The best house plants

Introduction

We all have the need to nurture and care for other living things. Maybe you aren’t ready for a cat, dog, or fish, but bringing home a houseplant can fulfill that need. Place a plant on the windowsill and it will add living beauty to your home. Wake up every day and it will greet you as it cleans the air and improves your mood. Houseplants ask for so little but add so much life to a home. The care of that green friend falls solely on the owner. Being successful in that undertaking is important, so our hope is this book can help you keep your green roommate alive, healthy, and vibrant.

There is no such thing as a natural green thumb. Many believe either you are born with one or not. The claim of having a brown or black thumb has had many dead plants placed at its doorstep. Yet having a green thumb is just a matter of paying attention to the needs of your plants and noticing when they are trying to tell you something. Killing a plant or two (or more) is not a crime, and can be a good learning experience. Don’t be discouraged, as growing beautiful plants is easy if you have the time and pay attention to their specific needs, and this book will show you how to do that.

Time restraints are another popular excuse as to why someone has no plants in their home. One easy plant can take less than five minutes a week to care for, and the benefits it brings will lead to a desire for more greenery in your life. Having plants continually die leads to frustration and possibly plastic plants. Not acceptable. When a few key components such as lighting preference, water, and placement are understood and correctly executed, your plants will thrive. Liking and being successful with plants has more rewards than are always apparent. Plants have been proven to clean the air around us. B. C. Wolverton, a NASA scientist, conducted many experiments in the 1980s and found that plants remove VOCs—volatile organic chemicals—from our indoor environments. These chemicals can come from carpet, paint, manufactured furniture, household cleaning products, and more. One plant can remove most of the VOCs from a 100-square-foot area.

An important aspect of owning houseplants is the undeniable therapy that caring for plants affords us. In this uncertain, sometimes scary, fast-paced world, slowing down to care for something that is dependent on us can be therapeutic. Pick up a plant, remove dead leaves, check the growing medium for water, and wash the leaves with a soft cloth or sponge. Move quietly from plant to plant, or maybe you prefer to sing, hum, or talk to your plants. No judgment here. One plant may become many more when the time it takes to care for one plant isn’t enough to untangle the knots from the day. Many professional people own large collections of plants for just this reason. Working with their plants takes them away from the enormous stress of their jobs. As Elvin McDonald wrote in his book Plants as Therapy, “I believe that plants have enormous potential for maintaining emotional stability and . . . improving the lives of human beings.” Nothing truer can be said.

Quite often, if you have a problem with a houseplant, you search online for information and help. But not every piece of information floating around on the Internet is true or pertinent to the specific plant for which you are caring. The information in this book will dispel the myths and misinformation about successfully raising houseplants. Plant societies are another good source of information. If you wish to learn as much as you can about a family of plants, such as cacti and other succulents, orchids, or African violets, join a plant society in your area. The people in these clubs have usually been growing those plants for a long time. Nothing beats the hands-on knowledge of people who have successfully grown a family of plants. Because they love their plants, they are more than willing to share their expertise. They want you to succeed with your plants. Besides, it is a wonderful way to interact with people. Joining a plant group can help you find like-minded people who don’t tune out when you talk nonstop about your plants.

I hope the information in this book will give you the confidence you need to bring a plant or two home to improve your environment and give it a warmer, more comfortable feeling that will bring joy to those who enter. You may find that almost before you know it, people entering your home will comment, “It’s like a jungle in here!” Is that a bad thing? I think not. It is a good thing!