but it choked out everything else, and eventually started choking out itself, even. So behold the next crew:



1: Murraya paniculata (seedling)
2, 4, 6, and 7: Begonia 'Tiger Kitten' cutting (4) and rooted leaves (2, 6, 7)
3: Ctenanthe burle-marxii
5: Episcia 'Coco'

The Ctenanthe has lived with Nina before, and did awesomely; I'm less sure about the other plants. They should all be fine in a terrarium, but I don't know if they'll be fine with the transplanting (which was kind of rough on the Begonias in particular) or the inevitable cricket-nibbling. There's also some danger that the Episcia and Ctenanthe may grow fast enough to crowd out the other plants. It's not even a particularly hypothetical danger, since that's basically what the Ctenanthe did the last time it was in the terrarium.

But we'll worry about all that other stuff later: right now all I care about is that I actually got it cleaned up, after many months of procrastinating, and consequently should be able to enjoy several guilt-free months before I have to do it again. It's surprising how much of a load off my mind that is.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

Nina's in there somewhere.

I tried to get a Nina picture this week, but she wouldn't stay still long enough for me to get the camera ready, so the above is all we get. She really is in there somewhere, though.

Meanwhile, I did hear back from Merrifield Garden Center, regarding this post, but it was short: they understand my concern but "don't know anything about this." They did give me the number of their IT person to call, which I might do on Monday, but if I do: is there really anything useful I can tell him? I mean, in theory Merrifield should be able to stop the site from using their name and logo through legal means, but I don't know how that would work, since the site's registered to someone in the Netherlands. Surely there must be a government agency that deals with this sort of thing, right? And that's not really something the IT department would be dealing with anyway. So . . . any suggestions?

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

Yes, Nina is still around. I don't post about her a lot, both due to embarrassment over how water-spotted and overgrown her terrarium has gotten and because she just doesn't really do that much that needs documenting -- I mean, if you've seen one Nina photo then you've pretty much seen all of them. But yes, she's still here. I also still need to replant the terrarium (possibly without the Pellionia pulchra -- I'm happy that it's done so well in there, but it might be nice to have more than one species represented, too¹). Replanting is one of those things I think about every few months but never actually attempt, partly because I dread trying to catch Nina, partly because I can't decide what I want to plant in there instead.²

But in any event, Nina herself is doing fine. I think so, anyway. Not really sure what a lizard "acting out" would look like.

-

¹ There was a Fittonia in there at one time as well, but no longer: between being eaten by crickets, rebounding poorly from the inevitable droughts, and being outcompeted by the Pellionia, it faded away to nothing some time ago.
² I've spent a lot of time thinking about this, but never manage to come up with a plan. Most of the options are also problematic because they have the same advantages and drawbacks as Pellionia -- I have lots of material from which to start new plants, and I'm confident that they'd root, but they'd also quickly take over the terrarium, and then I'd be back in this position again.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

Had a minor Nina-related scare on Monday morning: I'd collected some crickets for Nina while outside with Sheba, because they're all just hanging around out there in the back yard and why not,¹ but then when I went to dump them into her terrarium, Nina was nowhere to be found. Which is unusual, early in the day -- she's almost always out in the open, "sunning" herself.

So I rattled the plants around a bit, hoping to see or hear her, but I didn't, and that went on long enough that I had actually convinced myself that she was probably dead, so I started cutting back the Pellionia to find the body. (I was less sad about this than you might think: I figure she's almost certainly outlived her natural life expectancy, and has had a relatively cushy, if spatially constricted, life for the last two and a half years, so even if it hasn't been everything she might have dreamed, I think I've still done right by Nina. At bare minimum, it has to beat death by pesticide or death by freezing, which were her two options if I hadn't brought her home.)


That went on for a really long time, but eventually I pulled back a branch and she bolted for the opposite side of the tank. So she's still alive. And now I have a bunch of Pellionia cuttings and have no idea what to do with them.

