Besides the beauty in it, the minimalist lifestyle, for me, is about ease of care and minimal maintenance.
House plants add great ambiance to a home, and many of them can be grown with a minimum of care and maintenance. Yes, for the green thumbless, there are many house plants that you can’t kill — unless you just completely and absolutely neglect them. Watering and pruning is usually all it takes.
We do want our environments to be beautiful, and plants are one way to add to the beauty. Also, with plants, we get the added benefit of their helping to purify the air in the home.
A favorite “house plant you can’t kill” is the snake plant, and its cousin, the mother-in-law’s tongue. I love the way they grow upright and neat — for the most part. I have seen some messy looking ones, too. But, when they are growing straight up in a pretty pot, they do have an appeal.
In my All About House Plants book, I have an article I cut out from Good Housekeeping magazine ten years ago. It’s Houseplants Anyone Can Grow. Listed are Cast-Iron, Chinese Evergreen, Earth Star, Grape Ivy, India Rubber, Peace Lily, and Snake Plant. These plants can be tended with watering every one to two weeks and by taking away any dead leaves.
The pothos, or Golden Pothos, is another plant that is easy to care for. It trails from the pot, continually producing heart-shaped leaves. I have one in the kitchen that I do have to keep trimming to keep it from overtaking the room! (I actually had one that I let grow like this one time.)
So, for me, minimizing is not all about straight lines. It encompasses nature and what’s real. Nothing can be more real than house plants. Decorate with plants and make your home truly more inviting.
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MiMi
When the cold weather dictated that it was time to bring in my spider plant I placed it in a spot that can be seen from anywhere in my living room or kitchen. I do not have a green thumb, but have been doing pretty good with this plant. In the spring I plan to root some more from the plant I have. This one plant has added so much to the calmness I feel when I’m in my home, and I plan to add a few more. Thank you for the suggestions on appropriate plants for my non existent green thumb. :)
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You are quite welcome, Crystal. The spider plant is “hard to kill,” and it looks look cool, too. :)
I’m sorry, I about spit my coffee all over the keyboard when I saw that Mother-In-Law’s Tongue and Snake Plant were closely related.
Botanists have a sarcastic sense of humor too!
Can’t kill plastic.
Seriously, house plants do add more than just ambiance and pure air. Another bennie would be the subtly added structure to one’s life. Those plants do require some care, no matter how much. Routines are constructed. I have seen this small act of dedication grow to instill focus in a person’s life. Focus that began to creep beyond the grren care.
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LOL
And such a good point there. Caring for house plants does add structure.
And it helps make us more conscious that it’s not all about us.
Taking care of animals does that, too. I just love nature. Even the possums that my dog “kills” just about every night. LOL …They are starting to fight back now, though, and not lay down and feign death so easily. I guess a lot of it has to do with the fact that they have grown larger than my ten-pounds-or-so dachshund.
Well, how’s that for getting off topic? : D
At the moment, I have one lowly cactus sitting in a little pot in the morning room… It looks as if I need to check out a few more :)
and as I’m going to be a Mother-in-Law in a matter of a few weeks, maybe that should be my next plant ;)
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The mother-in-law’s tongue just might be appropriate. :)
I’lll be looking out for some of the plants you named, given my track record with houseplants! I do have a Dragon Tree that seems to thrive on the minimum care. Although I swear I have never seen a plant look so happy when I put it in a bigger pot!
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Well, that does help. Even these plants aren’t adverse to even more care. Fertilizing every month is good, too. :)
I’m best with succulents :) See: http://www.squidoo.com/how-to-start-and-aloe-plant (and link love is still not working for me)
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Katinka, my only succulent is an aloe. :) Mother in law had a huge one in the center of her dining room table. Hubby destroyed it in the past few of weeks with one watering. …Check in Support. I think someone posted how to set up/fix your link love.
My mom used to have mother-in-law, I think I remember those. A good idea for my house, as I tend to ignore plants period. And I used to have a houseful! Thank you for the list of easy-care ones. Maybe it’s time to add more green to my house!
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You are quite welcome, Joan. Yes! Having had them before, you know what a great thing it is to have live plants in the home.
Wish I could email some of those mother-in-laws (the Plants, not the person, don’t have one those!)We have so many we have to leave some outside to get frost bit. They are also miniature mother-in-laws that are much more compact and are very interesting. My mom got one from the neighbor, we never new that they came in mini sizes.
Ah, didn’t know that, either. Would love to see pix. :)
I’ve been known to kill some of those above mentioned plants..
I do okay with outdoor plants, as long as I can keep them out of
reach of our ‘free-range’ donkeys who will eat ANYTHING, including
bromiliads with needle-sharp thorns.
Houseplants have never survived in my house for any length of time…
ever!!!!
Aww, Kathi. Well, maybe try one at the time. The golden pothos is so easy. You might hang it over the kitchen sink. It’ll be there, reminding you to water it, and the water will be right there waiting. :)