My Favorite Houseplants (And How I Keep Them Alive)
/How to Keep Your Plants Happy and Healthy
Plants have a way of effortlessly bringing a pop of color, life, and energy into any space. If you haven't noticed, I have quite the collection of house plants (30 as of writing this post!). And now that everything is in full bloom and thriving, I figured it might be fun to share some of my favorites and how I do my best to keep them happy and healthy.
Considering the size of my plant collection nowadays, it might surprise you to know that up until just a few years ago I didn't own a single plant!
Before I started scooping them up left and right, I used to shy away from plants, doubting my ability to keep them alive and afraid of wasting money. That is until one day at the park my curiosity got the best of me and I may or may not have plucked this cute little succulent from the ground (still have no idea what it's called) to test my abilities.
It wasn't an honorable start, I know.
Now that I have plants tucked into just about every room, I can't imagine my home without them. I do want to note that I learn more and more about how to take care of my plant babies every day. I’m by no means an expert. Either way, here are my faves and how I keep them alive.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. This post may contain affiliate links, meaning I receive commissions for purchases made through those links at no cost to you.
Favorite Low-Light Plants
Although we have some areas of the house that are the perfect habitat for plants (here’s looking at you, master bathroom), we have several spaces that are just plain dark. For these spaces, I turn to my tried and true low-light plant faves.
Snake Plant
We currently have two different varieties of snake plants, both of which are relatively new because I killed my last two with root rot (ope!). Snake plants thrive on neglect, and I just love too hard, guys. Basically I overwatered them and killed them. But like I said - I’m still learning!
Either way, I love snake plants for sprucing up a dim corner, like in my dining room and foyer. They add interest, color, and height to what could easily be a boring, empty spot.
ZZ
Pothos
Last but not least is the pothos - also referred to as devil's ivy.
These too come in multiple varieties (variegated, neon, and jade, to name a few) but so far I only have jade pothos. Mine live, you guessed it, in another couple of dim corners of my house - like on top of the fridge and in the dining room. While pothos are a good option for low-light areas, they really do thrive in bright indirect light too.
The one in the picture above is a newbie that came from propagated pieces from a friend's mother plant!
Favorite Hanging Plants
Mistletoe Cactus & Burro’s Tail
Some plants just make a statement, and these are it!
I’m 99% sure this guy is a mistletoe cactus. I love how it looks like a crazy head of hair that just keeps sprouting new strands.
Similarly, my burro’s tail looks like a head of weighty dreadlocks and I can’t get enough. I look forward to trying my hand and propagating this one when I can bear to part with a strand.
I’ve only had these two plants for about a year and a half and they’ve really taken off! They get mostly bright indirect light with a little bit of direct sun late in the day. Plus, I love the hanging planters they live in.
It definitely doesn’t hurt that they have the beautiful clematis trellis that I built last summer as a backdrop!
String of Dolphins
This is one of my absolute faves. I’ve had my string of dolphins also for about 18 months and it has gone bananas! (On that note, there's also a plant called string of bananas that looks similar.)
It used to live in the same window bay as the two plants above but it got so long it started to grow behind the couch! I love having it in the bathroom now - and it loves living here. I’ve actually snipped strands from this gal three times so far to propagate for friends - and she just keeps growing!
I’ve nicknamed our master bathroom “the nursery” because plants THRIVE in the semi-damp atmosphere with bright, filtered light thanks to the frosted windows.
Favorite Goofy-Looking Plants
Ponytail Palm
Another one of my absolute favorite plants is my ponytail palm. (Why is it that I love the plants that look like hair so much!?) But seriously, it’s such a unique-looking plant!
My brother and sister-in-law thoughtfully gifted my ponytail palm to me from The Sill after I helped them decorate their nursery, so it has a bit of sentimental value. Everyone loves getting mail, but to open my mystery delivery only to open it and find a beautiful plant was the bees knees! There a loads of plants on The Sill with some really gorgeous pots (like the one this plant came in), so definitely worth checking out!
Unfortunately, my cats also love this one. This is the only plant my cats chomp on (I assume to floss their teeth)? Luckily it’s not poisonous, unlike MANY other plants (always check before buying!). I've used this bitter lemon spray with semi-successful results. But mostly I've resorted to crowding the space around my ponytail palm to keep the kittens away. The combination of those methods seems to be working a bit since I see some leaves FINALLY growing out.
