Houseplant recommendations

Dirty Harry

Having got heavily into gardening in 2017, houseplants is one area I've neglected sprucing up (along with the house!), looking for some basic recommendations.

Plants can't be too big as I don't have loads of space.

Ones that are fine in lots of shade ideally for the living room- it doesn't get a huge amount of natural light unfortunately.

Bathroom is a bit brighter though, got a few smaller shelves to fill. 

There's the usual suspects like spider plants which appeal but I'm all ears. Any particular websites that are good for buying houseplants too?

Joy*

If you can find one, an aspidistra will live in the living room. They are becoming fashionable again and their common name, cast iron plant, is accurate.  I have provenance for mine back to 1850 and it might be even older than that.  It's an attractive green plant which thrives in places which are poorly lit which is a big plus. It gets watered occasionally and last year I repotted it having split it up a bit. The last time it was repotted was around 1980. One winter it got left outside in frost and snow as it sometimes spends the summer in a shady spot outside.

Nick74

Things like Peace Lily, Aspidisra, Devil's Ivy are all easy to care for and tolerate lower levels of light. If you have a spot out of direct sunlight in the bathroom, maybe a Boston fern as it'll like the humidity.

If you have a Morisson's or Homebase near you, they usually have a good selection of houseplants at this time of year. Morisson's tend to rotate plants fairly regularly, so you'll always find something new. Both have good value plants and are cheaper than many online retailers (in some cases over 50% cheaper). For online retailers, I've used  Crocus - for both house and garden plants and they've all been really good quality plants. If you're in London, London Houseplants have a website an are at Columbia Rd market on Sundays.

Loxley

I'm not good at caring for houseplants but have had good success with peace lilies. I think the reason is they visibly flag when they need watering, so I know when they need a drink. 

HouseFinch

Here is a sample of the nooks and crannies in our living room. Two Baby Monstera Deliciosa Plants (in their first year) on either side of a rabbits foot fern, a pot of creeping jenny (typically a outdoor container plant, but I can't get enough of it this year), bronze pilea in the brown pot, and below is the arrowhead plant which is on either side of my corner desk..

Our 2.5 year old Umbrella plant-baby and cat-proofed at the bottom

The latest addition-a Boston fern, which is cat friendly.

And, our side table with Arrowhead, Pilea, Ivy, Areca Palm, and the polka dot plant. I would not recommend the polka dot plant. It is more of a novelty-it won't live longer than a year, unless you propagate it.

All the rest haven't killed any of us...yet-but there are good reasons the Monstera is stashed 6 feet high.

Dirty Harry

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll have a look in Morrisons before committing to Thompson and Morgan- they have a good selection online.

Dirty Harry

Picked up ivy in Morrisons for a pound a pop as well as a flowering succulent whose name escapes me.

Got the 2 below from the co-op purely because they were reduced to £3 and came with very nice clay pots. Any idea what they are? Wondering if the bottom one is fatsia japonica or similar?

mrtjforman

I ambitiously picked up an orchid today - never managed to keep one alive for a year - or much else indoors for that matter but one thing that I love for it's ability to stay alive with my bad watering habit is a dragon plant. I've forgotten to water mine for months at times. Leaves turn a bit yellow before it dies and perks right back up again with a bit of water.
They are not the most interesting plant but mine has a bit of purple on the edges of the leaves and like said stays alive with just an occasional watering so I can highly recommend it for that.

mrtjforman

i just noticed orchidia already recommended the dracaena marginata  but glad to see you are getting plants from local shops.

I've heard bad reviews about thomson and morgan since joining this site. I'd try homebase before you shop online. 

HouseFinch

Is the succulent kalanchoe by any chance? Did they know what colour it would be?

Dirty Harry

That's the one, it's already in flower, pink.