Best Houseplants for New Plant Parents

Lifestyle

Apr 5

It's hard to imagine, but there was once a time we had zero plants in our home! When we first moved into our place after I graduated college, I really wanted to get some plant babies of my own - but being a first time plant parent I was a little afraid to bite the bullet. What if I killed them? I'd feel awful, not to mention it would be money down the drain. So I started with fake plants from IKEA, but that just wasn't cutting it. During one IKEA trip, I skipped the faux plant section and found my way over by the real plants. They were all just so beautiful! I brought one home, and the rest is history.

I wanted to share a few of my fave low maintenance plants with you, in case you've been thinking about getting your first plants but share the same apprehension I did. They're all easy going and will survive even if you ignore them for a bit.

Sansevieria

Also known as snake plants or mother-in-law's tongue, these are the ultimate best starter plants, in my opinion. Virtually un-killable (to a degree), you could stick these in a dark corner and not water them for weeks and they'll do just fine. Also, they're super cool looking! Seriously though, any plant that can survive in really low lighting conditions is magical to me.

Epipremnum aureum

Also known as devil's ivy or golden pothos, these are the ultimate awesome drippy plants. Perfect for hanging in a macrame plant hanger, or on a shelf for a cool vine-y shelfie. My oldest devil's ivy has been sitting for years on a shelf that gets low lighting, and when I first got him I would forget to water him all the time. But he's still alive! And he's gotten longer and drippier tendrils as he grows - I'm obsessed!

Cactaceae & Euphorbiaceae

My fave prickly bbs! I just adore these guys. While they aren't as low maintenance when it comes to sun (they like a lot of it), they definitely like to be ignored in the water department. Perfect for forgetful waterers, such as myself. While cacti & euphorbia are both succulents, euphorbia are not cacti, although they are often mistaken for them. You can tell the two apart by structures called “areoles.” An areole is a pad at the base of the spines of all cacti. Even if a cactus has no prickers, it will still have areoles. Euphorbia however, have no areoles. You can peep one of mine in the above left photo, upper left hand corner.