House plants – how do you fare with them? I’ve come to a conclusion with this there are a few groups of people: those who love houseplants and are experts at maintaining them; those who love houseplants and try their best to nurture them but fail some of the time; those who love houseplants but are completely hapless and those who aren’t fussed by them at all – surely the last group are a minority.

I think I come in to the second category – I have a bit of a houseplant obsession and try really hard to keep them. I am passionate about all plants and really try my best but admittedly have had a few failures – particularly with houseplants, I don’t know about you but I never have much luck with orchids – whether it’s the house environment or me, who knows but they just never seem to thrive. I actually have one that is a year old, although it’s not flowered since I got it; it’s grown new leaves at least so if it’s not thriving at least it’s surviving!

If you’re in the same camp as me I thought it would be useful to share some information about easy to keep houseplants, in particular houseplants that are quite hardy and reportedly easy to keep alive. Disclaimer – this is just my opinion and I can’t guarantee they will last forever.

Firstly though, why do people have houseplants in the first place? Well apart from the obvious benefit of enhancing the decor in your home, there are actually some proven health benefits too. Recent studies have show that houseplants can be good for your health and well being. I’ll briefly touch on a few beneficial reasons why you should have houseplants.

• Houseplants – in the same way as trees – remove carbon dioxide from the air and convert this into oxygen. Filling your home with fresh oxygen is beneficial to your physical health and well as improving your breathing, calmness and ability to sleep.
• Houseplants in your home bring about a feeling of wellbeing and positivity – the colour green is known to be a relaxing colour and helps to promote wellness, calmness and healing.
• They say that gardening is good for your soul and they same applies for indoor gardening. It’s a satisfying feeling being around nature and for this reason tending and nurturing plants is very therapeutic . Studies have shown that those who spend time among nature have the highest levels of health and wellbeing. In the currently climate anything that reduces stress levels has got to be worth a go.
• Some plants can remove toxins from the air so they are natural air-purifiers without the need for gadgets or electricity.
• Plants are aesthetically pleasing so you are likely to feel happier in an environment that looks good.
• It goes without saying that the more plants you have, the more likely there is a benefit to air quality and overall well-being – that sounds like a win-win to me!

I was lucky enough to be invited to choose a plant to review from the pet-friendly range from Lazy Flora. I chose the Money Tree (Pachira Aquatica) as the plant is known for being super easy to look after and very hard to kill. It is ideal for those wanting to bring some impressive greenery into their home without having to spend too much time and energy looking after it. The Pachira is believed to be lucky, according to Chinese feng shui. It has two or tree braided trunks which are said to lock in luck and treasure and dark green leaves which resemble green hands that capture happiness and good fortune. Traditionally given as a housewarming gift I thought this would be the perfect choice to hopefully bring happiness and good fortune in to my home.

I received my money tree through the post, it was packaged really well – lots of fab recyclable cardboard and not a single piece of plastic or even bubble wrap in sight. It arrived in good condition in a simple white planter and a plant information and care sheet which is really useful. Isn’t it beautiful! I love the shape of it and importantly to me the plant is non-toxic to cats and dogs. I am really hoping that due to it’s easy nature, it will last and grow well!

Lazy Flora has been running for about four years and is a real passion project for the owner Claire. Rightly so she is very proud of her company and wants you to be completely happy with your purchase, therefore they offer a 30 day plant guarantee so will replace any plant that doesn’t survive 30 days in your home. You can look at the Lazy Flora website by clicking on the link below. If you use the code T21307 before 30th November you will get 10% off a single purchase. (If you click the link (Lazy Flora AD) below I will earn a small commission at no additional cost to you so would like you to thank you for your support.) Additionally if you sign up for the Lazy Flora mailing list you will receive 50% off your first subscription.

Other houseplants that I have found easy to take care of are ferns. Ferns do best in a kitchen or bathroom because they love moist air. I have found that my ferns in my kitchen have thrived and they look really lush and green too. The one that was in the bathroom has flourished too due to the humidity and will help to purify the air in there too – this is now on the landing just outside the bathroom door and still looks lovely!

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Weeping fig (Ficus Benjamina) has lovely variegated leaves, it is an excellent air purifier and an elegant looking plant. Mine is currently in the bathroom and seems quite content, I love the colour and patterning on the leaves. Weeping figs need a steady temperature of at least 16 degrees and do not like being in direct light, although they do need light to help them grow. I have patterned glass in the bathroom window, as most people do, so it filters the light which adds it being in bright sunlight.

Christmas cactus – my Christmas cactus was given to me by my lovely late Gran, probably about 15-20 years ago and it still flowers occasionally. It doesn’t just flower at Christmas, it sometimes flowers at Easter too with pretty pink tubular flowers. I can certainly say that it is my oldest houseplant, I’m not sure how old it was when she gave it to me. It’s really special and I keep an eye on it frequently to make sure it’s ok. Christmas cacti should not be positioned in direct sunlight and just need watering when the top surface gets dry. I’ve read that these succulents can live up to 100 years when cared for properly – no pressure there then!

Spider plants are another easy plant to grow – although I don’t have any at the moment – these produce lots of little baby spider plants that you can re-pot for extra plants. I think this might be my next purchase!

So summing up, I would recommend the above plants as low maintenance houseplants. It might also be worth looking at peace lilies, dracaena, cheese plants, rubber plants, aspidistra (popular in the 1970s) palms and aloe vera (which has healing properties and the sap can help to relieve burns so we have one in the kitchen.)