Happy Friday! I hope this post finds you doing well and enjoying the summer. Today I want to talk about a little passion of mine – and that is house plants! I got my first houseplant shortly before I moved out of my parent’s home in 2016. It was actually a gift from my co-workers at the time, for administrative assistants’ day! I had never had a house plant before and my mother didn’t like plants or flowers at all growing up so I didn’t know what to do with it or where to put it. However, I am a huge sucker for thoughtful gifts and I did not want it to die so I was determined to keep it alive. Thankfully it was a vining plant!

I’m proud to say that my first plant baby is still thriving, and has long beautiful vines that wrap around the shelf she lives on. Seeing my plant flourish (rather quickly once we moved into our apartment that is pretty bright since there’s a lot of windows) I was hooked. I wanted more. In fact, on my birthday that year, I went out and bought 10 new plants! Seriously. Well, that first bunch of plants taught me a lot. I’m proud to say I still have a few of them, but I did kill a few too. My mother-in-law is quite the plant lady so any time I have a question about my plants I am thankful to have someone to turn to! She’s the kind of person who easily propagates a new plant from her existing ones and shares them with others. In fact, our Christmas Cactus is a product of this! Kevin and I have attempted to propagate one of our plants a couple times but we’ve yet to have success.

 

Today I want to share with you, 5 house plants that are easy to keep alive.

 

1. Vining plants 

   (Pothos, Heartleaf philodendron, etc. Most thrive with moderate light and watering when soil is dry.)

I currently have three vining plants and I have to say these babies have a will to survive. My personal favorite is my golden pothos which I got for Mother’s Day last year. This plant has beautiful large green leaves and as long as you keep up on watering (like any plant),  it easily thrives! This plant is also very forgiving if you go too long in between watering. There have been a few times wherein the business of life I lose track of watering this plant and her leaves begin to droop. As soon as I water her, literally only an hour or two later her leaves perk right back up! Not all plants are this forgiving, which is one of the reasons that vining plants make my list.

2. Cacti

(Thrives best in bright light. Water only when soil is completely dry, this could mean once every few months depending on the soil, particular plant. Reference your care tag.)

As long as you don’t have them in the reach of kids or pets, I would highly suggest a cactus or succulent as one of your first house plants. Because these plants don’t need frequent watering they are very easy to take care of. As long as they get ample sunlight and the occasional watering (always save your care tags since all plants vary on watering schedules) they tend to thrive effortlessly. There are a variety of cactus and succulent plants to choose from, some very simple and some quite intricate! I look forward to having more once Julia is a little older.

3. African Violet
(Thrives with moderately bright, indirect sunlight and keep soil moist but not soggy.)

This is another super easy plant to care for! This plant tends to pop up in stores around Mother’s Day and if you’re looking for a pretty plant with easy-care the African Violet is a good choice. The African Violet grows velvety green leaves and when it flowers, they are as the name suggests, a pretty violet color.

4. Money Tree
(water frequently, does well under either full sun or indirect sun)

Ah, the money tree! This is one of our earliest and still surviving plants. Ours has thrived excellently in living right in front of a window getting lots of direct sunlight. We water it weekly and that seems to be enough to keep it thriving all these years!

It is said that the money tree grows new leaves and stems that money is coming your way and that when your leaves begin to fall that money is leaving you. Of course, this is just a myth, but I do have a funny story about this to share.
My husband’s grandmother had a money tree that we got her a while back. She cared for it diligently. She recently had her bathroom remodeled, this of course cost a pretty penny. As soon as the project was finished. Her money tree up and died. All the leaves dropped! She was baffled! So who knows, maybe it isn’t a myth after all!

5. Lipstick Plant
(be careful not to overwater, needs a balance of bright light and shade throughout the day)

Our lipstick plant is one of our original plants. This means that it has survived four years with us! It has survived us not having a clue what we were doing with it, us having a newborn that took up all our time and energy (keeping plants alive was not a priority then – we definitely killed a few in Julia’s first year), and somehow continues to thrive! This plant is one that, in my experience, can survive a longer time in between watering as it doesn’t do well with overly moist soil. It has pretty vines and would work great being hung up one day. Under the right conditions, it blooms pretty little red flowers, too which is a plus.

That wraps up today’s post! Do you have any indoor plants? If so – please share your favorite in the comments below! 🙂

Until next time,

Sending love & light,