If you’re just starting your very first plant collection, these are the easiest tropicals that I recommend in my greenhouse to first time houseplant customers.

One of my personal favs; ZZ Plants require almost no care and boast luscious, shiny green leaves. They can handle dark areas of the house and minimal watering (like water 8-9 times a year only). They LOVE being slightly root bound and will reward you with gorgeous tall stalks as they mature. One thing to keep in mind is that they do not like bathrooms because of the humidity.

Snake Plants are another “low light loving”, “never have to water” tropical plant. They too can be placed in dark corners of a home and watered sparingly (8-9 times a year). There are lots of different snake plant varieties to choose from when it comes to picking out the perfect look for your space including yellow/green variegated leaves to white/green variegated leaves and more. These plants enjoy being slightly root bound and are usually slow growing.

Peace Lilies are one of the best “teaching” plants that I love to recommend to train first time house plant parents. What I love about peace lilies is that they tell you when they need to be watered and can help give plant parents a visual for when to water other tropical plants.

Peace lilies have beautiful white or green flowers that reveal themselves a couple times a year. They can handle shadier corners of the house and enjoy regular watering (1-2 times bi-weekly). Peace lilies will wilt (you know they’ve wilted when they look like they’ve been smushed) when they’re ready for water and are forgiving if they’re watered too much, they don’t mind wet feet unlike most tropical plants.

Like the zz plant and the snake plant, peace lilies don’t mind being slightly root bound. They do well in humid areas of the house like a bathroom.

Spider Plants are fun and easy plants for first time plant owners. Spider plants are often grown in a hanging basket that can be hung in a corner of a room with bright to lower light and are forgiving if over watered or under watered (watering needs are similar to a peace lily, 1-2x biweekly).

They’re easy to propagate because they create plantlets (baby plants) that can be removed by cutting off and placing in water to root – or they can be left on the plant to create a fuller look.

Pothos Plants (also known as Devil Ivy) are trailing plants that require medium to bright light and like spider plants are forgiving if they’re overwatered or underwater. They grow easily, vining down (or up, if you train them on a trellis) and are fun plants to propagate. To learn how to start new pothos plants, click here.

The one issue my customers have had with pothos plants is that they can get a little straggly looking. It’s an easy issue to fix, you can simply cut back the plant to encourage more branching or take one of the vines and coil it on top of the potting mix in the planter and it will root in, filling in the planter.

Money Trees (Pachira) are fun plants and are believed to bring good luck! They have interesting lobed leaves (like a hand) and are often found with their trunk braided. They grow quickly and reward plant parents with leaves often.

The care for money trees is similar to a peace lily. They like to be watered 1-2x biweekly but enjoy bright light instead of shadier areas. Something to keep in mind with money trees is that they like to stay moist in the summer and drier in the winter when they’re getting less natural light.

Birds of Paradise are again one of my favourite plants because of their stately, long leaves. I LOVE the look of a large lush plant in the corner of a room (and I personally have a birds of paradise in the corner of my bedroom).

Birds like bright but not direct light. I find they’re quite forgiving if they’re placed in an area with not enough light. They like to be watered regularly – kept more moist in the summer and drier in the winter when there’s less light. Often birds are grown in larger pots, so the trick to know when to water is to feel with your finger the moisture at the very bottom of the pot vs. the top. The top will always look/feel drier then the bottom but you want to make sure not to overwater your birds.

If you’re interested in starting your plant collection and want to check what I’ve got in stock (if you’re local to High Prairie and area), click here.