House Plants: a necessity in the modern home today
House plants were a main feature in my Nana’s home when I was young. House plants transformed her flat into an oasis.
She had an assortment of pot plants (over 70) of various shapes, sizes and shades of green. My favourite was the Ficus lyrata - Large Fiddle Leaf, the size of the leaf on this plant fascinated me on every visit.
In our modern world we underestimate the joy and necessity of having houseplants around the home, where we often find a very metallic and artificial environment in need of the friendly atmosphere that house plants create.
A house plant well placed, captures the eye when you walk into a room – it permeates peace and helps you recognize that you are home and it’s time for you to have a break.
A plant for every type of place
When buying a house plant, you want to consider which variety is best suited for the position you wish to place it in. If you are wanting your lounge to look ‘homely’, then you might like a table topper for the coffee table. A house plant has the habit of ‘decluttering’ a coffee table from all the work papers and odd bits and pieces left there during the day.
Florists will be able assist you as you consider the type of plant that best suits your needs. They will also be able to offer you a choice of colour in regards to the ceramic pot that your house plant comes in. Do you need black, white or a shade of grey to match the surroundings for your new house plant?
Table Toppers
The table topper on the coffee table makes room for the magazine and coasters and brings the coffee table back to its original purpose – for socializing and relaxing after a day of work.
Such table toppers as the Clusia Rosea Princess, also work wonders in an office. Whether for your home business or your office desk at work, a pot plant gives a freshness to a work space, creating a change in shape and colour in the common work space.
Some also act as air purifiers, giving them a double purpose in their roles on your desk or table. Table toppers make great business gifts as a ‘longer lasting’ thank you.
Flowering House Plants
If looking for more colour to brighten up a table or corner of a room, then florists will also have a variety of flowering plants that give a stately feel to any space.
Whether you like the purple of an orchid, the pure whiteness of a peace lily, or the bright pink flowers of the Angel Wing (Begonia Maculata) against the vibrant green foliage, flowering house plants always capture the eye of a visitor and often draw out conversation.
Large Grade House Plants
People forget about the importance of lightening up hallways or entrances to their homes. Too often we wander down a long hallway, or walk into a house which remains lifeless until we enter the lounge.
Having a fruit salad plant (Monstera Deliciosa) close by the doorway or in the corner of a conservatory can make visitors feel welcomed.
If you are unsure about which house plant might best suit you or the person you plan to give it to, then your florist will be able to direct you to the right house plant that would suit the situation, how much light or warmth a plant needs, or if it thrives better in certain environments.
If you want to select for yourself, then consider house plants that others may also find versatile – such as the ever popular Monstera Deliosa.
House plants can bring nature to what has become a very metallic inside environment
We live in a society that tends to have technology in every corner of the room, pinned to the wall and sitting on the mantel piece. While we certainly need technology for communication, work and leisure, what better way to hide some of the external hardware than by splitting it up with the foliage and beauty of a house plant.
Also, when you look around a room, too often everything is formed in straight hard edged lines. The lure of oblong leaves of a house plant give an aesthetically pleasing feel to a room by creating a mixture of manmade lines combined with the free flowing lines found in nature.
You don’t need to be a green thumb to make your house plants survive
Just as some people say they can’t boil water without burning it, you may be skeptical about your ability to look after a house plant for more than a month.
Florists cater for beginners as well as the green thumbs! Get yourself an indestructible starter pack - these literally are impossible to destroy without deliberately trying to sabotage your homely little friend. Florists will have such packs for you, or be able to direct you to the right type of house plant to begin with.
Read the information given on the website, or ask the florist for advice. Some plants need more light than others, some can suffer burns if in direct sunlight all the time, while other tropical plants flourish with having a spray of water on their foliage. If you are new to looking after a house plant, ask for advice on how much to water your plant or when to know if it needs more water.
Starter packs have the bonus of having more than one plant, giving you a bit of variety and very quickly making you look like an expert when it comes to indoor plants! These starter packs will contain plants that are easy to look after and quickly give balance around a room if looking for more than just one table topper.
House plants can bring connections across generations
Giving a house plant to someone living alone is a powerful gift. Is gives the person an opportunity to care for something – perhaps where a pet would not be appropriate or not allowed - and is certainly a lot more affordable.
The house plants that my Nana had, always caught my eye and I could spot the ones that I had given her as a gift. As a grandchild, staying at her place in the school holidays, helping to water her plants became a morning task to assist her with during the week. Young children love to look at the various ornaments and objects around their grandparents’ home – and when they can spot a gift that they have given, on display, it makes the homeliness of their grandparents’ place all the more apparent.
But houseplants are not just for the elderly. My youngest child, at seven, loves looking after the indoor plants that his Nana has given to him. While he may not be inspired to help me in the vegie garden, having a house plant or two that are his very own, entices him to take interest and care of the plants, without the task being onerous in any way.
When my oldest daughter moved on to university, her music teacher gave her a special pot plant to reside in her room at her hostel. Three years later it continues to do well and flourish alongside her in her studies. And some plants are completely fascinating in what they do. In my bachelor years, I possessed a Prayer Plant (the likes of the Caltheas). The way this plant folds up its leaves in the evening as if it is saying its bedtime prayers was intriguing – and a good reminder that it was time for bed for me as well!
The thing is – these gifts of house plants gave an opportunity of sharing a common ground across people and across generations. These connections come from the sharing of caring, nurturing and enjoying a living thing inside your own home.
House plants can be a regular gift
House plants are easy to care for. They don’t become outdated, and they never look tacky or gaudy. There are only so many birthdays or Mother’s Days before even the most creative of us can run out of original and useful ideas for gifts. But house plants have variety of their own. They earn their keep by decorating a corner, an empty shelf or desk.
Instead of sitting and just getting dusty over time, they beg for just a little bit of care. A single house plant can look lonely, but as a gift that you can give again and again, you give the opportunity to create characters who envelop various rooms of a house, creating company and pleasure for any home dweller.
House plants bring routine into an ever changing world. We face a lot of uncertainties and we all need something constant that brings routine back into our life. Giving a gift of a house plant to someone, or to yourself, creates that constant in a living area, a routine of easy maintenance, and the opportunity to branch out and add more to your collection of houseplants, building the atmosphere you desire in a peaceful home.