We’re trying a new house plant on for size here at Casa Petersik, which might sound about as newsworthy as “John got a haircut,” but it’s actually quite a big deal for us. See, we usually stick with what we know in the plant department (read all about the plants that we know and love right here). So who’s the new guy in town?
Why this fantastic feathery asparagus fern that we fell in love with at Home Depot (in an already-owned planter that was gifted by a friend a while back). While swooning over our new housemate, we were sure to ask the garden people if it was easy to kill and two separate experts vehemently denied it – and actually referred to it as quite a hardy little thing. It just looks so light and vulnerable. I guess time will tell…
So far we’ve been enjoying his company for two weeks in the bathroom and he’s been looking as happy as a clam in there.
Ferns love moisture so a steamy bathroom fits the bill. And believe it or not we actually haven’t watered it once in the last two weeks (even though the tag says “high moisture plant”) since the steam from the shower seems to be keeping him happy. We’ve learned our lesson when it comes to overwatering things, so we wait for plants to look limp or for the soil to feel dry before adding water (and so far this guy has dodged that bullet).
We’ll keep you posted on our new house plant’s status as time goes by (cross your fingers that it doesn’t cross over from “alive ” to “not alive”). And while we’re on the subject, what kind of house plants are tried and true at your house? Do you have any that you find impossible to kill? Or others that you just can’t keep alive? Let’s talk about greenery that’s super easy and fresh looking… and anything that you think we should avoid for fear of killing it in record time.
Psst- Wanna know about all the other plants that live it up in Casa Petersik? Look no further.
I love these plants! So wispy and cute. What kind of light does it prefer?
It says “some indirect sunlight” which is pretty good for any room with a window that gets a decent amount of light streaming through it at some point. Hope it helps!
xo,
s
This asparagus plant looks wonderful! This is a very timely post, as we are trying to find some plants for our house that are hard to kill (so far, all my plants have died on me), so we might have to try this one out!
Btw, I finally added/”liked” you on facebook! Don’t know what took me so long. :)
I just discovered our 2 year old Ikea plant’s leaves had turned yellow overnight. I forgot to water it for about amonth. Woops : /
Poor little dude looked so pitiful.
I’ve actually managed to keep a Norfolk Pine Tree alive for the past four years. It was a gift given at my favorite uncle’s funeral who passed away very suddenly, so I call it by his name and talk to it all the time. My husband thinks I’m crazy. It’s doubled in size since I’ve had it, and I hope someday to make it into a second Christams tree during the holidays when it reaches a good height.
But I’ve managed to kill ivy, African violets, mums, lucky bamboo and basil.
I don’t have much of a green thumb, but I do know that asparagus seems to be a very hearty plant. We have it growing next to the grassy area before the woods starts. In the spring, weeds start coming up and the plants still do fine. So, they are very low maintenance. They are beautiful plants and are actually used in landscaping quite often . . . two birds in one stone? Veggies and decoration?! Please keep us updated on how it does inside.
sidenote: My friend once tried to start an avocado seed, it sprouted but didn’t do much.
I have a peace lily plant that I took home from a funeral 10 years ago. It is large, beautiful, and flowers (if you feed it occasionally) and while it’s not impossible to kill, it’s very hardy. Just needs water once a week and some indirect light. Ferns are easy growers and so are bamboo plants.
I inherited 3 enormous Christmas Cacti from my mom when I bought her house. I have a black thumb and I was terrified of killing them since they have been in our family for over 40 years! Yep, they are very sturdy, large, bloom twice a year and they absolutely thrive on my neglect! It helps that I have them in the draftiest room in my house since they prefer it cooler in the winter and morning sun. It kills my mom that they are doing better on my watch since she has watched me kill every other variety of houseplant I’ve tried!
After trying and failing to keep a succession of the hardiest houseplants alive (I honestly killed a cactus), I took my black thumb to the fake plant department and bought a lovely looking tree of some kind. The dog promptly ate it.