-

¹ I acknowledge that there are some reasons why using free-range crickets might be a bad idea (parasites, e.g.), but have decided those are risks I'm willing to take.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

I don't post pictures of her that often, mostly out of embarrassment at how water-spotted her walls have gotten, but Nina is still here, and is doing as well as she ever was, as far as I can tell. The Pellionia has more or less taken over the tank, being more drought-tolerant than the Fittonia (though the Fittonia is still in there, which is good, because the cuttings I tried to take have failed, after malingering for months in the basement). I intend to replant the tank at some point, but you know how it is. It's never an emergency, and it's never my most entertaining option when I'm looking for something to do, so on the rare occasions when I think about it, I still don't wind up doing it.

Not that she seems to mind. I suspect she might actually prefer it this way, actually: the crickets are harder to find, but it's much easier for her to hide, when she wants to hide.

Sheba gets a bordetella shot on Monday, which is about all the news there is for her.

Sadly, I've discovered that the anti-vaccine people are opposing vaccines for dogs, too, though in this case it appears not to be about fears of autism (can dogs even be autistic?) as it is about selling people a specific brand of (I assume) high-priced dog food. No doubt this will do the same thing for pet dogs that it's done for children, i.e., result in more cases of completely preventable illness and death, while enriching the anti-vaxers.

*sigh*

As cynical and misanthropic as I try to be, I somehow never quite manage to be cynical and misanthropic enough.

List: Plants for Terrariums

(Happy Valentine's Day, if applicable.)

This is an odd category to build a list around, because "terrariums," actually, is sort of hard to define. I usually assume, when I hear "terrarium," that we're talking about an enclosed glass container, no bigger than a couple feet in any direction, that's being used to grow moisture-loving plants, but of course there are also extremely large terrariums, terrariums that fit inside an incandescent light bulb, open-topped terrariums, desert terrariums, unplanted terrariums which house animals, etc.

So if you want to get technical about it, there's no plant that couldn't be grown in some kind of terrarium if one is sufficiently flexible about the definition, so the list of "plants for terrariums" equals every plant that exists. Which is an easy answer, but not particularly satisfying.

So what I'm assuming with this list is that we're talking about: an enclosed glass container, no bigger than a couple feet in any direction, that's being used to grow moisture-loving plants. Which means that we're looking for plants that like humidity and moist soil, which grow slowly, and don't need full sun. (Full sun is fine, except that it also comes with quite a bit of heat, and since there's nowhere for heat to escape in an enclosed terrarium, sooner or later an enclosed terrarium in full sun will cook itself to death.)

Which is still a pretty long list, it turns out.

Calathea makoyana. Some Calatheas can get to be large (to at least two feet / 61 cm in diameter) quickly, especially in a terrarium, and large Calathea leaves can block most of the light from reaching plants underneath them, but it's a lot easier to grow a Calathea under glass than it is to grow one on a windowsill.

Cryptanthus NOID. Some varieties can get to be pretty large, but most of the ones I've seen top out at about six inches across (15 cm), and they don't spread like some of the choices on this list will.

Episcia 'Coco.' Happy Episcias will produce plantlets on runners, which should root when they contact the soil (you may need to pin them down gently first, so they're firmly in contact), so they do spread a little, but they stay short.

Fittonia albibenis cvv. are fast-growing, spreading plants. The small-leaved varieties stay very short, while the varieties with larger leaves reach about six inches (15 cm) tall and then bend over under their own weight. The stems root when they touch soil, so over time they'll expand.

Hemigraphis exotica. Can get to be twelve inches (30 cm) tall in good conditions, though usually they're shorter than that.

Hemionitis arifolia. Also to about 12 in / 30 cm tall and about as wide. Mature plants will produce plantlets where the petiole joins the leaf; I'm not sure if they'll bend over and root on their own, or if they have to be helped, but either way, allow a lot of space.

Pellionia pulchra. Fast-growing, aggressive trailing plant in a terrarium. Stays short, but the stems need to be cut back periodically.

Peperomia argyreia. Another somewhat mounding plant that needs about 12 in / 30 cm in height and diameter.

Saintpaulia 'Harmony's Red Star.' I don't know about this variety specifically, but there are many, many Saintpaulia varieties, including miniatures (under 6 in / 15 cm in diameter). (Most get to be larger.) All grow well in terrarium culture, and stay relatively short. Spent flowers do need to be removed regularly, so this may not be the plant for you if you want to plant your terrarium in a narrow-necked bottle.

