Some of My Favorite House Plants

Spider plant in a company of ivy and African violet

Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum) is the one house plant that more than deserves a name "timeless classic." It's always fun to have around. It was just as popular house plant decades ago - as it still is today.

It survives the most persistent neglect. Even more - it thrives on neglect! According to NASA, the spider plant is one of the best indoor air cleaning plants.

According to another article I found in St. Pete Times recently, Chlorophytum comosum is one of the plants that are almost impossible to kill - and therefore highly recommended for all those who think they were born with brown to black thumb...

In my childhood memories, I can still clearly see that big, bushy, bright green spider plant in the living room. Always looking good, growing incredibly fast countless spider plant babies.

Those baby plantlets, sprouting from the long stems of a mother plant, can be cut and planted as summer groundcovers outdoors, or plant them in pots or hanging baskets - indoor year round, outdoor for the summer.

I even plant them into the chipped mugs and cups without drainage. As long as they are kept on the dry side, they happily grow and enliven any place that is not exposed to full sun.

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Pothos (Epipremnum aureum) house plant

Pothos is one of the very special house plants. Because its cuttings will survive in the water for years! All you need to do is change the water in the vase once in a while and rinse the stems.

To make the cuttings arrangement look spectacular, arrange the pothos cuttings in a classy looking bottle and there's a year-round evergreen centerpiece for you to enjoy, any place you choose to put it. No green thumb or soil required!

Creative house plant cuttings arrangement: Pothos plant in a vase with white rocks

Outdoors or in, pothos plant seems to be happy with some light and water. If you place it in full sun it will still grow, yet it's leaves will not look quite as perfect. The most exposed ones will dry off quickly.

Pothos can also be grown as a ground cover, in pots or hanging baskets. I found it perfect for training its thick, fast growing vine stems around the walls of the screened-in patio. In growing Zone 9b my Epipremnum aureum was happy outdoors 365 days of the year.

When I was a little girl I frequently noteda tiny drop of water at the end of our giant monstera plant. They looked like tears to me. One of the green-thumbed adults explained to me that only the happy house plants produce that sparkling drop at the tip of their leaves.

Since then, I've been carefully looking for those tears of happiness, glistening from the tips of house plants and outdoor plants. Every time i spot one, I have to smile. Happiness seems to be contagious... :)

Pothos plant leaf with a "tear of happiness"

Pothos plants come with green or variegated (green with white or green with yellow) leaves. It can take a lot of neglect and according to NASA, the pothos plant is another house plant that made it to the top of the list of of the best indoor air cleaning plants.

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Coleus house plants come in large variety of bright colors

One of the brightest, most versatile, easy to propagate house plants is Coleus. It grows fast and bushy - and brightens up any spot in shade, indirect light or partial shade.

Coleus is mostly grown for its foliage. A tender perennial, grown as an annual stays nicer for the longest time when you keep pinching the flower spikes away - as soon as they appear. Pinching prevents coleus plant from producing seeds (and dying) - and from leggy growth. Every time the tip growth gets removed, this plant's energy will be diverted to the lateral side growth and much bushier plant overall.

In my childhood home, we used to call coleus "decorative nettle." I just found out that coleus is also known under the common name "painted nettle." The shape of coleus plant leaves and the whole plant looks very much like  herbaceous perennial flowering plant called Stinging Nettle (Urtica dioica) which is famous for its long medicinal history.

Coleus does great in containers, placed in shady spots. When its leaves are exposed to direct sun for too long, the foliage colors will not be as bright and the leaves tend to dry and drop. Another great way of landscaping use for coleus is underplanting. Protected from direct sun rays, surrounded by taller plants, coleus will thankfully fill-in all the empty spots in your flower bed.

Warning: Coleus likes its soil well drained, yet evenly moist. When the soil dries out for too long, the foliage will wilt and drop.

Coleus is easy to propagate by seeds or cuttings, which will even grow roots relatively fast in the water - a great way to teach children how to take care of their first plant.

Coleus cuttings, rooted in the glass jars with water

If there would be only one house plant available, I'm quite sure many people would choose coleus as their indoor nature companion.

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Mother in law's tongue proved to be one "plant that never leaves" - neglect it all you want

This tough house plant easily convinced NASA's researchers that it is one of the most effective indoor air cleaning plants. It releases oxygen during the night and it's therefore highly recommended for bedrooms. Is it even necessary to say that snake plant effortlessly joined the list of the best indoor air cleaning plants.

Mother-in-law's tongue is different than any other plant. While some of the house plants attract your attention and admiration day after day, the snake plant sits quietly in a dark corner and one can easily forget they even own it. It can stay in the same pot and soil for years and years, never "complaining" or withering. The funny thing is that once you own a snake plant, you'd never choose to be without one again.

Mother-in-law's tongue tolerates low light conditions indoors just as well as full sun exposure outdoors. Planted in the ground it can grow up to 5 feet tall. Planted in the pot snake plant's size will stay proportional to the size of the planter.

Some interesting facts about Sansevieria trifasciata from Wikipedia:

• in Japan it's also called "Tiger's Tail"


• in Brazil it is commonly known as "Sword-of-Saint-George" and it's used in rituals to remove the evil eye


• in Africa it's used as protective charm against evil or bewitchment


• in Australia it is considered a weed


• the name "snake plant" comes from the shape of its leaves


• the name "mother-in-law's tongue" is due to the leaves' sharpness


• Sansevieria trifasciata yields bowstring hemp, a strong plant fiber once used to make bowstrings

Propagation can be done by dividing the rhizome or cuttings. The last method might cause the variegation (silvery, white or yellow stripes) to be lost.

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