12 Best Plants for your House

Now is the time of year where your Spring anxiety is going to kick into overdrive. Some of you may be thinking about starting seeds in the basement and a few others will start flipping through the garden catalogues that will appear in your mailboxes. But despite a few warm days, we are still months off from that shift here in MN. Holidays are done, Valentine's flowers are fading and there are only a few tulips in the forecast for the coming Easter season.

But there is still great opportunity for enjoyment from house plants. With the strong winter sun bursting through your windowsills, a house plant is a perfect daily reminder of all things Green. There are the handful of "common" plants from ivy to succulents you can find at any grocery store checkout. Here are some insights for unusual substitutes. This is a list of 12 plants that will add green space as well as generating good oxygen levels for you while in quarantine. Courtesy of NASA. Here are some highlights:  

The Rubber Plant (ficus elastica) with its big paddles of waxy green can help eliminate bacteria & molds. What makes them even better is their resilience, so even the worst green thumb can manage them as they prefer under watering to moist and can also tolerate dim light. So maybe a great fit for your bathroom or bedroom. 

A Broad Lady Palm (rhapis excelsa) excels at reducing ammonia levels from cleaning products. They enjoy humidity and plenty of watering - so the bathroom or kitchen would work well for them. They are probably the most pricey item on the list, so take good care of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Snake Plant (sansevieria) is easy to grow and sends off shoots frequently. So start with a single clump and in time you will have a mound. They are sleek tall leaves and are noted for purifying air and nighttime oxygen production. Can you say next to the bed?  

 

 

 

 

 

 

An Areca Palm (dypsis lutescens) is majestic with its airy fronds originally from Madagascar. But did you know it is also great at eliminating toxins? Find a welcoming corner in a main room with some filtered light. Don't be alarmed as branches brown and fall off, it is simply growing, so trim and allow new growth. And allow for a big planter that allows room. 

 

 

 

 

Everyone should have an Aloe Vera plant on hand. In the summer, a limb of the plant is soothing on a sunburn. They are small, compact, and ask very little of you in terms of both care and space.  Buy an eclectic pot to give it some character.

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you are really craving some color and blooms, a simple Gerbera Daisy is also great for night oxygen production as well as filtering out chemicals. Plop it in a colorful pot, water and trim off dead blooms and it will grant you 2-3 months of reward.

These are about half of the NASA recommended list of worthy house plants. Check out there video link for the complete list along with scientific facts to support them. Be prepared to hit pause as they toss a lot of information at you in a very short time of 2 minutes. It so easy being Green!

NASA Air Purifying Plants video

Giving Someone Your Heart

There is truly a plant for everything. With Valentine's Day on the horizon, along with the rush of chocolates and massages, there is likely the inevitable bouquet of roses with baby's breath. But here is a low maintenance alternative. The Sweetheart Plant or hoya kerrii.

Succulents or Cacti have been one of the latest garden trends over the last 5 years. 

• They are the easy fix for those who want to garden without the burden of long term care. 
• They are the perfect way to bring some green and sunshine to a windowsill.
• They ask for very little. Even watering them is not usually an expectation.

So for something that is a bit special and not as a predictable, seek out one of these. They won't be in your typical box store (or maybe they would?), but any reputable garden center will have a rack of them if they are smart. They will start small as a single succulent paddle in the shape of a heart. Over time they will extend into a string of hearts, and if you are lucky a bizarre red/orange seed pod once every few seasons. Small and inexpensive, spruce it up by putting all the color and thought into a dandy pot to make it your personal gift. Thank you very much!

 

Crystal Gardens

Most of us gardeners hibernate during the winter months, just as our plants take the rest also. There is the occasional excitement of any Amaryllis bulb or the upcoming Paperwhites of winter. But it is hard to find something that feeds our creative soul in its bond with nature.

I take a bit of joy in my holiday lights, which is a way to embellish my yard with color in the bleakest of winter. But it is just smoke and mirrors and not really about nature at all. So here is a slight detour that uses the elements of the season to create spontaneous garden art. Many of you in town have likely heard of the inspirational Zug Zug Man frozen into a block of plexi-ice along the trails on Theodore Wirth Prkway. I did venture out and found him easily resting on a sheet of pure ice. But here is a glimpse to something that is pure artist - Andy Goldsworthy. I found him on a recent post, but am finding most of his work goes back 4 decades or so.

He is Scottish and sets out about the world to do onsite installations of winter art. Imagine ice, snow, leaves and branches as a pallet and then arranging them in provoking displays. His most notable piece was probably in 1989 when he made a trek to the North Pole and constructed 4 simultaneous rings of ice blocks in a circle - the concept; that each window faced South at the same time. But often he stays closer to home across the British countryside. His artworks are the fascinating alchemy of architecture and temperature - made only to last for a short interval, much like chalk art on a sidewalk. He talks about "taking art to the very edge of collapse." Because they last only a short while, there are not a wealth of images out there. But here are some to ponder.

It looks like there is also a documentary film called Rivers and Tides out there.  link to watch, which I surely will. Winter Wonders!

River and Tides trailer