Daisy’s note: Despite my ongoing effort to keep it alive, my basil plant finally kicked the bucket this week. I thought this was a timely post. I am going to blame my plant’s untimely death on the fact that basil is notorious for it’s difficulty indoors, to console myself.
Ready for an update? The two quickest ways to liven up your apartment on a budget is is to paint the walls a fresh color and to add apartment plants. And while it can be fun to pick out a color and spend a day on a mini workout on your walls, for the sake of brevity we’re going to go with picking out plants for your apartment.
Topiaries are super classy, but they can cost $100 on the low end (and they tend to go outdoors)! If you’re looking to green up your apartment without dropping huge wads of cash, here are some reasonable, hearty additions to your home:
Snake Plants
Have a dark, window-less home office? Perfect. Tend to kill any and everything? Also perfect. These plants are best known for living through the worst of times, and I have one going strong for four months without sight of a window.
Snake plants look like a small basket of snakes rising to the heavens. They’re very hardy and they purify the air. The final touch is that they are pet-safe, so if you have a curious cat that likes to munch, she’ll be safe.
Ferns
If Jurassic Park is one of your favorite movies, a bushy fern is a cheap way to spruce up your kitchen. These bushy, exotic plants will give a nice twist to any room, and they come in a wide range of green colors: super bright and electric, or deep and dark like evergreen. On top of variety, flexibility, and a range of sizes, ferns are very reasonably priced compared to other indoor plants that flower.
Baby Jades
Not just for asian inspired living, baby jades can be found for just a couple dollars and they bring an innocent, friendly vibe to any room. Even better? Very little watering is needed.
Baby jades come in a variety of sizes and shapes, but the most basic version looks like tiny baby toes growing all over a stalk of asparagus. Of course, that sounds gross, but in real life it’s precious and highly photogenic.
Peace Lillies
Wide, waxy, dark, and green — Peace Lilies make a statement year round, and then flower during some months. I can tell you from personal experience that they’re hearty, and they look good placed on the floor, the coffee table, or on a side table.
Do you enjoy caring for plants in your home or apartment? Do you have any apartment plants?
I think I need to investigate a snake plant for my office, both for the lack of light and for my ability to absolutely destroy all forms of life when it comes to plants!
Definitely, do! I’ll let you know if mine dies, but for now it’s battling no light and a litter box, and the plant is winning.
Cacti are pretty cheap, and will do in a pinch to green up a small space. Not only that, they are just about impossible to kill. You just have to watch out for them sometimes… they’ll get ya.
A surprise cacti would get you indeed! I’ve seen them do well on window-sills, where you’re less likely to bump into them :-).
I have actually NEVER had a plant in my adult life (besides the occasional flowers from my husband). My mom killed so many plants growing up, I just never bothered to buy a plant for my apartment. Maybe I should green it up a bit 🙂
If you’re looking to experiment in your apartment, it might be fun to visit a green house! There’s a local one I finally visited and it was like being transported to a vacation in the jungle. And there’s usually well informed people running around to help you find one for the right lighting, etc!
I used to be really into indoor plants when I lived in the city, but then I got to the country and all of my enthusiasm waned. I don’t know what happened but I ended p killing almost all of my plants. Lately though I’d been yearning to start up an indoor plant collection again so I bought a lucky bamboo plant. We’ll see how it goes!
One of my lucky bamboo just “passed away”… I hope you have better luck than I!