Design Dilemmas
Episode 29: House Plant Special. Ten plants for your home that are really very difficult to kill and that don't need much attention, I promise. Plus discount codes so that you can add to your home.
I have previously had a terrible history with houseplants. When I first moved in with Joe back in 1999, my house was a plant free zone, not a hanging basket nor potted palm in sight. I would go as far as to say I was almost anti houseplant and despite the attempts of my Mum to interest me in the ways of the green fingered, I was simply incapable of keeping anything even vaguely leafy alive. This was purely due to the fact that I didn't have the time or inclination to look after anything aside from myself - I worked in London, leaving early and returning late and the only thing that was an essential activity upon my arrival home each evening was locating the wine bottle and the opening of a packet of crisps. My mum persisted, bombarding me every December with the only greenery that I couldn’t kill, a poinsettia, a plant that would survive a nuclear fall out with no ill effect and whose bright red leaves made my eyes bleed. It would sit in the corner of the kitchen, unwatered and untended, yet irritatingly still alive and kicking at the end of March. Even today, I have an irrational dislike of these poor Christmas plants and dread being gifted one by visitors, ‘sharing the love’ immediately by passing them on to friends the next time I’m a visitor myself.
However, as time has gone on, my interest in the world of plants has grown (no pun intended) and it’s safe to say that there is now no room in my home that isn’t adorned with some sort of foliage. Since we moved into our current home, I’ve gradually increased my collection of green stuff and I have around 50 plants that I regularly repot, although my watering regime is more of the ‘when I remember or they look as if they are about to fall over’ style than an efficient routine, but over the last few years, the death rate has fallen and I’ve even started propagating, a word that I wouldn’t even have been able to give you the definition of until recently.
It’s a great way to make the most of the plants you have - taking cuttings and propping them in tubes of water so that they can grow roots for potting (if you are interested in trying this then check out these on Amazon, well priced propagation stations that are perfect for this purpose, although in all honestly just popping it into a glass does the same job). The abundance of greenery in my house truly brings me joy and I am forever dropping in to my local garden centre to check out any newness to add to my collection.
So it’s obvious that no house is complete without a plant (bringing the outside in, connecting the inside with outdoors, etc etc), but what to pick if you’re a novice? I get hundreds of messages from people who are keen to incorporate greenery but are quite frankly terrified that they’re going to send their purchases to an early grave. But fear not - I bring you today a list of plants that are practically IMPOSSIBLE to kill. You’re welcome.