Soleirolia soleirolii, chartreuse cv. This is another low, mat-forming ground cover. Plants stay short but will spread fairly quickly if not cut back.
Recommends and anti-recommends are more or less pointless here, because what's going to work for you depends on the size of terrarium in question and what you want it to do. If you're interested in planting a terrarium, find out how big the plants you're thinking about including will get before you plant them. You should also try to find out how fast they'll grow: some people like having to get in and prune back the plants every so often, and some people don't.

A few of these plants will also need a more specialized growing medium than ordinary bagged potting mix. Most orchids would like the conditions in a terrarium just fine, but need to be planted in bark instead of potting mix, so I left them off the list.

Not pictured:

• Adiantum capillus-veneris (maidenhair fern)
  
• Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plants, goldfish plants)
  
• Asplenium antiquum (birds-nest fern)
  
• Asplenium 'Austral Gem'
• Asplenium nidus (birds-nest fern)
  
• Begonia rex-cultorum cvv. and small rhizomatous Begonias. I personally wouldn't try to grow a rex begonia outside of a terrarium.
  
• Blechnum brasiliense (tree fern) and other tree ferns
  
• Most Calathea spp. are suitable, at least when younger
  
• Chamaedorea elegans (parlor palm)
  
• Codiaeum variegatum cvv.
• Columnea cvv.
• Cryptbergia cvv.
• Cyanotis kewensis (teddy bear vine)
• Cyrtomium falcatum (holly fern)
• Davallia spp. (rabbit's-foot fern)
  
• Didymochlaena truncatula (mahogany fern)
• Dionaea muscipula (venus flytrap), though they have fairly specific temperature and water-quality needs which won't necessarily mesh with other plant species
• Epipremnum aureum (pothos)
• Ficus pumila (creeping fig)
  
• Some of the smaller Guzmania cvv.
• Hypoestes phyllostachya (polka-dot plant)
• Ludisia discolor (jewel orchid) and the other jewel orchids like Macodes and Goodyera spp.
  
• Maranta leuconeura cvv. (prayer plant)
• Nematanthus cvv. (guppy plant)
• Some of the smaller Neoregelia cvv.
• Nephrolepis exaltata cvv. (Boston fern)
• Pellaea rotundifolia (button fern)
• Peperomia caperata
• Peperomia clusiifolia
• Peperomia glabella
  
• Peperomia griseo-argentea
• Peperomia obtusifolia cvv. (baby rubber plant)
  
• Peperomia orba
• Peperomia verschaffeltii
• Some self-heading Philodendron hybrids, especially 'Autumn,' 'Moonlight,' and 'Prince of Orange'
• Philodendron brandtianum
• Philodendron hederaceum cvv. (heart-leaf philodendron)
  
• Pilea cadierei (aluminum plant)
  
• Pilea depressa (baby toes)
  
• Pilea involucrata cvv. (friendship plant)
  
• Pilea microphylla
  
• Pilea mollis 'Moon Valley'
• Pilea nummularifolia
• Pilea peperomioides? (Chinese money plant, missionary plant)
  
• Plectranthus oertendahlii?
• Podocarpus macrophyllus (Buddhist pine)
  
• Polypodium formosanum
• Polypodium grandiceps (elkhorn fern)
• Polyscias fruticosa cvv. (ming aralia, parsley aralia)
• Pteris cretica cvv. (table fern, Cretan brake)
• Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia)
• It seems to me like Schlumbergera cvv. (Christmas cactus, holiday cactus) ought to work, though I can't say I've seen it attempted much.
• Scindapsus pictus (silver pothos)
• Scyphularia pycnocarpa (possum tail fern)
• Selaginella spp. (spikemoss)
• Miniature Sinningia cvv. (gloxinia)
• Smaller Spathiphyllum cvv. (peace lily)
• Streptocapus saxorum (streptocarpella)
• Streptocarpus cvv. (cape primrose)
• Stromanthe spp.
• Syngonium podophyllum (arrowhead vine)
  
• Syngonium wendlandii
  
• Tillandsia cyanea and other Tillandsia spp. (pink quill, air plants)
  
• Tolmiea menziesii (piggyback plant)
  
