A Chinese Evergreen plant is one of the easiest and best-looking houseplants to have in your home or office. Aglaonemas, the scientific name for Chinese Evergreen plants, are a hardy hybrid from the Aroid family and originally came from the subtropics of Southeast Asia. Chinese Evergreen plants can be used as upright table plants or, as they get larger, bushy floor plants. All of the many Chinese Evergreen plant varieties have long, shiny, leathery leaves with unique patterns of green, gray, pink, red, and cream. NASA lists the Chinese Evergreen as one of its top ten plants to clean the air of harmful toxins.

These plants are considered poisonous and should be kept away from pets and children. Read more about common houseplants that are poisonous in Don’t Feed Me To Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants

Chinese Evergreen Plant

A bromeliad fasciata (Aechmea fasciata), sometimes called a silver vase plant or urn plant, is an easy care flowering plant native to Brazil. In nature, it is an epiphytic plant, which means it grows on other plants or trees. This bromeliad variety has thick, arching, gray-green leaves.These unique leaves are arranged in a circular fashion so that they form an upturned waxy cup in the center. This central cup, or reservoir collects the water and nutrients that the plant needs. After three or four years, as a bromeliad fasciata matures, the plant produces a tall flower stalk with numerous pink bracts. The real flowers are small blue blooms that grow between the pink bracts. Although the blue flowers quickly die, the bright pink bracts often last 5 or 6 months. When buying a bromeliad fasciata, avoid purchasing one that already has small blue flowers since this indicates the pink bracts have been visible for a while and may soon fade. 

Read about other easy care houseplants, like this bromeliad, in Don’t Talk to Me, I’ll Grow Better – A Guide to Easy-Care Houseplants

BROMELIAD

The dracaena lemon lime plant, native to Africa, is a very close relative of the dracaena warneki (green and white striped leaves) and the dracaena janet craig (solid green leaves). The dracaena lemon lime has 12”-24” long sword shaped leaves with bright green and yellow stripes. Like other dracaena plants, the leaves are arranged in a rosette and grow off a very thick stem. A dracaena lemon lime is very easy to care for and can easily reach a height of 5ft-7ft. indoors. It also makes a beautiful bush. Because of the bright colors in the leaves, the dracaena lemon lime needs a little more light than other dracaenas. It’s a great plant to brighten up any room in your house.

These plants are considered by the ASPCA to be poisonous to cats and dogs. Read more about common houseplants that are poisonous in Don’t Feed Me To Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants

Dracaena Lemon Lime

The Dracaena compacta plant, a compact, slow growing member of the Dracaena family, is native to South East Africa. It is often referred to as Dracaena fragrans or Dracaena deremensis. The closest relative of the Compacta is the Dracaena janet craig, but the Compacta is quite different in appearance. The Dracaena Compacta has a thick green stem and several clumps of short dark green leaves 2″-4″ in length. It’s a beautiful addition to homes or offices, but it’s a bit more difficult and more expensive than other dracaenas.

Dracaena compacta plants are considered by some to be slightly poisonous, especially to dogs and cats. Read more about common houseplants that are poisonous in Don’t Feed Me To Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants

The dwarf pygmy date palm, Phoenix roebelenii, originated underneath the canopy of dense tropical forests in Africa and Asia. This helps explain why this plant does so well in the indirect light found in homes and offices. The pygmy date palm grows very slowly, reaching a maximum height indoors of  4-5 ft. (1-2 meters). This palm produces arching, graceful fronds about 3ft. or .9 meters in length with delicate leaflets on them. These fronds develop off of a stately central trunk. Like most palms, the dwarf date palm is an excellent clean air plantCertain houseplants clean the air of harmful chemicals..

The Areca palm, native to Madagascar, is one of the most popular indoor houseplants sold today. Indoors an Areca palm is a medium sized exotic looking plant that can reach a height of 6-8 feet; outdoors it may be as tall as 25 feet. The Areca palm gets its nickname, the Butterfly palm, because its long feathery fronds (leaves) arch upwards off multiple reed- like stems, resembling butterfly wings. Each frond has between 40-60 leaflets on it. When first bought, Areca palms are a delight, inexpensive good-sized plants with beautiful green upright fronds. However, over time, the overall appearance of an Areca palm may diminish; the older bottom fronds turn yellow and the larger fronds droop and bend.