So, I finally just killed my love of greenery, and I’ve been happy ever since.
OMG! We picked up an enormous one at a yard sale a couple of months ago for $5!!! It has been very happy in a bedroom. However, It took us forever to figure out the species!
I seem to kill any and every plant. Right now, I have a few succulents, which are okay, but we’ll see in a few months. I recently created a few terrariums and they are thriving!
http://ourhumbleabowed.wordpress.com/2010/08/18/terrific-terrarium/
I like it!
I, too, tend to kill any plant. My mom gave me flowers and herbs and they are all dead. I forgot to water them for about a day and a half (outside, no rain) and they started to die so I gave up. The only thing still surviving are pepper plants and I don’t know how because I haven’t watered them in at least a month.
I require plants that don’t need a lot of TLC!
My bamboo plants I got at Ikea are about the easiest things to keep alive. Just put them in a clear vase with interesting pebbles, and add water! I put the vase under a running faucet to kind of freshen up the water every month. That’s about all it takes for mine to thrive!
I love house plants and have pretty good luck with them. My favorite is a rubber tree that I have had for about 7 years. It must be 6 feet tall now and luckily we have 9 foot ceilings so I can let it grow! I cut the top off once and that is growing in it’s own pot. I also still have two poinsettia plants from last Christmas that I can’t believe are still alive. The rubber tree likes lots of water so I don’t think it could be killed by neglect and my other plants I just water when they get droopy or the soil is dry. I love the look of your asparagus fern!
I love the light yellow planter. It’s a great accent color to the pale green walls in the bathroom. Looks great!
Tropicals, because you don’t have to worry about over watering them and they love sun! Our house is full of sun so they seem to be a perfect fit.
We also try to find things with long leaves and that aren’t poisonous to animals because our kitties love to chew!
I love how you guys are so honest about your houseplants, “We even asked the garden people if it was easy to kill.” I’m certainly not a gren thumb, so I appreciate that kind of honesty (and the real time feedback from you guys on how it’s working out…). Keep it up!
Pothos, spider plants and schifflera (sp?) have always been easy to care for plants for me, and they’re pretty. I love that fern you found! I wish I could have that in my bathroom, but my cats would think it’s kitty greens and consume it in a day.
My parents have a whole slew of spider plants in their backyard. When they moved into the house almost 26 years ago, there was one or two, and they’ve multiplied like rabbits since then! I put one in a terrarium in 5th grade, and it was the only plant that didn’t die. I’m constantly amazed at their resilience when we hit our 115+ temps here in Phoenix in the summer :)
So wispy! My tried and true go to is the Snake Plant/Mother-In-Law’s Tongue. They are so hardy! One plant I love that just will not live is orchids! I cannot keep them for more than a couple months before the petals fall off and then the rest of the plant wilts! So sad. :(
In College I bought a “money tree” at Target for less than $15 and loved it for 4 years! They have big beautiful leafy leaves and a lean trunk (plus they are supposed to bring “good luck” in money…we all could use a little of that!) :)
That plant is a great addition to the room. I always forget to water my indoor plants – it’s rough!
Devil’s Ivy and Philodendron–both kind of drapey, green-leafed house plants. They do quite well if you ignore them altogether, so I’d say they’re pretty hardy in anyone’s green (or brown) thumbed hands. :)
I love asparagus ferns! Sadly, I can’t bring them inside since they are toxic and my cats just love chewing on plants. I do have a few orchids, and a corn plant inside, which are safe if they get ingested by my pets. :)
While we were young newly weds we had a lot of plants around the house. Once the kids arrived the plants began to drop like flies. The only kind that survived was our aloe plant. It can go for almost six months without water! It truly is amazing. It lives in the corner of our dining room, so doesn’t require much light, either. I highly recommend the aloe plant.
I have a spider plant, which is probably the hardest thing ever to kill. My mom has had hers since my younger brother planted it in a dixie cup in first grade (he’s now 26). My plant is rooted from one of the babies.