• Tradescantia spathacea? (moses in the cradle, oyster plant)
  
• Vanilla planifolia? (vanilla orchid)
• Small Vriesea cvv.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

It's Nina's turn this week, and I was going to get a brand-new picture of her, just . . . I don't know, just because I was -- but when I first put the camera in the terrarium, she hid. And she was really, really good at hiding, too, because the Pellionia has done such a thorough job of climbing over everything that the actual soil in there is pretty much hidden from view. Plus her coloration is sort of camouflage all by itself. So this is the best I could do for a current Nina picture:

She's under there somewhere.
Since Nina is unable to fulfill her duties this week, Sheba will be filling in.


When Sheba first got here, almost a year ago, right away she wanted to jump up on the couch. And right away we told her no. And that was pretty much that, for a while. She wasn't supposed to be on the couch, and she understood that. (She did forget herself occasionally. I'd be in the office and hear her jump up on the couch and then back down again immediately. I don't recall ever having to tell her to get down, it was that fast.)

But I decided that I kind of wanted her on the couch, when we watched TV, because . . . I don't know. We'd be up there, and she'd be on the floor, and -- the floor seemed so very far away. So we had to re-explain the couch policy, which she likewise understood almost immediately. It's turned out well: I like having the three of us together, the husband doesn't have a problem with it, everybody's happy. Sheba seems to have concluded that we've given the couch to her, though, so that's where she sits, most of the day. She'll still allow us to use it at night, though.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

Things appear to be getting more or less back to normal for me, following the Times article, which is sort of a relief and sort of not. I mean, overall it was a good thing, but I was running pretty close to having all of my time spoken for already, before this all happened, and now there's that much more e-mail to deal with. So: if I owe you e-mail, I am most likely aware of it, and working on a reply, but . . . all of our operators are currently busy assisting other customers; please stay on the line; we value your business. [Muzak version of "Conga," by Miami Sound Machine, resumes playing]

Meanwhile, this week's Sheba and/or Nina picture is an older one, from Nina's terrarium-cleaning this summer. She was doing something really adorable on Wednesday night (sleeping on a Vriesea leaf, tail curled up, eyes closed), but I couldn't get a picture of that -- there's not enough light in my office once the timer shuts off Nina's light, and of course if I turned on a light to get the picture, I'd just wake her up and wouldn't get the shot anyway -- so I'm sorry.


Also, it's soon going to be time to do something about the Pellionia, which has, amazingly, nearly covered the floor of the terrarium and is working on crawling up parts of the walls as well. I am, frankly, amazed at the difference between growing it in the terrarium and growing it in a pot in the living room: when it likes where it is, it's very fast. Fittonia fans will be relieved to know that the Fittonia is holding its own.

Saturday morning Sheba and/or Nina picture

On Wednesday this week, I happened to look over at the terrarium and saw Nina doing something I've never seen before: she was hanging on the wall, like she does, but for some reason she wasn't staying stuck. Instead, she was slowly sliding down the wall while at the same time walking back up it, so she wound up walking in place, at a 90-degree angle. (Surely I'm not the only one here who's felt like that.)

She didn't do it for very long before jumping to the ground, but still -- it's been so long since I saw her doing anything new that I was pretty amused by it.

No idea why she would have been sliding in the first place; ordinarily she sticks just fine. Maybe she's dirty? Or the wall is? Or she's too clean? She did just shed her skin recently.


In other Nina-related news, her new plants are filling in surprisingly fast. The Pellionia pulchra is particularly surprising me; it'd gotten along in the living room just fine for a long while, not really growing a lot, but not dying back or complaining either, so I thought maybe they just aren't fast growers. But it turns out that the drier air, or drier soil, or small pot, or something was clearly restraining it, because since I planted those in there, they've been growing like gangbusters.

If gangbusters was a small, fast-growing, trailing plant.

Compare the original shot right after the plants were put in --


-- to the situation now, only about six weeks later. The Peperomia caperata's not so happy (are they ever?), and the Fittonia seems to still be getting accustomed to the new place: it's filled in a little, though not as much as I'd expected, but the Pellionia's everywhere. And such big new leaves in some places, too! I'd liked Pellionia already, but now I really like it.


