Peace Lily Spathiphyllum Sensation

Sensation is the large leaved peace lily, a clumping evergreen aroid whose deeply ribbed, dark green blades run several times the size of those on a common peace lily and are carried on long upright stalks. Grown well in a big pot it becomes a floor specimen rather than a table plant, which is why interior landscapers have leaned on it in foyers and lobbies for decades. Its job in a house or courtyard is filling a dim corner where light is too poor for most large foliage plants.

Light and watering a large peace lily

Shade to part shade is the brief, meaning bright indirect light indoors, or a sheltered courtyard, verandah or shadehouse in frost free areas. Direct sun bleaches and scorches the blades, and deep gloom simply stops it growing. Pot it into a good mix with bark or perlite through it so roots get air, stand the pot on feet if it lives outside, and keep it warm, since cold nights yellow the lower leaves. Water it moderately, which means a mix that stays damp and never sits in a full saucer.

The failure mode is running it on the wilt. Sensation collapses theatrically when dry and stands back up within hours of a soak, and it is tempting to use that flop as the watering signal. Every one of those cycles kills root tips and browns the leaf edges permanently, and brown edges never green up again. Water before it flops, tip the saucer out afterwards, and use rain or filtered water where the tap water is heavily chlorinated, because tip burn also comes from salts building up in the mix.

Sensation against the big aroids

The three shade plants here suit the same dim corner and fail in different ways. Xanadu spreads sideways into a low mounding clump and takes dry shade far better than Sensation ever will, so it is the pick for a planter that gets forgotten. Philodendron stenolobum is the architectural one, long dissected blades on ribbed stalks, and it needs floor space to lean into. Sensation is the upright, vase shaped, glossy option and the only one of the three that flowers reliably indoors. Choose it for a narrow corner where you want height without width. Others sit in the indoor range.

Wiping, cutting and feeding Sensation

Cut spent flowers and yellowing leaves out at the base of the stalk rather than trimming the blade, which leaves a stub. Sensation flowers less freely than the compact cultivars, so treat the white spathes as a bonus and buy it for foliage. Dust settles heavily on leaves this size and blocks light, so wipe them with a damp cloth every few weeks. Feed at half strength with a liquid fertiliser through the warm months and stop over winter. Repot in spring once roots circle the pot, and divide an overgrown clump at the same time, keeping several crowns on each piece. The sap irritates, so keep it away from pets that chew.

Choosing a size

This plant is available in 7 sizes, from 125mm up to 400mm, priced from $16.95 to $209.00 per plant. The size shown is the pot the plant arrives in, which is the rootball, not the height of the plant. The smaller pots hold younger plants that cost less each and establish quickly, which suits hedges, screens and mass planting where the plant count adds up. The larger sizes carry several more years of growth on the farm and give height and presence straight away, which is what you want for a single feature position or a screen that cannot wait. Not sure which to choose? Read our guide to when to plant in Australia.