Happy New Year! I hope everyone had a safe and wonderful New Year! It’s a new year, and a new perspective on life! I am happy to say that I have already checked a few things off my list that I told myself I was going to do this year. One of those things includes a renewed sense of appreciation for fine art pieces:

My daughter’s picture of a kitty brightens my days in the cubicle…

Anyway, I am posting a day early because I will be going out-of-town to my parents tomorrow to FINALLY celebrate Christmas. With my daughter sick last week, and the weather horrible today, we had to scratch plans until tomorrow. And something tells me my work schedule is going to pick up pretty quickly this first week back, so, again, I am prioritizing.

I have spent more time inside than I have wanted to this past week. The weather has been so awful (bitter cold, wind, snow), I haven’t even entertained the thought of taking my workout outside. So, this has allowed me to prepare for my post this week on common houseplants! In fact, I watered them all today, and already have a couple of more in mind I would like to purchase.

With that being said, here are some common houseplants I have in my home that would be good for you.

1. Snake Plant— the snake plant is the best plant for forgetful people. It’s part of the succulent family and tolerates neglect. Snake plants love to be left alone. I water mine about once every two weeks. It doesn’t need a lot of light or water, and it grows just as well.

2. Green Dracaena— can be recognized with white stripes on their leaves. They grow upright and need medium to bright light. I water mine once a week, and even a little more during the winter months. I purchased mine at a home improvement store and it done very well for me.

3. Pothos— This is probably the easiest to recognize.  They have this beautiful marbled look on their leaves. I have about three of these. I have purchased all of them from my local grocery store. It’s a vine that is extremely low maintenance. There is no such thing as too little or too much light for this vine, it grows in any lighting condition you give it. I have had one of mine for at least 6 years, and in the early years when watering my plants was not high on my to-do list, my pathos weathered that ugly time and have flourished for me.

4. Philodendron — I also have a few of these, and they have a tendency to get confused with the above pathos. They too, are not fussy about light, and will grow through neglectful times. The philodendron has heart-shaped leaves, and my one also happens to be very long– about four feet. They are the number one most common plants in any indoor gardening setup.

 

5. Peace Lily — This was the first plant I got when we moved into our house. It’s been in my bedroom ever since. The Peace Lily gets these beautiful white flowers on them about once a year, and they too, are very tolerant of low light and low humidity.

6. Ivy— I believe this is English Ivy, but I have to still research it. This is actually part of the Ivy that grows outside. I took a shoot off two years ago and put it in water in the house. It has grown very well, surprisingly. Because the last time I purchased an Ivy, it died right away. Again, I was younger and didn’t pay much attention to my plants, so this could very well be the reason why it failed for me. Boston Ivies are the more common indoor Ivies, and they are hard to keep going, in my opinion. I still have to figure out how to keep them alive!

Some other plants to consider:

*Corn Plant— they resemble a corn-stalk and are very tolerant as well. I actually have one of these, but I didn’t get a chance to photograph it. They can take a beating and still keep going!

*Jade Plant— I really want a Jade Plant. They look very unique and grow very slowly into a tree. They love bright light!

There are still many other indoor plants that you can choose, but I just wanted to list the ones that are very common and easy to maintain. I also have some other interesting houseplants that I will talk about in a later post. For now, you have a good foundation on the basics of houseplants, the ones that are the easiest to find, and what will be good for you and your home!