In other other Nina-related news, she bit me yesterday. Granted, I was chasing her around the terrarium, trying to herd her into a more photographable location, so I was being rude.

Didn't hurt. Pretty sure she doesn't have teeth. I've met scarier clothespins. But still: bit me.

[Exceptionally] Pretty pictures: transmitted light -- Part XXVI

I just started a new round of plant-watering on Monday, so I'm having some trouble keeping up with the blog, but times like this are why I save up these pictures. This particular round is about evenly split: half of them are, I think, pretty good, and the other half were kind of disappointing. But a couple of the good ones are really really good. So.

(The previous transmitted light posts can be found here.)

Cissus rotundifolia. Okay, so it's not that interesting, but it's a thick leaf. Only so much I can do.

Euphorbia milii NOID. The leaves on these are so small that I'm actually kind of surprised I managed to get this much detail.

Anthurium crystallinum 'Mehani.' This seemed to work out pretty nicely. It's at least sort of a dramatic image. Incidentally, my 'Mehani' is blooming again. The flowers are still not pretty, though.

Cyanotis kewensis. Meh. Though you can see the family resemblance to Tradescantia pallida. Or at least I can.

Haworthia sp., tagged as H. comptoniana but might be H. tesselata or some other Haworthia species. The plant had to be tossed, unfortunately, due to mealybugs. I'm hoping to have the chance to try again.

Pellionia pulchra. Still haven't quite nailed this one: the leaves are both small and thick, so it's going to be a challenge to get right. Someday, though.

Cryptanthus 'Elaine.' This isn't what I was expecting it to look like; I thought the banding (vertical in this picture) would show up more prominently. Instead it's kind of a muddy mess. Oh well.

Cordyline fruticosa 'Kiwi.' Cordyline fruticosa can pretty much always be relied on for a nice transmitted light picture.

Solenostemon scutellarioides 'Splish Splash.' I'm extremely proud of this.

Dieffenbachia 'Tropic Rain.' I think this went pretty well too, though it lacks the drama of the 'Splish Splash.'

List: Houseplants With Totally or Mostly Black Leaves

I don't think there are actually any plants that are genuinely black black, but quite a few of them can come close, usually as very dark greens, reds, or purples.
There are also a couple very dark grays out there, but they're few and far.

As a group, these don't photograph terribly well. Too much light and they no longer look black; too little light and you can't see them against a dark background.

As always, I am aware that I've left things out, because there's no way not to. So I'm open to suggestions if anybody wants to leave some.

Alocasia 'Polly.' (African mask plant) More of a really dark gray-purple than a black.

Alworthia 'Black Gem.' I know it doesn't look like it in this photo. That's because it's not. Grown in bright light, though, this will turn a very dark green-black.

Begonia rex-cultorum 'Harmony's Red Robin,' and other Begonia cvv. to greater or lesser degrees. This is not a good example, since the leaves are mostly red, but the solid-color, darker plant I have, which is 'Texas Coffee Star,' 'Gladys Meyer,' 'Black Coffee,' or something like that, photographs weirdly.

Calathea NOID, possibly 'Medallion.' Also some other Calathea cvv. Usually just very dark green, though the leaves usually have a red or purple back to them which makes them look a little darker.

Ficus elastica 'Burgundy.' (rubber plant) The exact color depends on how the light hits it and growing conditions, but this is also a very good approximation of black.

Ludisia discolor. (jewel orchid; Ludisia discolor) Very dark red.

Ophiopogon planiscapus 'Niger.' (black mondo grass) Very dark green. Not much of a houseplant, really: it doesn't do a lot indoors. But it can be grown there. And it's very, very dark. So.

Pellionia pulchra. (watermelon plant) Very dark gray with even darker veins. This picture makes it look greener than it appears under normal circumstances.

Schefflera (Dizygotheca) elegantissima (false aralia) I still prefer calling it Dizygotheca, partly because it seems more appropriate for a plant with such dark green leaves to have a name containing the word "goth."

Zingiber malaysianum. (midnight ginger) Very dark red, sometimes verging on dark orange. Older leaves may be more green than red, especially in lower light.