Areca Palm

The cat palm, also called the cascade or cataract palm is native to southeastern Mexico and resembles the inexpensive areca palm and the very pricey kentia palm. Indoors the plant grows slowly, eventually reaching a height of 4-6ft. Although this plant looks beautiful in the plant nursery, it often deteriorates once you bring it home. It requires a very tropical environment; bright indirect lightVery few houseplants should be placed in direct sun. High light refers only to bright indirect light since direct sun often burns the leaves of indoor houseplants. An area that is too hot and dry encourages Spider Mites and causes blooms to quickly fade. A northern exposure really doesn't provide enough light for high light plants. These plants need to be placed directly in front of an east-facing window, within 1-3 feet of a west-facing window, and within 5 ft. of a south facing window. A high light area has over 300 ft. candles of light. and plenty of water. This is a very attractive plant that produces glossy, dark green leaves on thin shoots, but it is a challenging plant that needs attention.

CAT PALM (CATARACT PALM)

Boston ferns are native to tropical forests and swamp areas around the world. These ferns are especially prevalent in Florida, Mexico, Africa, Central and South America, and Polynesia. The wide- spreading Boston fern with beautiful arching fronds does best in hanging baskets. The fronds or leaves can be 2-3 feet long and 4-6 inches wide. Each Boston fern frond has small leaflets (pinnae) on either side of a midrib, and the leaflets have slightly serrated edges. A Boston fern does a great job removing formaldehyde from the air.

Boston Fern

Dracaena warnekii, like all dracaenas, are hardy, slow-growing plants that thrive on neglect. Sometimes referred to as a “striped dracaena”, the warnekii has long, pointed, narrow green and white striped leaves and can be used as a table plant, bushy floor plant, or tall cane plant for home and office. The “jumbo” variety has wider leaves and is a more compact plant. The “lemon lime” cultivar has yellow and green stripes. A dracaena warnekii is one of the few colorful indoor plants that can survive in low lightWhen you select “Low Light” a list of the most adaptive plants in our database appears. These plants can live in lighting conditions too low to support any other plants in our database, but will grow faster in medium and high light. Variegation (color) in the leaves is often lost in low light. A plant in low light needs less water and fertilizer than the same plant in better light. Place a low-light plant within 2-3 ft. of a window with a northern exposure, 3-5 ft. of a window with an eastern exposure, 4-10 ft. of a window with a western exposure, and 10-18ft. of a window with a southern exposure. A low light area has between 50-150 ft. candles of light. The best low light house plants are: Chinese Evergreen, Dracaena Janet Craig, Peace Lily, Heart leaf Philodendron. conditions. NASA recommends the dracaena warnekii one of the top ten plants for removing formaldehyde from the air.

Dracaena warneki plants are considered by some to be slightly poisonous, especially to dogs and cats. Read more about common houseplants that are poisonous in Don’t Feed Me To Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants

A Ti plant, also called a Hawaiian Ti Plant or Hawaiian Good Luck plant, is one of the most colorful foliage plants you can purchase. The cane-like woody stems produce sword-shaped leaves 2ft.-5ft. in length and 5″ to 7″ in width. Leaf color can be maroon, purple, rose, yellow, pink, green or a mixture of these colors.  When young, a Ti plant can be a small table plant, as it matures these beautiful plants become exotic looking floor specimens. There are many similarities between Hawaiian Ti plants and dracaenas. The major difference is that dracaenas are easy- care plants while Ti plants require quite a bit of extra care. A Ti lant is not a good choice for someone new to caring for houseplants.

These plants are considered poisonous and should be kept away from pets and children. Read more about common plants that are poisonous in Don’t Feed Me To Your Cat! A Guide to Poisonous Houseplants