The best room in the house (for your plants) is the bath. House plants perform well with natural light and shower mist; as an added bonus, they also purify the air. Since you probably don’t have an outdoor bathtub, they’ll bring a touch of green indoors.
Staghorn Fern
Above: Staghorn ferns like moist climates and generally require a lot of maneuvering to keep them properly watered. Instead of fussing over yours, give it a permanent home in a shower. Photograph by Katie Newburn for Gardenista.
Air Plant
Above: Tillandsias need only the occasional water bath to stay alive. Keeping them next to a bathroom sink makes giving them a quick dip easy to remember and might discourage the accumulation of too much else. Photograph by Katie Newburn for Gardenista.
Waffle Plant
Above: A Waffle Plant (Hemigraphis alternata ‘Exotica’) is a creeper with crinkly, puckered leaves. Keep it out of direct sunlight. Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.
Ant Plant
Above: Photograph by Alexa Hotz.
With its moisture and steam, a bathroom reminds the Dischidia pectinoides of its home in the rain forest. An Ant Plant is so lavatory-loving that it is content to bloom there for years and years, spicing up your loo with tiny red buds. Every time you take a shower, don’t forget you’re also feeding your Dischidia pectinoides its lunch.
Angel Vine
Above: Angel Vine (Muehlenbeckia) hails from a humid climate and to keep it from drying out in indoor air, place near an open window or doorway that opens onto fresh air. Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.
Orchid
Above: Keep your Phalaenopsis Orchid in its plastic nursery pot and set that pot into a decorative planter (as above). This makes it easy to water the orchid—just set the plastic pot in the sink when it’s time—and gives you the option to display it in an urn or vase that has no drainage holes. Photograph by Mimi Giboin for Gardenista.
Lace Fern
Above: To create a tropical oasis in this Japanese-style bath, designer Simon Astridge added potted ferns and other moisture-loving plants. Pictured is the lace fern. See Bathroom of the Week: A Japanese-Style Bath in London, Greenery Included for other plants in this bathroom. Photograph by Nicholas Worley.
N.B.: For more houseplant help, see:
- Best Houseplants: 9 Indoor Plants for Low Light.
- Field Guide: Dischidia Pectinoides.
- Steal This Look: Houseplants in the Bedroom, Teen Edition.
Finally, get more ideas on how to plant, grow, and care for various houseplants with our Houseplants: A Field Guide.