Plants can be categorized in so many ways: those that prefer shade or sun; deciduous ones that lose their leaves in the fall and evergreens that don’t; annuals and perennials; those loved for their flowers and those admired for their foliage.
And here’s a biggie: the vast number of plants that live outdoors in our climate, and the relatively few tropically programmed plants that must be indoors when temperatures drop to freezing or below.
Not every gardener likes both kinds. I wasn’t much of a fan of houseplants mainly because there is no place for them in my home where they can get bright light they need without the likelihood of them marring floors and other surfaces with moisture, dead leaves, and other horticultural schmutz (the Yiddish word for dirt).
In recent years I acquired just a few hardy houseplants that don’t need an “ideal place” or pampering. I don’t pamper plants. Like most of you, I also don’t have an atrium, sun room, or other light-filled space. My plants are tough survivors that grow in low-light conditions. Most of our rooms, especially in the winter months, have lower light levels than the deepest outdoor shade.
Three plants that get my vote as the easiest to grow:
• Drum roll please. Mother-in-law’s tongues or sanseverias are just plain tough. I was honored and awed to see a huge plant that was the mother of all mother’s-in-law plants for the late Kirk Pamper, a Memphis florist known internationally for his collection of sanseverias representing each of the 200-plus species known to exist in the world. Pamper became intrigued by the spikey-leafed plants with infinite patterns of variegation when his mother received one following the birth of his sister when he was 11-years-old. I saw it 33 years later in a huge pot in his master bathroom, one of the brightest and most humid rooms in his Midtown house.
After that encounter I began noticing the sturdy leaves in commercial settings like hotel lobbies and also in floral arrangements like one designed by florist Gina Stowitsky featuring coral roses in a glass vase lined with the “tongues.” I must have purchased a plant for myself because now three pots of them are happily living on the ledge that surrounds my bathtub. They seem to like the diffused light that pours through the frosted panes of a nearby window. I don’t hesitate to cut them for my own flower arrangements because I discovered new roots emerge when those cut stems are placed in water giving me a source of perpetual foliage.
All these “tongues” need is occasional water and double-diluted fertilizer during spring and summer. When dust settles on the leaves of any houseplant clean off the grime with a damp cloth.
• My corn plant, aka Dracaena fragrans, is the comeback kid of my collection. It shed so many leaves after spending one winter in corner almost devoid of natural light, I feared it was a goner for sure. But that spring, I took it and several other houseplants to a semi-shady place outside. In the warm, humid outside environment all of the plants became more vigorous but the change in the corn plant was astonishing. Big new shiny leaves emerged and the shriveled brown ones were removed. The plant seemed to grow taller, too. I’m more careful in giving it not too much and not too little. The technologically advanced way of gauging water neediness is by sticking a finger an inch or two into the soil. If it’s dry, add more. If it’s moist, wait until it dries. Too much water kills far more houseplants more than too little.
• I read that croton is temperamental if it doesn’t get adequate light, warm temperatures, and enough humidity. But I find them to be as low in maintenance needs as they are as high on bright colors in mottled hues of yellow, red, orange, and chartreuse.
Last year I bought one that had been trained into a tree-like topiary with a leafy orb on top of a bare stem. It also suffered some leaf loss during its first winter but rallied during its outdoor summer vacation and now appears even healthier than it was when I bought it.
One year I sacrificed all of the leaves on another potted croton to a Thanksgiving centerpiece. Instead of tossing the naked plant in the trash I wanted to see if it would leaf out again in the spring after a completely dormant period in our garage, which is unheated but, thanks to good insulation and the heat coming off the engines of our cars, does not drop much below 50 degrees during the winter. In early spring, leaf buds appeared on its stems.
Other houseplants recommended for low-light conditions and low maintenance are lucky bamboo (which is actually a dracaena), Golden pothos vine, spider plant, and bromeliads.
Not sold yet? Consider that houseplants are actually good for your health. They not only release oxygen into the environment, a fact we learned in elementary school, but have also been found to filter out indoor pollutants like ammonia, benzene, formaldehyde, and xylene.
Still not convinced? The presence of green living things in our rooms or even in our outdoor views has been shown to elevate moods, increase productivity, lower blood pressure, and aid in healing, especially during the winter months. I feel calm and elated on cold gray days when I visit a greenhouse filled with plants. Breathing in the earthy scent of the warm, moist air is better than almost any winter tonic I know of. But I have to admit to deriving immense pleasure in sipping hot toddy in front of a crackling fire. Both activities almost make the season bearable.
