18 most beautiful & easy to grow indoor plants. Best houseplants with showy foliage & flowers, plus gardening tips for low light conditions.
Are you a lover of beautiful indoor plants? Yes? I can relate – just look at our indoor garden below! =)
Indoor plants bring so much beauty and happy vibes into a room. They can also clean indoor air effectively and make our living spaces much healthier! Today I am so happy to share with you 18 of my favorite and easiest indoor plants, and the following helpful tips:
- Best indoor plants for low light conditions.
- Beautiful flowering indoor plants that are easy to grow.
- How to keep house plants healthy with very little work.
Let’s dive in and learn about each plant, plus their care tips at the end ( don’t miss ) !
*Some resources in article are affiliate links. Full disclosure here.
Table of Contents
- Best large house plant: Fiddle Leaf Fig
- Best indoor plants for low light conditions.
- Beautiful flowering indoor plants
- Super easy to grow flowering indoor plants
- Easy house plants with dramatic tropical foliage
- The ultimate easy-to-grow house plant.
- Indoor plants that grow in direct sunlight
- More Air purifying house plants!
- 5 Essential care tips for your house plants :
Best large house plant: Fiddle Leaf Fig
Let’s start with everyone’s favorite indoor tree: Fiddle Leaf Fig (the tree on the left )! We have not 1, but 4 Fiddle Leaf Figs, all grown easily from cuttings 3 years ago. They are so gorgeous and easy to care for. The key is bright but not direct sunlight and watering once a week. You can learn all about Fiddle Leaf Fig care tips and propagation in this detailed guide I wrote here!
Fiddle Leaf Fig care tips and propagation: a detailed guide
Best indoor plants for low light conditions.
Even though we may not notice it, the most challenging thing about growing indoor plants is the low light conditions most spaces have! These 3 trailing house plants can do well in low light or bright light.
From left to right:
Tradescantia zebrina / Wandering Jew is a great colorful indoor plant with stunning silver metallic stripes on one side of the leaves and deep purple on the other. Tip: a little extra morning sun will make this plant more purple!
Epipremnum aureum “Jade and Pearl” / Jade & Pearl Pothos has beautiful variegated white and green foliage great for brightening up a room. There are many varieties of Pothos (aka Devil’s Ivy ) , all are easy to grow indoor house plants.
Philodendron hederaceum ‘Brasil‘ / Brasil heart-leaf Philodendron is a gorgeous indoor vine that has waxy deep green leaves variegated with golden-yellow. In the photo above, it is the one on the right.
These 3 plants will also grow beautifully in water! Tutorial and more details here : How to grow some of my favorite houseplants easily in water!
Beautiful flowering indoor plants
Orchids, in this case the Cymbidium, or boat orchids, together with number 9, 10, and 11 ( later), are some of my favorite flowering house plants. The incredibly beautiful flowers last for 2 months!
Orchids require different growing medium: instead of potting soil, they prefer Orchid Mix specifically formulated to provide superior drainage and allow for proper root ventilation.
Cymbidium loves bright indirect light or dappled sunlight. Provide similar care as for your other house plants. See the 5 essential care tips at the end!
Super easy to grow flowering indoor plants
Aechmea fasciata / Urn Plant or Silver Vase Plant, is a bromeliad with showy patterned silver foliage and pink blooms. This tropical beauty is super easy to care for. The flowers can last for months, eventually the stalk will brown & die.
Cut the flower stalk completely off. You’ll see offshoots /pups starting to form off the base of the mother plant to form new plants.
Vriesea splendens / Flaming sword plant ( on the left ) with attractive mottled leaves, is one of the most popular bromeliads grown indoors. The flower bud you see will become a bright red sword like flower head which can grow up to 2ft tall!
I have seen Bromeliads thriving just about anywhere here in coastal Southern California and warm Hawaii : hanging on tree branches, planted in soil, mounted on barks or planks, etc. You can use either potting soil or orchid mix. I use 50% potting soil and 50% orchid mix.
Begonia ” Dragon Wing Pink”: this Angel Wing Begonia almost never stops flowering! It loves bright indirect sunlight. Definitely one of the easiest plnts to add a pop of color to your rooms!
Easy house plants with dramatic tropical foliage
Asplenium nidus / Bird’s Nest Fern: It’s glossy attractive leaves look similar to Peace Lily and Cast Iron Plant. It can reach 2-3 feet long. The Birds Nest Fern is happiest when the soil is kept moist but not soggy. The Stag Horn Fern in the front is also a great houseplant with such unique foliage!
Monstera deliciosa / Swiss cheese plant: One of the most loved tropical plant, the Monstera is very fast growing. Our 6 inch pot little plant has grown into four big 5 gallon plants in 6 months. Talking about living in a jungle! =) Follow the 5 easy care tips at the end!
The ultimate easy-to-grow house plant.
See the little plant next to the Begonia? It has a cool name: Zamioculcas zamiifolia, or ZZ plant. It will grow bigger slowly to about 2-3 feet.
The ZZ plant to the left of the flowering Begonia is SO easy to grow that you might think it’s a fake plant or some kind of succulents! Forgot to water it? It’s fine. Low light? No problem. Always shinny and green, it’s like a cactus with a tropical green style!
Sansevierias (aka Snake Plants ) are some of the best fail proof low-maintenance with so many gorgeous varieties! Check out our guide here on growing and propagating Sansevieria!
Indoor plants that grow in direct sunlight
Most succulents such as Aloe Vera and Donkey’s Tail, many species of palms and cacti are will grow happily in direct sunlight indoors all year round.
More Air purifying house plants!
Check out 6 additional great low-light houseplants here in my earlier article, they also purify indoor air!
( The first one is also a stunning flowering indoor plant that is one of the best at cleaning indoor air! )
5 Essential care tips for your house plants :
1. Sun light requirements for most house plants: If I have ONE tip, this is it. Give your indoor plants the brightest place possible, but keep them out of direct sun, especially mid day sun, to avoid leaf damage. All indoor plants love bright shade and dappled morning sunlight. Some will do fine in low light.
2. How often to water indoor plants: The simple formula that has worked great for me is- once a week! Easy to remember. I place each plant in a saucer, water until there is a little bit of water coming out of the bottom of the pot, let sit and absorb for a few hours. Empty the saucer if there are still lots of water left by next day – this prevents root rot.
3. Best soil for indoor plants: with the exception of orchids ( see plant #5), most houseplants like a good potting soil that contains horticultural perlite (those little white sponge like “rocks” ), a lightweight soil conditioner which improves drainage and aeration.
4. Fertilize every 1-2 months: during spring and summer growing season, feed your house plants with a fertilizer or compost tea diluted to 1/2 strength. Or mix some Slow Release All Purpose Fertilizer into the top inch of the soil.
5. Think like your indoor plants: most indoor plants come from the under-stories of tropical rain forest. Their natural habitat is usually shady, humid, with warm temperature and frequent thunderstorms. Your house plants will LOVE you if you bring them out on a mild or warm rainy day to get a nice bath! =)
I do this every time it rains. However, the rain in SoCal here is measured by drops instead of inches. By the time I get everybody outside, the rain would usually have stopped. At least my husband finds my efforts amusing, lol!
In case you are wondering, that big “photo” you see behind our plants is actually this TV with Art Mode to display digital photos! You can check out our living room TV wall before and after here!
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