The Best Indoor Plants

June 14, 2021

Is your house looking a little dark? Lackluster? Beige? Sometimes we get busy and choose things for our house and day-to-day life that are more functional than fashionable, and that’s fine! Function is also important, but after a while, things can get stale. You need a pop of color to brighten up your life or you can get stuck in a rut. We have a solution: houseplants. Houseplants can add some color and life to any room in your home.

We have houseplant recommendations for a variety of different needs.

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Refresh Your Living Space With Plants

Climbing out of a rut can seem like a monumental task, but it’s all about breaking habits. If you’re in a rut because you haven’t been taking care of your health, you could start by making yourself one, simple, healthy meal. If you’re stuck in a rut dating a bunch of losers, you might sign up for a dating site to try something new. If your home space feels stale and uninspiring, why not start with something simple to spice it up, like some colorful houseplants?

Houseplants aren’t just good for spicing things up looks-wise either. They’re also good for your health! They purify the air that you live in and are shown to help deal with stress. So if you’re stuck in a rut, bored with your house, or need a new way to de-stress, you need to find the best indoor plants to add some color into your life.

Bonus: planting edibles like shade vegetables or herbs can save you many trips to the grocery store.

Best Houseplant for Tea Lovers: Chamomile

When you think of chamomile, you probably think of drinking a nice calming cup of tea. Chamomile is an herb with green feathery leaves and white and yellow flowers that humanity has relied on for its healing and anti-inflammatory qualities since the times of the ancient Egyptians. Its scent is often used for perfumes and calming aromatherapy. Everything about chamomile makes it an ideal flowering houseplant to add to your home.

Chamomile Care Tips

Choose a pot that is around 12 inches in diameter to plant your chamomile in, so they have room to grow. They can also be planted in a smaller pot and repotted later on when they grow.
Chamomile plants should be near a south-facing window so they get the proper amount of sunlight. Southern windows typically get the most sunlight in the house.
Water your chamomile about once a week; they should be kept moist but not overly wet.

Best Hardy Indoor Plant: Geranium

Geraniums are a popular flowering houseplant for multiple reasons: Geraniums are easy to grow and hard to kill. They come in a variety go shapes, sizes, and colors like pink, purple, red, white, and blue. They do well in pots or hanging planters and will be sure to brighten any room up. If you’re a beginner when it comes to flowering houseplants, look no further than a geranium.

Geranium Care Tips

Geraniums will do well in moderate to high amounts of sunlight.
Geraniums should be watered deeply once the soil feels dry on the top.
Regularly trim your geraniums. Cutting the heads off blooms when they die will help encourage new blooms to grow in their place!

Best Colorful Plant for Indoors: Croton

If you’re looking for a colorful houseplant that has green, yellow, orange, cream, and black leaves that come in all shapes and sizes, you’re looking for a croton. Unfortunately, the croton has a reputation of being a finicky little plant that is hard to keep alive, but that’s only if you don’t treat your plant right. The croton is just like you; the better you take care of its health, the more beautifully it will blossom.

Croton Care Tips

The croton is a tropical plant, so they will need to be misted regularly and kept in warm rooms. They will not like temperatures under 60 degrees Fahrenheit.
Crotons should only be watered when their top layer of soil is dry. When you water them, water until the water flows out of the bottom of the container. Make sure the pot has good drainage. Empty the water that falls into the tray kept under the pot if you have one.
The croton does not like to be moved, so do what you can to avoid moving them around. Of course, there will be times where that’s unavoidable. For example when you buy a croton and bring it home. The worse that will happen is it will lose some of its leaves. Do not fret. If you continue to take good care of the plant, its gorgeous leaves will grow back.

Best Variety for Houseplants: Begonias

Begonias are a popular choice for a colorful houseplant both because they are both beautiful and easy to grow. There are more than 1,700 different kinds of begonias, so there is a wide variety to choose from. They will grow in window boxes, pots, or hanging baskets so they can brighten up any corner, window, or shelf that needs more color in your house!

Begonia Care Tips

Begonias should be planted in a pot roughly the size of the plant with neutral indoor potting soil.
Place begonias where they can get sun at least part of the day.
Make sure that begonias are kept in a room that doesn’t get colder than 55 degrees Fahrenheit; they will not handle the cold very well.
Water begonias when the soil of the top of the pot feels dry. Make sure they have good drainage so they don’t drown.

Best Plant for Air Purifying: Pothos

It sounds like one of the Three Muskateers, but did you know that research from NASA found that the golden pothos is one of the best plants at purifying the air? They can flourish under a variety of conditions and make the perfect addition to the kitchen, home office, or living room, where they can clean up common indoor air pollutants. Among the toxicants that pothos plants can eliminate include: formaldehyde, xylene, toluene, benzene, carbon monoxide.

