Team Real Plants

I have to admit I don’t have a green thumb, but even though faux or fake plants seem to be making a pretty significant comeback (um, does every home blogger now have a fake fiddle leaf fig in their home?) I just can’t.  But I promise it’s not a snobbery thing.  I just think no matter how good the fake looks an artificial plant kind of defeats the purpose of having a plant in your home.

house plants

No joke, when we lived in KY I went to a functional medicine doctor and one of the things he was passionate about telling all of his patients was that they should have plants in their home.  He was also big on turmeric and felt that everyone should be taking it every day, but that’s a story for another day.  Anyhow, I remember thinking, really?  House plants are good for your health?  I always thought house plants were about aesthetics; I had no idea they could detox the air, reduce airborne dust levels, increase the humidity……and there are even some studies out there that show house plants can help you focus, speed recovery to cold and flu symptoms and even reduce blood pressure.  Like seriously, who knew it was about more than just looking pretty?

Real Plants for Life!

So I’m team real plants even if I’m legit struggling to grow a healthy fiddle leaf fig.  But you know what?  This little guy in my entry foyer is sprouting two new leaves right now, and you would think I just birthed these leaves myself based on my level of commitment to see them thrive.  If I could swaddle these little baby leaves and rock them to sleep, I would.  Don’t judge me.

house plants

(*Sidenote – These faux leather leggings are the kind of faux I can get down with. 😉 )

Plants That Seem to Thrive on Neglect

While I may not have a green thumb, I have become quite friendly with a couple plants that seem to thrive on neglect.  Which makes them a match made in heaven for me.

1. First up is my main boo, the snake plant!  See that taller plant up there next to my fiddle?  Well, that plant is a little over two years old!  And I have yet to repot it…….and I’m pretty sure I haven’t watered it since December.  That’s my kind of plant!  Snake plants are really inexpensive, and you can find them everywhere from your local nursery to Walmart.

I have snake plants all over the house.  Because they don’t require a ton of light they’re great to use in places where you don’t have any windows, like our powder bathroom.

snake plant

2. Next up, the ever so pretty chinese evergreen.  They come in many varieties, but I’m partial to the the ones that have light pink stems and a little bit of pink and red in the leaves.  This little beauty rarely asks for water and doesn’t need a lot of light to live.  God bless her low maintenance heart.  I see these plants at Lowe’s all the time.

brass side table plants chinese evergreen

Low Light Lovers Are Where It’s At

I think one of the biggest issues to growing, or should I say keeping house plants alive, is location.  Many house plants need a lot of light and depending on how your home receives light during the day the places where you may want a house plant for aesthetic purposes may not be the most ideal location for a plant to thrive.  This is why I always look for low to medium light loving plants.  They’re typically not picky about where they live in your home!

My favorite is the nerve plant which has the prettiest leaves.  I prefer the one referred to as pink wave because it’s pink veins are just gorgeous.

house plants

These plants aren’t hard to find.  Just about any place that sells plants will have these.  They make great centerpieces.

house plants

(There’s another fiddle hanging on for dear life. Say a prayer.)

low light house plants

house plants

living room

Low light plants are also great to use on bookshelves where natural light may be minimal and/or filtered.

bookcase plants

(Art by Melvin G.)

Beautiful Planters

As much as I love fresh flowers, plants give me an excuse to collect beautiful planters!  I’m always on the look out for them when I’m out thrifting, and I love going to art festivals and checking out handmade pottery.  Here are a few beauties I’ve recently come across online.

planters

1, 2, 3, 4, 5,

I have two of those pink ridged terra-cotta pots and absolutely love them!  They are so much prettier in real life than they look online.  And you should definitely check out the etsy shop that makes the small planter I featured above (#3) because this artist also makes the most incredible jewelry in addition to these beautiful pots.

So what about you?  Are you getting on the faux plant bandwagon or are you still trying to keep real plants alive in your home too?  No shame either way.  Just curious.

