As winter and the dark nights draw in, it might be time to think about livening up your home with some house plants to bring a little tropical ambience indoors. Here are our top 5 picks for houseplants this winter:
Corn Plant
Corn plant (Dracaena) is a tropical African evergreen plant that when grown looks like a mini palm tree, making it ideal to banish away those winter blues. They are low maintenance but may require a light mist or place them in your bathroom for just the right amount of humidity. They thrive in any condition from shade to sunlight and can grow to around 6 feet.
Maidenhair Fern
A maidenhair fern has delicate fan-shaped leaf segments, and their leaves are typically smaller than other types of ferns. They are visually stunning and will brighten up any home, growing to around 2 feet, but they do like to be watered regularly, so some maintenance is required. They like some shade and partial sunlight so choose a spot in your home that receives indirect sunlight.
Snake Plant
A snake plant is one of the easiest houseplants to care for as they pretty much take care of themselves! Place them in direct sunlight, don’t water them too much and you are good to go – in fact you can go weeks without watering them. They have large leaves that ‘snake’ upwards and can grow quite tall. The leaves may need dusting occasionally.
Philodendron
This plant has dramatic, heart shaped leaves and is certainly one if you want something striking for your home. They can grow reasonably tall and you may want to train the plant around a cane, but overall care is relatively easy. Just place them in bright, indirect sunlight and water them when the soil feels dry. Droopy leaves may mean that the plant is not getting enough or too much water, so watch out for this and occasionally place your plant outside in a shady spot if the weather is good.
Devil’s Ivy
This is a versatile, low maintenance plant that can be placed anywhere, even on a top shelf where the heart-shaped locks will hang beautifully down. Preferring lots of moisture, a bathroom might be a great place for this plant or apply misting regularly. You can place the plant practically anywhere also some light is preferred, and water if the soil is feeling dry.
Peace Lily
This adds a bit of Zen to your space thanks to the soft, dark green foliage and beautiful white flowers. The plant will flower all year round and prefers a shady spot. They prefer underwatering to overwatering so only water them if the soil feels dry. They like light and the better the light the more your flowers will bloom, so decide which type of houseplant you want – if you prefer the green to the flowers a shady spot will keep the bloom to a minimum.
Let us have your suggestions for houseplants and share your images if you have any… we’d love to share your tips and suggestions with our readers.