Pothos Care Tips

Allow the soil to dry out before you water. Pothos thrive with minimal watering. Don’t let the soil stay dry too long though!
Bright but indirect light is the best. Pothos don’t need or prefer a day of full sun.
Warning: keep these away from your pawed friends that like to nibble on greens. Pothos plants are toxic to dogs and cats.

Best Houseplants for the Kitchen

Kitchens tend to be especially tight on space. Room decoration with flowers and plants is a good way to bring beauty while saving on that coveted countertop acreage. Plants and flowers kill two birds with one stone, bringing life and lush greenery to your kitchen while keeping the air clean and fresh.

Best Low-Light Houseplant: English Ivy

English Ivy makes for one of the best indoor plants because it’s such a breeze to grow (so long as it gets a little time in direct sunlight), and comes in varieties of greens, whites, yellows, and blacks. Its versatility also makes it easy to match any color scheme. Beyond home decor, it’s one of the top reducers of indoor air pollutants: English Ivy can filter your kitchen air of formaldehyde, benzene, mold, and bacteria.

English Ivy Care Tips

Warning – if you have pets, this lush plant needs to be a hanging addition to your kitchen, as it is toxic to our furry friends.
Bright light but not direct sunlight is the key to thriving ivy. They can tolerate really low light but won’t thrive.
They don’t like overly moist soil so make sure the pot drains well.
English ivy appreciates humidity. Pebbles make a good planting medium as they increase humidity.

Best Indoor Flowering Plant: White Jasmine

White Jasmine is a little high maintenance in that you need to keep its soil moist, but its sweet smell and beautiful flowers will make it well worth the effort. Unlike most flowering plants, jasmine does well inside, especially during the winter months. White jasmine makes one of the best plants for the kitchen. Delicate and not overpowering, this houseplant’s fresh fragrance will keep your kitchen smelling bright and clean no matter how clean it actually might be.

White Jasmine Care Tips

Dwarf varieties will do the best indoors.
Keep the soil but don’t let it remain soggy.
Prune jasmine during their dormant season (Winter) to control their growth.
Stimulate growth by fertilizing twice a year, during Spring and Summer. Use a fertilizer that is strong in phosphorus and potassium.

Fastest Growing Indoor Plant: String of Hearts

String of Hearts is a succulent vine that can survive with little to no maintenance. This plant grows like a weed (pun intended) and can go from a small plant to a full vine in a matter of a few months.

String of Hearts Care Tips

String of Hearts loves the heat, but not the direct sun, which makes it ideal for a shady spot in the kitchen.
The vines tend to split and branch, and then tangle, but it’s part of the romantic, overgrown garden appeal.
String of Hearts goes dormant for Autumn and Winter so you can reduce watering.

Best Indoor Herb: Basil

It’s no surprise that some of the best plants for the kitchen are herbs, and nothing beats having fresh pesto at the drop of a hat! Growing basil works best in a kitchen that has a window sill and gets lots of full light: keep this versatile herb in full sun with moist, well-draining soil. For big leaves and long stalks, pick off the blooms as they bud.

Basil Care Tips

Place next to a window (south-facing is best) that can receive at least 6 hours of sunlight during the day. If your kitchen is not near a bright window, basil will need supplemental fluorescent lighting for about 10 hours per day.
Don’t let the soil stay soggy, soggy soil runs the risk of root rot.
Use organic fertilizer to ensure healthy growth habits.
When your basil thrives, be prepared to repot every two years.

Best Magical Houseplant: Beans

Beans, beans, the magical fruit, the more you eat… the more you need to grow! Beans grow on either a bush or a vine, and the vines can reach up to 15 feet in height – so unless you have the space to spare, it’s best to stick to bush beans. Like basil, beans thrive on a window sill with full sun, in long and narrow containers.

A pretty and versatile kitchen bean is the green bean. Don’t worry – we’ll give you some pointers on how to turn this garden-dweller into one of the best indoor plants you never thought of.

Green Bean Care Tips

Plant your beans in mid-to-late spring for maximum sun exposure.
Seeds should be placed about 4 inches apart and 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. Note that if you use 8-inch deep containers, you should only plant one seed per container.
Add 1-foot stakes into the containers, pressing next to the planted seeds.
Bush beans will be ready to harvest only 50 to 60 days after planting, and should be picked while still young, when they are about 3 inches long and filling out.

Buy Some Color with Bouqs

At The Bouqs Co., we’re huge fans of room decoration with flowers. But when it comes to green things, we don’t discriminate! We believe a dash of water-loving, sun-soaking greenery makes any room that much happier – especially the room where you share so many meals and memories with your loved ones. If you need help with houseplant care, we have your back. We hope our picks of the best indoor plants help you give your home the boost it needs – just don’t forget to leave room on the countertops for a fresh Bouq or two!

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