Pothos plants (also called money plants) are nearly impossible to kill. They’re poisonous to dogs, so we keep ours on a shelf in the kitchen.
I’ve been having luck with succelents lately. They truly are hard to kill which is good with my tendancy to forget to water. I also have two plants from Ikea which are doing really well.
Not a big fan of this guy. It’s growing wild in my front yard and I don’t know where it came from. I thought they were known as “Air Ferns”. It looks lovely contained in a small pot but out in the yard it grows like a weed and spreads like wild fire!!
We seriously buy more plants here than we do haircuts for the hubs (Dallan). Our window sill next to our Master Tub, is filled with a variety of plants. Unfortunately, one of our little guys passed away two weeks ago (I think Dallan over watered the little guy). I love the feathery fern leaves on the above plant. He would be a great little replacement. I see a Home Depot trip in our future.
Fair warning – asparagus ferns can get enormous! My best friend had one that grew to gigundo proportions. It was a beautiful plant, but it would have filled a bushel basket with plenty spilling over! Good luck!
I love houseplants! My only problem is that I ‘kill them with kindness’ (AKA overwatering!). The plants that seem to enjoy that treatment in our house include Dracanea (it also likes to be misted), Pineapple plant (not actually a pineapple but looks like the top of one), Peace Lily (seems happy here but never blooms!), Dumb Cane, and African Violet. The plants that prefer less water: Snake Plant (impossible to kill, and looks great!), Aloe, and Christmas Cactus are upstairs where I am less inclined to over-water them!!
Oh, and a great website for houseplant Q and As is http://houseplants-care.blogspot.com/
I love all kinds of ferns and they are usually all pretty hardy. Three plants that I love and are hard to kill/easy to care for are Sansevieria trifasciata aka Mother In Law’s Tongue (or Snake Plant), Bird’s Nest Fern and Zamioculcas zamiifolia aka ZZ plant. I’m more of a leaf person than flowers and these all have cool leaves. I also forget to water and move them all around the house…light, no light, direct sun, shade…and they have all done just fine. And last but not least, you can always go with succulents. Though they do love to be outside in the sun, they will survive just fine inside.
Thank you so much for this post (and the link to the other post)! I always wondered what kind of plants you guys had around your house. I need to add more to my living quarters and will probably use the exact ones you have recommended.
Pathos plants are wonderful and are very hearty! They have survived my move from arid Colorado to less-than-sunny Seattle and have thrived. I bought two for our office as well! So nice to add a bit of green to the fluorescent environment. They can be straight green or verigated with white in the leaves. I water ours once a week or when they look droopy.
Lovely little plant!
Can I ask how your green glass soap dispenser is holding up? I want the blue glass one from Target but so many of their soap dispensers get awful reviews (leaking, rusting, etc) that I’m nervous to make the purchase. Thanks!!!
Hey Bryanna,
Still going strong. We actually have two (one in each bathroom) and we love them.
xo,
s
Wow, I want a plant that doesn’t need to be watered! “Honey, I need to take an extra-long hot shower so the plan can get some water!”
We have extra plants around the house right now too. I brought home flowers for my wife and she had also bought flowers that day, whoops! We split it into 3 bouquets. I don’t think she’s complaining :)
Basil is the plant that plagues my husband and me:
http://www.freshoutoflemons.com/something-to-talk-about/2010/8/21/the-spice-of-lifehas-died-again.html
I love ferns and never thought of them for the bathroom but I love a steamy shower (I try to be as green as possible but that is one thing I struggle with) and this sounds perfect.
I have had great luck in not killing, or almost killing but reviving with these types:
Bamboo (hardly ever have to water);
and Jade (again you rarely need to water, and you can basically kill it and it will come back) and a definite must, Pothos (it is a good hanging or creeping plant, that doesn’t need a lot of light or care). I have had the same Pothos plant for like 5 yrs!
