Plant Guides
Best watering cans for houseplants
Choosing an indoor watering can: why a long narrow spout matters, what size to get, and the features that are worth paying for versus marketing.
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Plant Guides
Care profiles for popular houseplants, from pothos and snake plant to ferns and succulents: light, water, soil, and propagation for each.
Plant Guides
Why Are Houseplants So Expensive, and Are They Worth It?
Why houseplants cost so much: rarity, slow propagation, variegation, size, and hype. When the premium is worth paying, and how to buy well without overpaying.
Plant Guides
8 Best Houseplants for Small Spaces
The best houseplants for small spaces are compact, adaptable, and do not take over a room. Here are eight that suit flats, shelves, and tight corners.
Plant Guides
8 Best Houseplants to Give as Gifts
The best houseplants to give as gifts are easy to keep alive, widely loved, and often carry a bit of meaning. Here are eight that suit almost any recipient.
Plant Guides
The Best Time to Buy Houseplants (and When to Hold Off)
When to buy houseplants for the best choice and the safest start, why spring and summer beat winter, and how to buy in cold weather without shocking a plant.
Plant Guides
Bromeliad Care: How to Keep Your Bromeliad Alive and Blooming
How to care for a bromeliad indoors, from filling the central cup to what happens after it flowers, and how to grow the pup offsets into new plants.
Plant Guides
Buying Houseplants Online: What to Expect and How to Avoid Trouble
How to buy houseplants online safely, what really arrives in the box, how to unbox and settle a mail-order plant, and when shipping a plant is a bad idea.
Plant Guides
Ctenanthe Care: How to Grow the Never-Never Plant Indoors
How to care for a ctenanthe (never-never plant) indoors, from humidity and watering to why the leaves roll and what to do about browning leaf edges.
Plant Guides
Common Houseplant Shopping Mistakes (and How to Avoid Them)
The mistakes that turn a houseplant purchase into a quick failure, from buying for looks over light to skipping the pest check, and how to shop better.
Plant Guides
How to Choose a Healthy Houseplant at the Shop
What to check before buying a houseplant, from leaves and stems to roots, soil, and hidden pests, so you bring home a healthy plant and not a problem.
Plant Guides
Oxalis Triangularis Care: Growing Purple Shamrock Indoors
How to care for oxalis triangularis (purple shamrock) as a houseplant, from light and watering to its dormancy cycle and how to wake it up again.
Plant Guides
Syngonium Care: How to Grow Arrowhead Plant Indoors
How to care for a syngonium (arrowhead plant) indoors: light, watering, and humidity, plus what to do when leaves lose variegation or the plant gets leggy.
Plant Guides
Where to Buy Houseplants: Garden Centers, Big Shops, and Online
The pros and cons of buying houseplants from garden centers, supermarkets and hardware stores, specialist plant shops, and online sellers, and which suits you.
Plant Guides
African Violet Care: Getting It to Flower Year-Round
How to care for an African violet, with the light, bottom watering, and warmth that keep this compact plant flowering almost continuously indoors.
Plant Guides
Air Plant Care: Watering a Plant That Grows Without Soil
A care guide for air plants (tillandsia), explaining how to water a soil-free plant by soaking, the light it needs, and why most air plants die of thirst.
Plant Guides
Areca Palm Care: Keeping the Fronds Green, Not Brown
How to care for an areca palm indoors, with the bright light, steady moisture, and humidity that stop its feathery fronds browning at the tips.
Plant Guides
Begonia Care: Light, Watering, and Avoiding Mildew Indoors
How to care for indoor begonias, from rex to cane types, with the light and careful watering that bring out their leaf color without inviting mildew.
Plant Guides
7 Houseplants That Thrive in a Bathroom
The best bathroom plants cope with low light, swings in temperature, and the humidity from a hot shower. These seven genuinely thrive there.
Plant Guides
7 Best Plants for a Kitchen Windowsill and Countertop
The best kitchen plants handle warmth, humidity from cooking, and the odd splash, and stay compact on a windowsill. Here are seven that suit a kitchen.
Plant Guides
9 Best Living Room Plants, From Statement to Easy
The best living room plants range from big floor-standing statement plants to easy shelf fillers. Here are nine to suit a bright, welcoming living room.
Plant Guides
7 Best Houseplants for a Sunny Window
A hot, south-facing windowsill kills shade lovers but suits sun worshippers. These seven houseplants want the bright, direct light a sunny window gives.
Plant Guides
9 Best Trailing and Hanging Houseplants
The best trailing houseplants spill from shelves and hanging pots with long vines. Here are nine, from near-indestructible to the more demanding trailers.
Plant Guides
Bird of Paradise Care: Growing Strelitzia as a Houseplant
A care guide for the indoor bird of paradise, covering the bright light it demands, watering, and why it rarely flowers as a houseplant.
Plant Guides
Cast Iron Plant Care: The Near-Indestructible Aspidistra
A care guide for the cast iron plant, the shade-tolerant Aspidistra that survives deep neglect, with light, watering, and why it grows so slowly.