For my 50th birthday, my wife and I had planned a family trip to London and Paris. We booked the flights, reserved Airbnbs for all six of us, and dreamed of exploring two iconic cities together. But then COVID struck, and like so many plans, ours collapsed. We recovered the airfare but lost the reservations, and the trip was put on hold.
Five years later, we finally made it—for Marisa’s 50th birthday. The wait was worth it. Paris was alive with the French Open, and our first night there we found ourselves in a cozy corner restaurant watching the Champions League final. PSG defeated Inter Milan 5–0, and we cheered alongside locals, swept up in the celebration.
Both London and Paris amazed us in their own ways. The gardens at St. James’s Park and the Champ de Mars were every bit as beautiful as expected. But what surprised me most had nothing to do with tennis or soccer—it was the plants.
While walking the streets of London, I stopped in my tracks when I spotted nandina ‘Twilight’ growing in a hotel planter. That alone was exciting, since nandinas are what Magnolia Gardens is known for—we currently hold four patents on them. But the biggest surprise came in Paris: through the glass wall of an office building, I saw a nandina ‘Gulfstream’ thriving indoors. A nandina, as a houseplant!
Until that moment, I had only thought of nandinas as outdoor landscape plants. But seeing one healthy and vibrant inside an office made me wonder: have we been overlooking a whole new use for this versatile, low-maintenance shrub?
Back home, curiosity got the best of us. We potted several nandina varieties in decorative containers and placed them in our office and home. It’s too early to judge performance, but I must say I’m especially drawn to nandina ‘Compacta’, with its scattered branches and small, multicolored leaves. Time will tell which varieties thrive indoors, but the early signs are promising.
We’d love to hear from you: have you tried growing nandinas indoors? Have you spotted them as houseplants in the U.S. or abroad? Share your experience—we may just be uncovering the next big chapter for nandinas, not just in the landscape, but in the living room.