Pilea Peperomioides
AKA the Chinese money plant. How could you not fall in love with those weird-looking satellite leaves?
I’ve had a lot of luck in all different types of light keeping these guys alive. In fact, I have three around the house right now and they’re all sprouting babies! A good, thorough watering every week to week and a half and they’re good to go!
There are lots of varieties of pilea though, so maybe I should branch out and expand my collection??
Climbing Aloe
I got my climbing aloe as a cutting from a friend a while back not entirely knowing what it was. I’m still only sort of sure it’s actually a climbing aloe, but by the way it’s taken off recently I’m feeling more confident in the name.
As with any aloe and/or succulent, neglect is the name of the game. I’ve also learned rotate this guy so he doesn’t climb only in one direction. I might even try adding some of these moss climbing poles to help it grab onto something.
Ric Rac Cactus
I don’t own a ric rac cactus yet, but I’d love to get my hands on one! I mean, doesn’t the name just describe it perfectly!? The shape of this plant is so cool. I MUST HAVE IT!
Favorite Trendy Plants
Fiddle Leaf Fig
One of the first plants I actually bought was this fiddle leaf fig - most likely because I was seeing them EVERYWHERE at the time. While it’s still on the small side, it’s grown quite a bit over the last couple of years and makes me one proud plant mama. In fact I even bought a more mature one for our mudroom, not to mention the fake one we have in the living room!
Monstera Deliciosa
Another super trendy plant is the monstera and it’s easy to see why!
Pssst, peep that cute lil’ ponytail palm in the back.
These plants with their ginormous leaves truly are show-stoppers. I have four of them now - two of which broke apart from this behemoth the last time it was repotted.
This one on the other hand was propagated from just a few cuttings and gifted by a friend!
Rubber Tree
Yet another plant I don’t own yet - but I will! Mark my words….
There are many varieties of rubber plants. I specifically have my eye on a ficus burgundy for its beautifully dramatic color or ficus tineke because of its gorgeous variegated leaves.
I’ve even enjoyed the look of rubber trees so much that I've painted them! While I haven’t pulled the proverbial trigger on buying a live rubber tree yet, I do own a faux version that I love!
Plant Care Tips
Believe it or not, the list above doesn’t include all the plants around my house. I started to write that post… and it was looooong. Instead, I’d like to share some quick tips I’ve learned during my plant lady adventures that keep my little buddies thriving.
Don't water all your plants on the same schedule
Remember how I mentioned at the beginning of this post that I’ve tended to over-love (i.e. - kill) some of my plants? Well, watering them all on the same schedule is typically what has gotten me in that boat. You may think your plant is thirsty because it’s been a week since you last watered it, but more than likely it’s fine.
A good watering method is to let your plants tell YOU when they want some water. Just look for the warning signs - they’ll typically get droopy or may become less vibrant or drop leaves. And if you’re not sure, stick your finger in the dirt a couple of inches. If it’s bone dry, feel free to water it. You can also use a moisture meter to help with this, but I warn you to not over-rely on them.
Additionally, keep in mind the type of plant you’re dealing with. Most plants can go a LOT longer without water than you realize whereas I don’t know of any plant that will do well in constantly soggy soil.
Drainage, drainage, drainage
As I mentioned above, root rot is my biggest downfall in plant ownership. Proper drainage (and not overwatering) can help with that! Here are a few ways to deal with drainage.
Buy pots with a hole in the bottom (or drill one yourself) and use a saucer for excess water to drain out.
Sometimes pots don’t come with holes or you may not want to drill into them. Here’s how you can deal with that:
Keep your plant in the nursery pot (or another small pot) and prop it up inside of the main pot so that water can drain out the bottom.
Fill the bottom of your pot with rocks or pebbles so excess water has somewhere to go.
Dust the leaves
Do you remember a little thing you learned in elementary school science called "photosynthesis”? Turns out, it’s a real thing! And plants dig it.
But for real - if your plants are dusty, they can’t take in the sunlight they need to live their best lives. So give your plants a little love and wipe them down now and then.
Final Thoughts
There are loads of other plant care tips out there, and as I get more experience under my belt I may do a follow-up post with what else I’ve learned along the way (propagation techniques perhaps!?). In the meantime, feel free to add your favorite tips in the comments. And I’m dying to know: what are YOUR favorite house plants?
