My Favorite Houseplants & Their Care

I have had a few requests for this post over the last months, and I have hesitated to write it because I am so NOT a plant whisperer. But, I do love plants so much, and I have found a few that are pretty easy to keep alive and can really make a room happy and fresh.

At the bottom of this post, I am sharing some simple tips for keeping your plants happy. It's nothing super science-y or difficult, but it's little things I have picked up over the years that have helped me. 

These plants that I am sharing with you are the ones that I have found to be some of the easiest to keep alive & I love how they look. 

1. Pothos Ivy // Epipremnun Aureum

^^ This guy might just be the easiest plant to keep alive. It can grow in window-less rooms (I had one in my cubical back in the day). You can also propagate this plant simply by snipping a vine off and placing it in water. You can leave it in the water or plant it in dirt once the roots start growing. I water this plant when I notice the leaves getting a little droopy. I've had this Pothos for over 4 years and it has weathered 4 moves with us. He is a winner!

2. Burro's Tail // Sedum Morganianum

^^ Burro's Tail loves light and it does very well in this south facing window. This pot doesn't have good drainage, but I compensated for that by placing some small gravel in the bottom of the pot to catch the excess whenever I might overwater it. I let it dry out well in between waterings.

3. Swiss Cheese Vine // Monstera Obliqua

^^ I have only had this monstera for 2-3 months, but I wanted to share it because I love how cute it is! And it grows so quickly. It is currently sitting on our westerly facing front porch and it receives bright, indirect light. I need to repot it as the soil seems to dry out pretty quickly. I'll typically mist this guy when I'm out misting my hanging ferns.

4. Old Man Cactus // Cephalocereus Senilis

^^ If you follow me over on Instagram, you've probably seen this cactus before. I bought it about 7 months ago at Home Depot of all places, and it has grown so quickly. I've never had a cactus grow this quickly for me before. I moved it outside on our east-facing deck during the summer and it seems to like the amount of sun there. I will say that all of my cacti and succulents do much better in terra cotta pots. I tend to overwater, but the terra cotta is so porous that that isn't an issue.


5. Baby Rubber Plant // Peperomia Obtusifolia

^^ I've had this plant for about 7 months as well and it is very easy to care for. It likes high light and likes the soil to dry out in between waterings.

6. String of Hearts // Ceropegia Woodii

^^ Although the String of Hearts is a messy plant, I love how dainty it is. I'm a sucker for trailing vines. This guy also likes my south-facing window, but I don't have it in direct sunlight usually. I let the soil dry out in between waterings.

Some simple tips for happy plants:

// I keep a watering can nearby so that I can easily and quickly water my plants. If it's not convenient, I typically let my plants go too long without water and sometimes they don't recover! I also set a reminder on my phone once every week (Sundays) to water my plants. Some need more or less than that, but at least I don't go weeks without remembering! :)

// If I pot a plant into a container that doesn't have good drainage, I make sure to place an inch or so of gravel in the bottom of the pot to keep any excess water off of the roots. 

// Before you fill a pot with soil + your plant, place a coffee filter in the bottom of the pot so that the soil doesn't fall out of the hole. 

// More often than not, my sad-looking plants just need a bit of rearranging so that they they get more sunlight. Most light-loving plants need to "see" the sky from where they sit. 

// I will occasionally aerate my plant's soil to allow proper drainage and so the the roots can breathe.