You can see some of my beauties here
http://styleandcentsability.wordpress.com/2010/04/19/before-and-after-kitchen/
I’ve had philodendrons for years – they are super long-lived and easy to care for. I just water them once a week or every couple of weeks along with my other house plants. They grow like crazy! I love them because I can spread the vines across the ceiling or along the top of my kitchen cabinets, adding quite a jungle effect.
I have the worst “green thumb” ever. I’m so glad I found your blog because it helped me choose lots of succulents for our house.
Your plants are in such cute pots I just had to copy and get the white Ikea planters to fill with impossible for me to kill burro tails and such.
My daughter even wanted one for her room after I showed her the pictures of yours. She even picked the same Ikea pot!
Love the asparagus fern! I’ll probably copy that too. I know just the spot for it in the bathroom. It will be on a shelf that already has our YHL print from your much missed shop. We got the print with all the blue/yellow stripes.
Thanks for all the inspiration!
Hee hee – that’s literally a weed here in So. California. Pretty though! And hardy as the one crawling up my orange tree that keeps coming back can attest to.
Everything we seem to bring into the house one of us is allergic to :( The only thing we aren’t allergic to AND can keep alive seems to be bamboo.
Sigh.
I like indoor herb gardens. Green, functional, and they smell great.
Where does your watering bucket live when not in use (I noticed the green watering bucket in last week’s post on the failed turning bottles into drinking glasses experiment.) Even though this little guy has not needed watering yet you have plenty of other house plants which need watering but I don’t see a watering bucket creating cluttler anywhere. I’m trying to find a home for my small house plant devoted water bucket that isn’t my kitchen table.
Hey Lisa,
That green watering can lives outside on the back steps (since it’s so cute and bright green we think it’s kind of charming). But inside I run around watering plants from one of our Klean Kanteens (we have three of them around the house so it’s easy to just grab it and give everything a little splash). Hope it helps!
xo,
s
They are really awesome plants. We had one for years and hardly EVER watered it.
I’ve heard that they can be bad for pets though, so you might not want your dog to get too close.
I hope to God that thing doesn’t grow real asparagus. Because that would just be… gross… to grow that in a bathroom. LOL.
It does look very wispy and cute, though!
I love this little plant! I’ve got just the place for one of those!
I have a 29-year-old Arboricola plant (often called a “Dwarf Umbrella Tree/Bush”) that’s survived my houseplant killing Mom for 20 years, being tossed out into the WI snow for a frozen night (an attempt to finally do the plant in, after it was half-dead), and six years of plant-eating cats. Talk about hardy. It’s perfectly happy to bask in our evening sunlit living room. Just be careful not to overwater them when they’re still tiny.
I am, however, a succulent killer. Cacti and jade, beware! Guess I just like my plants well-watered…
PS – you can pick the aboricola up virtually everywhere. From Ikea to Home Depot to nurseries.
I love the idea of keeping fresh plants in every room….unfortunately, they never seem to like us :( Had a succulent tree for almost 6 years once – then we had to move out of the country so we gave “him” away to strangers….almost made me cry…..
Oh that’s a lush little fern! Goes nicely with the wall color in your bathroom. I might have to pick up an asparagus plant for my bathroom…
For plants that require less attention, my bf turned me on to succulents. They’re a nice hybrid between flower and plant, lol. And for someone whose thumb lacks any green at all, they are quite easy to care for. :-)
I LOVE house plants (orchids, peperomia, pothos, purple passion, ivy, bamboo, succulents, arrowhead vine, aloe…it’s a mild obsession)! My favorite are sanseveria (aka snake plant). I have several varieties in different rooms, including my windowless bathroom. I just rotate them every couple of months & they are thriving. I don’t seem to have much luck with palms or African violets though!?
Looks lovely!
I cannot keep basil alive for the life of me, and it saddens me :( But at least I haven’t managed to kill my Elephant Bush yet (or a cactus) so that’s exciting for me!