Image from SunToad

I had a friend staying with me this past weekend.  She had one thing to say about my apartment, “wow, your plants are very alive.”

This is true.  I like houseplants — they brighten up the room, clean toxins in your air, and yes, I do subscribe to the old rule — plants are practice pets and pets are practice kids.  My friend disagrees with this one, after all, a kid or a pet can tell you when they’re hungry (or at least give you a pretty loud hint).  House plants just die silently.

Here are some suggestions if your plants have trouble staying alive.

The Chronic Over-waterer

You walk past your plant and dump your glass of water on it.  Plants need water, right?  This can end badly.  Lucky Bamboo plants are great for this because they can grow in a puddle of water.  Most are potted with pebbles in a vase or planter.  Fill the container up with water, stop before it spills out the top.  Easy enough.  Plus there are superstitions about their lucky principles: three stalks for happiness, five stalks for wealth, and six stalks for good health.

The Absentee Plant Parent

Here’s one for the people who completely forget about their plants until they’re scraping the remains into the trashcan. The Jade Plant has pretty rounded leaves and pink flowers in winter—Jades are nice plants to look at and they don’t require much care.  They only need a little sunlight and can go awhile without water.  I don’t know anyone yet who has successfully killed one.

The Cave Dweller

If you live in a basement or an apartment without many windows, you might be skeptical about what you can grow, but there are some plants that do well without much light.  Chinese Evergreens are very resilient and do well without much light.  They also aren’t affected by cold or very dry air conditioning.

An All-Around Winner

Peace lilies are amazing.  They withstand my tendency to over-water and need very little sunlight.  They grow to fill their container and occasionally sprout tall white flowers.  Best of all, if you forget to water them, they collapse (literally, they look like they’ve been deflated) and bounce back as soon as you notice and add water.  I don’t recommend total neglect, but they’re extremely resilient if that’s what they’re likely to receive in your home.