A professional houseplant tips
We asked an expert to share her favorite tips for decorating houseplants. Denae Horst of Folia Collective shares the best ways to display plants and which houseplants work best in every room of the house. It starts with a desire for a new look inside your home. You rearrange the furniture, organize, and then you find it: an empty space in your closet. An idea to excite every gardener makes your eyes light up - I could put a houseplant in there! But how does this story end for you?
There are places in our homes where we can have more plants, but sometimes it's hard to imagine how to implement it. Or the plants you try may not survive. Danae Horst has experienced it all, and she's here to help you decorate your home with houseplants using equal parts practicality and style.
After growing up with a "crazy plant girl" mom in a household where she could connect with nature indoors every day, as an adult, it was inspiring to experience the wilting of houseplants one after the other. But Dane's journey from "black finger" to houseplant lover (a road paved with classes, guides, vintage gardening books, and many unfortunate plants lost through trial and error) with the right plant, space, and knowledge, you'll probably find inspiring. You can grow something where you least expect it. Danae believes this so passionately that she founded the Folia Collective plant shop in Southern California and recently published a book to give everyone the ability to grow houseplants, vibrant houseplants, and green thumbs.
Best lighting for houseplants
Dana's first piece of advice when you're ready to decorate with houseplants: Don't forget that houseplants are alive. Unlike home decor, they have needs, and one of the most important needs is a light source. He recommends becoming familiar with how much sunlight your space receives. Divide it into zones: direct sunlight, bright, indirect light, medium light and low light. The sunroom pictured here has areas of direct sunlight in front of the east-facing windows on the right and fades to medium light near the brick wall.
Houseplant photozones
Direct sun refers to areas that actually receive the sun's rays for at least 1 to 2 hours per day.
Bright, indirect light is bright for 6 or more hours, but not exposed to the sun's rays for more than 1 to 2 hours per day.
Medium light diffuses through a thin screen or a few feet away from direct sunlight.
Low light is several feet away from the direct sun.
Assess your space for houseplants
After determining the available light, consider how much space is available in each zone. Is there room on the windowsill for a plant? Floor space for a large plant stand? Can one hang from the ceiling? List what size plants will work for each light zone. (This way you can avoid buying a plant that is doomed.)
Houseplants for different situations
To help you imagine how to incorporate houseplants into your home, Danae shares her top tips on how to pack a space with plants in a variety of difficult situations, from low light to bright (this sunroom doesn't have closet space or a plant stand, but now has a dozen plants. holds!). You might be surprised what changes can happen when you find realistic solutions to your plant decorating dreams, or as Dana says, "style with plants in mind." Let's see what tricks Danae is switching back and forth.
Bathrooms provide low light, high humidity for houseplants
With only one north-facing window, this bathroom doesn't get much sunlight. Danae recommends two ways to increase light in the room: use sheerer window treatments or install some grow lights. You need an opaque shade to keep this bathroom private, so Grow Light is the best option. Can you find it? One of Danae's favorites is Modern Sprout's Crowframe. Mounted above the window, this box can hold grow lights, a timer, and three to four small containers of vining plants that creep out of the frame for some living art. Vines resemble a botanical valance, don't you think?
Place the plants as close to the window as possible. Above the cabinet is a bird's nest fern and a prayer plant, both of which thrive in wet bathrooms. Two different humidity-loving calatheas nest on the windowsill (since the shade is rarely raised, they won't be in the way.)
Perfect plants for bathrooms
A) Prayer plant Maranta leuconeura
bright to medium light; Without additional moisture, brown edges appear on the leaves
B) Bird's nest fern Asplenium nidus
bright to medium light; Grows well in normal humidity but grows best with extra humidity
C) Calathea Calathea spp. and hybrids
bright to medium light; Without additional moisture, brown edges appear on the leaves
Use houseplants to decorate the north-facing corner
Since privacy is not an issue, a thin screen instead of blinds or a shade allows more light through this north-facing window. Now you can incorporate some medium light plants like Chinese Evergreen and All-Green Pothos. A hanging pottery planter and wall-mounted pots take advantage of available light. A thin shelf or plant stand that attaches directly to the windowsill will create room to group plants without stealing a lot of floor space. Or, as in this case, a small pot sits on the windowsill and a narrow shelf holds medium-sized plants. Snake plant and ZZ plants are very tolerant of dim light, but that doesn't mean you're limited: here's a collection of four different types of snake plant in deep greens, yellows, and creams and very different shapes. Interest burdens.
Low light loving plants
A) Pothos Epipremnum aureum
bright to medium light; A plant hanging habit works well
B) Chinese evergreen Aglaonema spp. and hybrids
Bright to medium light
C) Snake plant Sansevieria species
Any light other than direct sunlight; Leaves can be broad, narrow. Short, tall, hollow or variegated, and the habits are cylindrical to broad.
D) ZZ Plant Zamioculcas zamiifolia
Any light except direct sunlight
Summon the desert with a west-facing window
A west-facing window that gets direct, warm afternoon light is actually problematic for many houseplants, whose leaves burn in the sun. So, when decorating houseplants, Danae recommends starting with plants that grow naturally in desert conditions. This window is finally a place to successfully grow popular cacti and succulents. A deep, wide shelf about one-third of the window makes a solid place for a collection of plants. Also in this window are Danae's favorite hanging succulents, a string of dolphins, so named because each small, fleshy leaf curls like a diving dolphin and even has little "fins."
Plants for west facing windows
A) String of dolphins Senecio peregrinus
Some direct light is bright indirect light; Allow the soil to dry out between waterings and water only once a month during the dormant summer months
B) String of bananas Senecio radicans
Some direct light is bright indirect light; Allow the soil to dry out between waterings and water only once a month during the dormant summer months
C) Narrow-leaved calcareous senecio cylindrical
Some direct light is bright indirect light; Allow the soil to dry out between waterings
d) Ladyfinger cactus Mammillaria elongata
direct sun; Allow the soil to dry completely between waterings, and water only a few times throughout the dormant winter months
E) Flapjack Kalanchoe thyrsiflora
Some direct light is bright indirect light; Allow the soil to dry out between waterings and water only once a month during the dormant summer months
F) Aloe Vera
bright indirect light; Soak the soil thoroughly in water in a container with good drainage and allow to dry completely
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