Hardy Houseplants

Placing a few green plants around your home or office can brighten any room dramatically. But it only takes one or two droopy or brown plants to quickly achieve the opposite effect. If this is a familiar scenario, take heart. The key to consistently flourishing flora lies in selecting plants that can survive the conditions you’re able to provide. This may mean choosing plants that prefer low light, or sticking with plants that don’t insist on regular watering, if you’re forgetful. Here are eight hardy plants and a few suggestions about supplying their modest needs.

1. Aloe (Aloe barbadensis). Also known as the medicine plant because aloe helps soothe and heal burns, this graceful, long-armed succulent is a good choice for the kitchen. Wise cooks rub its sticky (and stinky) juice on burns. Aloe is about as low-maintenance as they come, but does need good light. Since it’s a member of the cactus family, you can let it go without water until it’s positively parched, then water sparingly.

2. Cast iron plant (Aspidistra elatior). This plant’s name alone should gladden the heart of even the most timid gardener. The cast iron plant has even been praised in song; “The Biggest Aspidistra in the World” is a testament to its wild popularity in the Victorian era and its habit of steady growth under all conditions. It has oblong, dark-green leaves that are long and pointed at the ends. The leaves arc outward from spears rising directly from the soil. It can serve as a demure table plant, or can be encouraged (with light, fertilizer, and ever-larger pots) to grow into a gargantuan specimen worthy of its song.

3. Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema ‘silver queen’). This easygoing plant will tolerate downright dim light, but can also thrive in direct sun. Its silvery green leaves look a bit like long pointed tongues and sprout from short stems, giving the medium-sized floor plant a bushy or shrublike appearance. Keep it out of drafts and water when the soil surface is dry, and the Chinese evergreen will brighten your dark corners for many years.

4. Ficus (Ficus benjamina). Sometimes called the weeping fig, this popular indoor plant is a staple of offices and living rooms. The graceful ficus has an undeserved reputation as a temperamental plant because sometimes it will “mysteriously” drop every leaf from its pale wood branches. There isn’t a mystery, really. The tree has been keeping a stiff upper lip under poor conditions for months or even years, and has finally used up its reserves. The ficus is the most “high maintenance” plant on this list, but its needs are simple: Give it good light, water moderately when it’s dry, and don’t move it unless absolutely necessary. Pop one of those fertilizer stakes into the soil and replace when necessary. With a little care, Ficus benjamina will grow slowly but steadily for years.

5. Golden pothos (Epipremnum aureum). If you are a forgetful waterer, this creamy yellow- and green-leafed plant is for you. Pothos likes to be drenched periodically and to dry out completely in between. It thrives in bright light (no direct sun), but can exist in shaded areas. With abundant light, pothos will grow quickly, but it tolerates cramped roots, so you needn’t repot it constantly. You can grow it large and use as a floor plant to fill in a lonely corner, or display it on a table, or in a hanging basket. Pinch new growth every now and then to encourage fullness. If it starts to look leggy or unhappy, just cut it way back and your pothos will become full and healthy all over again.

6. Mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata). This virtually indestructible plant got its popular name because of its long, sharp leaves. (You can tell your mother-in-law it is a snake plant, another common nickname.) Along with its cactus cousins, the snake plant prefers to stay fairly dry and likes abundant light. But it has been known to thrive in dim rooms and sometimes goes for as long as six weeks without water. Its deep-green leaves extend gracefully upward and it can grow from several inches to several feet high.

7. Split-leaf philodendron (Philodendron bipennifolium). The split-leaf looks nothing like its larger cousin, the tree philodendron. But the two have a few important qualities in common: a general toughness and tolerance for low light and infrequent watering. Its leaves start out tender and pale green but turn deep green and leathery, splitting into sections, as it grows. Water when the soil surface is dry. If it begins to look unhealthy, cut it back to the soil and give the roots a good soaking; the plant will reward your minimal efforts by starting all over again.

8. Tree philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum). Its large leaves are deeply cut in an almost frond- or fingerlike pattern and, as its name suggests, it makes a good floor plant. In fact, tree philodendrons are ideal for low-light areas where you want to fill in a bare spot and will grow very large if you keep repotting to larger containers. This plant will thrive under the absent-minded gardener, since it likes to be drenched and to dry out between binges.