If I had to choose just three, Alworthia 'Black Gem' would definitely make the cut, as would Zingiber malaysianum and probably Schefflera elegantissima. Though there are others in the above list I like, too. Alworthia 'Black Gem' is definitely the easiest of the above, and it self-propagates well, which are both endearing qualities as far as I'm concerned. Zingiber malaysianum is much harder (somewhere around a 6.1 on the difficulty scale), but the color of the leaves is fun (especially when light is shining from behind them), and the plant also has a light, spicy, gingery scent, which is only appropriate since it's a ginger.

Schefflera elegantissima, which I am still calling Dizygotheca in my head, is also kind of a pain, mostly with regard to pests, but the color and shape are either unique or very uncommon, and at least one of my plants is growing very well for me. (I had three others at one point in the past, which did not.)

Not pictured:

• Aechmea 'Black Chantinii'
• Aeonium 'Zwartkop'
• Alocasia 'Frydek?'
• Aloe variegata (in bright light)
• Anoectochilus chapaensis (jewel orchid) (strongly resembles Ludisia discolor)
• Anoectochilus formosanus (Taiwan jewel orchid)
• Anthurium x 'Marie'
• Aphelandra squarrosa (zebra plant)
• Codiaeum variegatum, some cvv. (croton)
• Colocasia cvv., some cvv. (elephant ear)
• Cordyline fruticosa, some cvv. (ti plant)
• Cryptanthus cvv. (some cvv. like 'Black Mystic')
• Cyclopogon elatus (jewel orchid) (strongly resembles Tradescantia zebrina in the davesgarden photo)
• Dossinodes Indra's Net (jewel orchid)
• some Episcia varieties (flame violet) have dark gray or brown leaves
• Ficus benjamina 'Midnight' ('Midnight' ficus tree)
• Ficus microcarpa (at least some cvv.; the one I have cuttings of is very very dark, except for new growth)
• Goodyera reticulata (jewel orchid)
• Haworthia attenuata (zebra plant)
• Haworthia limiifolia var. limiifolia (fairy washboard)
• Haworthia pumila
• Macodes petola (jewel orchid)
• Maranta leuconeura 'Marisela,' other M. l. cvv. to some degree or another (prayer plant)
• Nematanthus cvv., some cvv. (guppy plant)
• Neoregelia cvv., some cvv.
• Peperomia caperata, some cvv. (Emerald Ripple, ripple peperomia)
• Philodendron 'Black Cardinal'
• Philodendron 'Imperial Red'
• Philodendron 'Pink Princess'
• Pilea involucrata 'Norfolk'
• Pilea 'Silver Tree'
• Sansevieria trifasciata, some cvv. (snake plant, mother-in-law's tongue)
• Solenostemon scutellarioides, some cvv. (coleus)
• Syngonium wendlandii?
• Tradescantia zebrina (wandering Jew)
• Vriesea ospinae var. gruberi
• Vriesea splendens (flaming sword)

List: Houseplants Which Trail But (Mostly) Don't Climb

The line here is a bit arbitrary, but sometimes you want a plant that's going to just lay there, and sometimes you want a plant that's going to climb up things. This list is for the plants that are just going to lay there. A lot of these are used as hanging-basket plants.

A few of these plants will climb to some degree if they're being grown outside (some, like Ficus pumila, are downright obnoxious about it), but indoors, you generally have to provide them something to climb and then anchor the stems with some kind of plant tie at regular intervals, or make them some kind of constantly-moist support, or some other impractical thing like that. Most of the plants in this list won't climb particularly well even with assistance, and can be relied on not to get any crazy ideas about running themselves up your curtains. Your mileage may vary, of course.

This is an even less comprehensive list than usual, because the number of plants with this basic growth habit is practically never-ending. I'll add suggestions as people are moved to leave them in comments.

Note: this list was done by request for Joseph Tychonievitch of Greensparrow Gardens, who asked. I don't promise to take all list requests (some lists just can't be done as easily as others), and anybody who wants one is going to have to take a number and wait anyway, because Joseph asked for FOUR of them, but I'm more or less open to doing posts by request, in theory. Just so you're aware.

