WHY GROW HOUSEPLANTS?

Contact with nature has been proven to relieve stress and improve well-being, and has positive and measurable effects on physical health too. Houseplants, with their diverse forms and colors, deliver these benefits directly into your home, whether you live in a mansion or an urban flat. Looking after plants not only enlivens your house and gives expression to your creativity but is hugely rewarding, satisying a deep-seated need to nurture and an instinct to make life better.

MAKE FRIENDS

The simplest reason to grow plants in your home is that they are upliftingly beautiful. Seeing greenery around you can boost your mood, make you feel more relaxed and calm, and provide a number of health benefits. You don’t need a lot of space to fit in some stunning specimens, and as you read this book, you’ll soon see that there’s a houseplant for every room and every occasion. Each houseplant has its own character and, given time, will become your friend. Research suggests that talking to plants really does make them grow faster, too.

The false shamrock has distinctive purple leaves that close up at night.

CREATE AN ATMOSPHERE

Houseplants can transform your living space immeasurably. Whether your tastes lean toward the minimal or the grand and baroque, there’s sure to be a species—or even a creative combination of plants—with the aesthetic attributes to create the style and atmosphere you’re aiming for. The bold, architectural forms of cacti, the stunning flowers of amaryllis and hibiscus, and the lush tropical foliage of plants such as palms, bromeliads, and philodendrons—all create their distinctive moods and can give one space very different looks.

Houseplants can be used to unite or divide interior spaces, to create patterns, to disguise features you’d rather lose, and to create interest in dead spaces. Their colors can complement or contrast with interior finishes and decorations to give you a new look in just a few minutes, without lifting a paint brush or investing in costly new furniture. Choosing and positioning houseplants, along with the containers you grow them in, presents you with countless options and ways to express your personality in your home; and what’s more, if you ever move, your garden can move with you.

Trailing houseplants are cleverly arranged here to accentuate the height and lightness of an urban interior.

DEVELOP AN INTEREST

An interest in houseplants often has small beginnings, perhaps triggered by the receipt of an unusual plant as a gift or by experiencing stunning foliage, flowers, and scents on a vacation to warmer climes. However your interest arises, it can soon take you in many directions. You may, for example, become captivated by one type of plant—orchids or carnivorous plants, perhaps—and be driven to collect and cultivate a range of such species.

You might also be inspired to grow plants from one particular country, continent, or ecosystem—cacti from American deserts or Brazilian bromeliads, for example. There’s no need to have a theme in mind when keeping houseplants, but doing so turns plant collecting into a compelling pastime, through which you can build your appreciation of the living world.

Carnivorous plants provide a talking point in any household.

Inspiration for groupings may come from seeing plants in their natural habitats.

LEARN TO NURTURE

One of the most satisfying aspects of keeping houseplants is watching them mature into healthy specimens, and perhaps even flower and produce offspring. Many people who grow them are inspired to try outdoor gardening when they see what is possible with limited resources indoors.

When you begin keeping houseplants, select species that are relatively easy to grow and maintain, and that are well matched to the growing conditions in your home. Success will encourage you to move on to species that require more specialized care. Indoor gardening is an addictive hobby and before you know it, you’ll have a plant in every room of the house, and a network of fellow enthusiasts with whom you can share knowledge and cuttings.

Propagating and repotting houseplants to share with friends and family is a terrific social activity.