You’ll notice from a great many photos of my house that I love houseplants. They breathe life into the home as well as sprinkle a bit of greenery indoors. Did you see my post about Staghorn ferns? Lots of people worry when it comes to plants, about how to take care of them. It’s relatively easy so long as you know what houseplant you have, and what it needs to survive. The two many things to worry about is light and moisture. It varies for all houseplants. Here are the houseplants I have in my home and what I love about them.
Easy houseplants
If you have been following my Insta stories, you would see I recently acquired this beauty! Zizi plants are virtually indestructible houseplants. So easy you only really need to water once every 2weeks. As for light, it isn’t fussy. Anything from a bright room to a space that barely gets direct light is fine. This particular version is called a Raven zizi plant, it has this wonderful black colouring to it. Mostly they come in a green colour. It’s a great option for those that travel or have a black thumb.
Philodendron
Philodendron are also know as cheese plants because of the splits in their leaves. Again another easy plant in terms of care. These will tolerate being dried out between watering. They are also tolerant of lower light, but will do best in bright indirect light. You can train these to climb if you needed a vertical plant for a space or you can leave it to grow wild and free like this one. This one moves between my outside porch in summer and comes inside when the weather turns colder. It will grow in the direction of light, so best to turn it every so often to get a well rounded plant.
Flowering
I find flowering plants a challenge in my house as it isn’t super bright. Flowering or fruiting houseplants require bright light as much as possible. This can be achevied by a large natural light source, like a large window or you would need to invest in a grow light. One flowering plant that I love is the African violet. They love to be watered from the bottom, they hate water on the leaves and they do need a bright indirect spot to flower.
This one lives on my desk, near two windows so gets a good amount of sunlight for most of the day. I typically water this more often than my other houseplants. The fun plant behind is a watermelon peperomia this can dry out between watering and likes a brighter spot in the house too. A perfect pairing!
Airplants
Airplants are easy peasy. They require a good amount of light and you need to water them once a week. To water you set them in a bowl of water for about 15 minutes. A sunny room would be perfect for these, although I’ve had success in slightly less sunnier spots. The fun thing is you can put them anywhere, they don’t require soil!
This next one although small can grow pretty big, it’s a rubber plant, otherwise know as ficus elastica. It’s a forgiving plant, and great if you forget to water it. It bounces back easily, but you should aim to water it once a week, or when dry. It likes well draining soil, so I actually pot mine in soil that is uses for succulents or cactus.
Fun plants
This fun looking plant is actually a type of begonia, this is also a flowering plant and prefers indirect but bright light inside. It will tolerate a little bit of drought but best to check it every few days in case it needs a drink. There are many different types of begonia, my favourite types are those with interesting leaves.
Last but not least if you need a trailing plant for your home what could be cuter than a string of hearts? Perfect for your valentine, this one is another super easy plant. I have mine close to a window, and I only water once a week.
Just remember that these are easy for me because I’m a guilty underwaterer and I have lower light in my house. Always ask questions and do some research on a plant before you bring it home. Your local garden centre can always offer you something that will suit!
