Flickr photo by Nicholas

Do I even dare bring up the word ‘houseplant’?  They’ve been given a bad rap with the images of dusty yellow leaves that attract annoying bugs at the very mention of the word.  So let’s refer to them as indoor plants from now on.

Thanks to the environmentalists, we all know that trees can clean the earth’s atmosphere, but what about the air quality in your home or office?  Taking you back to Biology 101, plants replenish the oxygen used up by people through a process called photosynthesis. Many businesses have figured out that investing in greenery can actually increase work productivity and minimize the ‘hey boss, I’m sick’ days.  Adding indoor plants to sterile environments can make them feel cozier.   Just look around your doctor’s office during your next visit to see what I mean. With these obvious benefits, why are plants still an afterthought when we decorate our homes?

The process of picking out a plant and its container should really be the same as picking out a piece of furniture or artwork.  Everyone has a different taste in style but there are definitely a few basic rules to consider when choosing objects to decorate your room, balance and proportion to name a few.  Tabletop arrangements with similar plant species are super easy and stylish.  Just be sure to pick out plants that fit your lifestyle.  In other words, don’t bring home a finicky ficus (aka weeping fig) unless you plan to really test your horticulture skills and don’t mind vacuuming. Keep in mind; no indoor plant is better than an ugly plant.

How To Care For Indoor Plants

Lucky for you, indoor plants are relatively easy to care for.  When 90% of life happens indoors, you can’t beat the convenience.  Easy-care plants are a great choice for the nature-lover on the go.

• Light is the obvious limiting factor. Place your plant where it grows best not just where it looks best.
• Many plants can tolerate a broad range of temperatures but they don’t like sudden changes from one extreme to the next.
• Water and feed them properly.  Over watering is the most common cause of plant deaths.
• Treat any disease or pest problems promptly.  Populations are hard to cure once out of control.
• Back off the watering and feeding during the winter months.  Plants need rest too.

Tags: housplants

This entry was posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 9:49 pm and is filed under Garden, Grow, Home Decor. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.