Aechynanthus speciosus, (goldfish plant) and other Aeschynanthus spp. (lipstick plant)

Cyanotis kewensis (teddy bear vine)

Dischidia ruscifolia (million hearts)

Epipremnum aureum 'Neon,' and other Epipremnum aureum cvv. (pothos)

Gynura aurantiaca (purple passion plant, purple passion vine)

Hedera canariensis 'Gloire de Marengo' (Algerian ivy)

Maranta leuconeura 'Marisela,' and other Maranta leuconeura cvv. (prayer plant)

Pellionia pulchra

Pilea depressa (baby toes)

Senecio rowleyanus (string of beads, string of pearls)
EDIT: Whoops. I published this without adding any commentary on the pictured plants.

I guess my three favorites from the above list are probably Aeschynanthus spp., Gynura aurantiaca, and Pellionia pulchra, with Cyanotis kewensis serving as first alternate.

This is partially process of elimination, because I've had moderately bad experiences with a lot of the other plants on the list, either from bugs (Maranta, Hedera), rot (Epipremnum), or decline from unknown causes (Pilea, Senecio). And I've never actually owned a Dischidia.

Not pictured:

Callisia fragrans (basket plant)
Ceropegia woodii (string of hearts)
Chlorophytum comosum (spider plant, airplane plant, mala madre)
Cissus rhombifolia (grape ivy; oakleaf ivy) (will climb a little)
Cissus rotundifolia (Peruvian grape ivy) (will climb a little)
Codonanthe spp.
Columnea cvv.
Crassula muscosa (= C. lycopodioides) (watch-chain crassula)
Davallia spp. (rabbit's-foot ferns)
Dischidia nummularia ("button orchid," says davesgarden.com, though it's not an orchid)
Episcia cvv. (flame violet)
Ficus pumila (climbing fig) (will climb a little)
Fittonia albivenis (nerve plant)
Hedera helix (English ivy) (will climb a little)
Hoya carnosa (will climb a little)
Hoya lacunosa (will climb a little)
Hoya kentiana (will climb a little)
Hoya kerrii (sweetheart hoya) (will climb a little)
Hoya pubicalyx (will climb a little)
Ludisia discolor (jewel orchid) (Also other "jewel orchids" like Goodyera, Anoectochilus, Macodes, etc., though those are a lot harder to find.)
Monstera adansonii (swiss cheese philodendron) (will climb a little)
Monstera deliciosa (split-leaf philodendron, swiss cheese philodendron) (will climb a little)
Nematanthus gregarius (guppy plant)
Neoregelia 'Fireball'
Philodendron gloriosum
Philodendron bipennifolium (horse-head philodendron) (will climb a little)
Philodendron erubescens 'Red Emerald' (will climb a little)
Philodendron hastatum (will climb a little)
Philodendron hederaceum (heart-leaf philodendron) (will climb a little)
Phlebodium aureum 'Mandianum' (bear's paw fern)
Pilea nummulariifolia (creeping charlie)
Plectranthus ciliatus
Plectranthus verticillatus (Swedish ivy)
Plectranthus oertendahlii
Polypodium formosanum 'Cristatum' (E.T. fern)
Pseudorhipsalis ramulosa
Rhipsalis spp. (mistletoe cactus)
Saxifraga stolonifera (strawberry begonia)
Schlumbergera truncata cvv. (holiday cactus, Thanksgiving cactus, Christmas cactus)
Scindapsus pictus (satin pothos) (will climb a little)
Scyphularia pycnocarpa (possum tail fern)
Sedum burrito (burro's tail)
Sedum morganianum (also burro's tail)
Senecio jacobsenii (trailing jade)
Senecio radicans (string of bananas)
Soleirolia soleirolii (baby tears)
A few cvv. of Solenostemon scutellarioides (coleus)
Stapelia spp. (carrion flower)
Stephanotis floribunda (Madagascar jasmine) (will climb a little)
Streptocarpus saxorum cvv. (streptocarpella)
Syngonium podophyllum (arrowhead vine) (will climb a little)
Syngonium wendlandii
Tolmiea menziesii (piggyback plant)
Tradescantia fluminensis
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart, purple queen)
Tradescantia sillamontana (kitten ears)
Tradescantia zebrina (wandering Jew)