*Pin this image to bookmark this post for later! house plants that thrive on neglect

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  • I banished all fake plants a few years ago and I have a nice collection of real plants now. The only fake I use is during Christmas. I use faux evergreens.

  • Lol! We were left a healthy fiddle fig when we bought our new house. Uh, it immediately decided to drop all leaves. II started babying “Sir Isaac”. He started growing new leaves and was looking great until Irma! Saltwater almost took Sir Isaac out. Oh, then the deer decided to make a snack of him. Brought him inside in December where he’s apparently been in hibernation (no love, no water-totally neglected for two months). Darn, he is thriving!

    This year is the year I try my luck with more live plants!

  • I have both in my house. Fake where I thought one couldn’t stay alive but I want one for aesthetics (like a book shelf) but after seeing yours I’m thinking I could replace them with real ones. Question… do you just keep trimming them back so they stay bookshelf size?

  • I have a peace lily from my granny’s funeral in 1989!!! She (the plant) survived college with me, me working night shift as a new nurse (ie blinds closed during the day so little sunlight), nine moves(about to be 10th move to our 7th house), neglect during postpartum with three babies, and multiple repottings! I’m telling you, if you need a plant that can survive anything, this is the one!!! I’ve separated it multiple times so I have them all over. I’m definitely team real plant EXCEPT succulents. There are some darn good fakes of those I use on our bookshelves. I hate carrying plants to the sink to water so I use fakes there so I don’t get my books wet. I’m going to look into the Chinese evergreen. Love the pink!

  • A little of both. I much prefer real, but find some just struggle in certain rooms of our house. I guess it is truly a matter of me doing a little more research to find the right ones-lazy 😉 My fiddle leaf fig is thriving. Repotted it for the first time a couple weeks ago. It sits near a east facing window and gets water (about 2 water bottles full) every Sunday. And I should add, I only will use faux if they look real within 5 feet. LOL

  • I’m on the same team! Never, ever do I do faux plants/flowers. There’s just something so satisfying about the real thing!! (And yes, I think every blogger has a fiddle leaf, along with a pair of shoes in their pics LOL.)

  • LOL @ the shoes! Always one shoe up, one knocked over and often with a canvas shopping bag with a loaf of French bread sticking out.

  • I still use artificial christmas trees too. I like to put my tree up right after Thanksgiving and it’s hard to keep a real one alive until Christmas when you put it up early.

  • I have been thinking about plants lately. I think it is spring fever! This is a great post because my thumb is every color but green! I have only one real houseplant, Jerome the shalom. Bless his heart, I think I will go water that thirsty guy! I think he is about 20 years old! I am going to jot down the names of the plants you suggested, go to Lowe’s and see how long I can keep those alive. I do have a great fake succulent that looks so alive that it has been watered a few times. Thank you for the plant ideas!

  • You should check out my good friend’s Instagram. You might change your mind about faux plants/flower. She does some incredible stuff!! She can be found at mm_floral_design on Insta.

  • I’m a lover of colorful interior decor and love having a touch of nature around me at all times. Naturally, one may think it’s natural I have pots of ‘real’ plants at home but unfortunately no. My job doesn’t allow me tend to them as often as I would. Tending to plants is one thing I love to do, it’s sad I can’t do that now but I hope in the near future when I have lot’s of time for myself i would do so. I find it therapeutic.

    At the moment, I keep a lot of synthetic pots around to give me a feel of what I wish to have. Amazing blog by the way. Heading to read more of the posts here.

  • I have both corn plants and banana plants in my home and have found that neither of them like sudden changes in temperature. They do well (even if I forget to water them from time to time) as long as they aren’t directly across from an exterior door or an air vent. I never heard anyone talking about this when discussing houseplants. Perhaps everyone knew this except me? I bought 3 corn plants several years ago and killed one of them because I didn’t realize they cared about airflow. Now that I know better I have to periodically trim the other ones so that they don’t touch my ceiling! Corn plants are on NASA’s top 10 list for best plants to purify the air, and they do great with low lighting!

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