What design element should everyone have in one or all rooms of their home? What design element transcends style and trends? If you answer the house plant you’ve got it!
Houseplants can add the Wow Factor to Your Decor
If you’re on Pinterest and scroll images of beautiful home decor with plants your interest is probably first drawn to the striking beauty of the plant. Some houseplants are amazingly gorgeous! They can be tall palms, trailing vines or mounding spheres…they just add so much to a room’s decor.
Other Benefits:
- Air purification
- Several grouped together may moisturize the air (they release moisture)
- Have a soothing affect to our mood
The Dutch Product Board for Horticulture commissioned a workplace study that discovered that adding plants to office settings decreases fatigue, colds, headaches, coughs, sore throats and flu-like symptoms. In another study by the Agricultural University of Norway, sickness rates fell by more than 60 percent in offices with plants.
- Increases focus and aids in study conditions
A study at The Royal College of Agriculture in Circencester, England, found that students demonstrate 70 percent greater attentiveness when they’re taught in rooms containing plants. In the same study, attendance was also higher for lectures given in classrooms with plants.
check out this site for recommendations on how many plants should be added to improve air quality and health benefits. This site is pretty informative too!
The Most Popular Plant of Our (current) Time (has it’s time past already too?-some wonder)
source
Every decade has an ‘IT‘ plant similar to the term, “IT Girl” and the Fiddle Leaf Fig is that plant. It’s stunning, it’s big and it has even become the signature plant of a Parisian Luxury Brand – Olivia Palermo. It’s comfortable in a farm setting and in a luxury high rise apartment.
What You Need to Know about the Fiddle Leaf Fig:
- Popularity means the price has gone up
- Requires bright-filtered light
- It’s a tropical plant that prefers warmth
- Requires rich, peaty soil
- Should be repotted to avoid crowded roots and root rot
- Like most houseplants water when soil is ‘dry to the touch’ don’t under or over-water
- pests like Aphids like Fiddle Leaf figs – if leaves yellow, search for culprit and clean leaves
- Fertilize only during growing season with water-soluble fertilizer: once in the spring and monthly in the summer
- It’s a member of the Ficus family – find it’s home and let it settle
- If you’re successful in keeping it alive it can grow big – make sure it’s ‘home’ accommodates that
More? Here are some examples I found:
The Snake Plant
source – The Shiny Squirrel
Isn’t this plant striking! It’s nickname is ‘Mother-in-Law Tongue’. Interesting. This is an amazing plant that is considered one of those ‘cast-iron plants’. This plant can survive the harshest conditions and can take any type of light in a room. The added bonus is this plant is a great ‘air-purifier’.
The Rubber Plant:
source – My City Plants
Another member of the Ficus family (remember their need for finding a home hmmm) The Rubber Plant and its varieties can be just as striking as the Fiddle Leaf Fig. This beauty loves bright, indirect light. You need a ‘balanced watering schedule’. During it’s ‘growing season-Summer’ it needs more moisture (you could even wipe and mist the leaves for moisture). During it’s ‘dormant’ season it only needs watering once or twice a month.
The Beautiful, Trailing Pothos
When searching for images of the familiar Pothos, I found some very beautiful ways to incorporate this lovely trailing plant as artwork. Pinterest indicates that trailing plants are extremely popular – and their images. The Pothos is just gorgeous in the variety of color in its leaves. This darling is so tolerant of us – if we neglect it some…as I might have…It tolerates any type of lighting (lower light might affect its leaf coloration). It’s so versatile – I mean, just look at this image (Google for more ideas – after reading post of course!) TIP: use small-clear Command hooks to secure trailing vines to wall. This plant is so easy to propagate so you can fill your home’s rooms easily. It’s versatile in how you display it. And, it’s one of those houseplants that are air purifiers! Pothos prefers lightly acidic soil, but will grow well in potting soil. You can ‘feed’ your pothos monthly with water-soluble fertilizer. If the plant droops no matter how much watering, it’s probably root-bound. Repotting will give you rich rewards and a happy Pothos. Generally, Pothos is ‘pest-free’ but if mealy bugs find it just wash it with insecticidal soap.
The Ivy
This one is mine! I’ve been trying hard to keep these beauties living. They are another gorgeous, trailing houseplant. They just need some extra attention and care. I lost an Ivy topiary Dearest gifted me with simply because I was watering it and the water built up in the pot (after I learned it was sealed and double-potted). I was so saddened by that! Ivy prefers to be kept on the ‘dry’ side. I always ‘bathe’ mine when watering in the sink, shower or in the tub. I’m looking for the pests that will totally destroy them. Their most important ‘need’ is bright light. Ivy requires fertilization once a month. They also can benefit from a ‘hair cut’ every once in a while.
The Peace Lily
This is a plant that is frequently gifted to families at funerals. Mine were given to me by a friend who received numerous plants and just couldn’t handle one more. I divided mine and they’re doing wonderfully. I am thrilled with mine. These are easy to grow and they tell you when to water – they begin to wilt. One of the most common ways to damage your Peace Lily is by over-watering, so let it tell you. These plants benefit from repotting if they become root-bound. These plants enjoy rooms with medium to low lights. You can keep their leaves beautiful by wiping with a damp cloth. If you want them to produce those lovely white flowers, make sure they have moderate light. Also, you only need to fertilize these plants one or two times a year.
The Fern
Ferns like many other houseplants have their origins in the tropics. Those growing conditions are ideal for them. To recreate the growing condition indoors, some Ferns prefer humid conditions. The perfect room for that is a bathroom (I have now bookmarked this in my mind for when we redo one of our bathrooms! I can see it!) Depending upon the type of fern, these lovely plants also prefer consistent room temperature, year-round. As for lighting, ferns are typically grown with ‘filtered light’ in wooded areas. Direct sunlight is not good for ferns. Ferns come in so many varieties with differing care conditions. Check out this site for more information. Now I know why I wasn’t successful with an Angel Fern I purchased years back from The Country Living Fair. I may try again!
Indoor Plant Varieties Grouped Together
This room hits several marks! The lighting is amazing! It’s that popular, casual Bohemian style and it’s filled with plants! There are several varieties of plants shown here that add beauty and life to this room!
Here’s a good resource for how to deal with pests on your indoor plants.
sharing with Wow Us Wednesday
