A little greenery goes a long way.
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Adding a few indoor plants to your existing windowsill garden is one of the quickest ways to infuse your home with personality, color, and feng shui vibes. As far as design refreshes go, houseplants are much more affordable than a new throw blanket or accent chair.
Beyond their vibrant energy, the best indoor plants offer excellent health benefits. Air-purifying plants help keep the atmosphere fresh, and simply being around plants can reduce anxiety and stress. You also don't need to be a gardening expert to maintain the best indoor plants. Many low-maintenance plants, such as succulents or pothos, suit various light conditions. Even in dim spaces, low-light indoor plants like ZZ plants and philodendrons flourish.
“Be sure to understand each plant's watering needs,” says Paris Lalicata, a plant expert at The Sill. “There will be some plants that require frequent waterings, especially newly potted ones that are getting established, while others prefer drier conditions. Note: When watering, it’s almost always ideal to water deeply to encourage root growth.” Choose the ones you love, and follow our straightforward care instructions. Many of the best indoor plants thrive even better indoors due to the climate-controlled environment.
To kickstart your houseplant journey, we’ve compiled 45 of the best indoor plants, along with care tips to help them thrive.
A unique type of snake plant, this one is named for its striking resemblance to a whale's fin. You can follow a similar low-maintenance care routine for this one as you do for your regular snake plant. Ensure this sansevieria has well-draining, slightly sandy soil to prevent overwatering.
Colloquially known as the King Anthurium, this plant boasts showstopping, oversized leaves. This plant may grow slowly, but the leaves can reach a whopping four feet in length. While it will thrive in standard bright, indirect light, this plant needs a lot of humidity to keep it happy. Consider placing it in a bathroom or an at-home greenhouse.
Relatively low maintenance, this plant just needs to be dusted every month to prevent pests and keep its leaves glossy, Dieffenbachia is a lush addition to any plant collection. This variety is a natural air purifier, so keep it in the kitchen or bathroom to help eliminate toxins. Provide this plant with partial sun and water every 10 days or so for the best results.
Named for its willowy stems that tend to sway in the wind, this variety of Alocasia is longer and leaner than traditional types. This plant will grow tall, nearly two feet from the soil in the right conditions. Enjoying moderate humidity and bright, indirect light, this alocasia follows the same care needs as many tropical houseplants, making it an easy addition.
This purple geo plant boasts glossy and thick little leaves, similar to a rubber tree. The round leaves have a slightly purple coloring, ideal for breaking up all of the green in your houseplant collection. Easy to care for, this plant loves indirect light and minimal watering, only when the soil has dried out completely.
Compact and vibrant, the pink polka dot plant is ideal for small spaces that need an infusion of color. This tiny indoor plant thrives in high humidity with moderate to bright light. The Sill recommends placing this variety in a greenhouse or terrarium for the best-growing results.
With thick, etched leaves, the alocasia melo indoor plant is a nice structural alternative to trailing or flowy greenery. These leaves are darker in color and love indirect light as too bright of sunlight can burn the foliage.
An evergreen is always a good indoor houseplant, especially in the winter. This miniature Norfolk pine, a very common Christmas tree type, is great for bringing a holiday-ready vibe into your home. This tree is very cold-hardy and loves medium light. Water it sparingly throughout the dark and cold months.
Actually a unique variety of prayer plants, this Calthea boasts stunning variegated leaves in green and white. With ample sunlight, the leaves will start to develop a purple-ish hue as well. Place this indoor plant in bright, indirect sunlight and watch the leaves rise and lower with the path of the sun.
Bay laurel leaves are green and glossy, all year long. Even in the depths of winter, this tree will provide a wonderful wash of color. Bay laurels are famous for being very low maintenance in their care routines and love a pot just as much as they do the ground. Plus, imagine being able to pluck your very own bay leaves right from the source!
A beautiful seasonal option for those looking to incorporate holiday plants into their collection, the wintergreen berry plant is ideal for novice gardeners. Cold-hardy and partial to indirect sunlight, this indoor plant can survive the winter months with ease. When crushed or rolled between your fingers, the leaves produce a minty scent, similar to its namesake.
A beloved seasonal cactus, the Christmas cactus blooms in late December, not waiting for the warm weather of spring. Caring for this cacti is fairly simple, but this type is from the jungle rather than the arid desert, so it loves dappled light and plenty of humidity.
Related Story: How to Care for a Christmas Cactus
Lighter and paler than other snake plant varieties, the moonshine type has a silvery quality to the leaves. This indoor plant requires a similar care routine to the traditional snake plant, preferring medium- to low-light environments and waterings every few weeks.
With vibrant, fuschia accents and rich green leaves, the purple passion plant is a stunning houseplant. This plant is fuzzy to the touch and quite thirsty, so be sure to water regularly. It loves medium, direct light, so in the winter, be sure to place it near a window.
The red Chinese evergreen is a beautiful indoor plant with variegated leaves in shades of red and green. With proper care—plenty of water and no direct sunlight—the plant will bloom waxy, white flowers.
The bird's nest fern is one of the easiest indoor houseplants out there. It has thick, glossy leaves that hold onto moisture and humidity longer than many other types of ferns. Give it bright, indirect light, and water it only when the top few inches of soil feel dry.
Care level: Easy to Medium
A bite-sized succulent ideal for a windowsill, the zebra plant (Haworthiopsis fasciata) is named for its striped leaves. Be sure to give this indoor plant lots of bright indirect light and water every few weeks when it's totally dry. It's easy to overwater, so check the soil first to avoid root rot.
Excellent for an empty corner or a space that needs a little height, majesty palms are easy to care for and pet-safe. Plus, they help to purify the air around them, making them great for spaces with limited airflow.
According to Rooted, the prayer plant gets its nickname because the leaves fold up at night, which mimics the look of hands praying. This indoor plant is low-light friendly and ideal for plant beginners.
Named for its hole-filled leaves that resemble a slice of Swiss cheese, this indoor plant develops large, glossy leaves with the right care routine. The best environment for it is in bright, indirect sunlight with weekly watering.
Paris Lalicata has been with The Sill for almost five years and heads up Plant Education and Community. Paris is a self-taught plant expert with over 10 years of experience growing houseplants. Currently, she maintains an indoor garden of over 200 plants in the northeast. Her passion is making plant care more digestible for budding plant parents, and sharing the many benefits of having plants indoors.
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