What houseplants stay green during the whole year?

[legolas_w]

Hi,

I am getting into growing some houseplants, just for sake of keeping the apartment green and more friendly; and I was thinking to find some plants that stay green during the whole year. If you know such plants please let me know.

Thanks.

[deadflowr]

You should look into herbs, like mint or rosemary.

[Linuxratty]

A lot do,such as African Violets. I'd suggest you get a house plant book..Anyway,here are some nice ones:
http://houseplants.about.com/od/pickingahouseplan1/a/ToughtestPlants.htm

[Plumtreed]

I like orchids for year round indoor colour.......but as with all plants a little care is necessary!

[eriktheblu]

The artificial sort tend to stay green pretty well.

[whatthefunk]

Almost all houseplants are green all year. Ive never seen anyone with a brown, dead looking houseplant.

[malspa]

Philodendrons. Even I can't kill 'em.

[sammiev]

I bought a plastic one for the wife as she hasn't a green thumb. She even killed that. :(

[TNFrank]

Hit a Lowes or Home Depot and ask them, they'll help you get things sorted out.;)

[oldos2er]

Philodendrons. Even I can't kill 'em.


Also pothos, sansevieria, grape ivy, hoya, dracaena, aloe, etc.

[matt_symes]

My plastic christmas tree has been green since the day i got it.

For some reason, it doesn't seem to need much water either.

[greatsirkain]

what whatthefunk said, if they're kept warm and watered most'll stay green but I like orchids too. Mine are on the second flowering this year but the leaves have gone all limp...Going to have to spring for plant food

[Lars Noodén]

Herbs are a good choice. Most are easy to take care of, nice to look at, and good for cooking and salads.

If you want general greenery, spider plants are super easy to take care of. They thrive at about any light level and are flexible about watering. They also are some of the most effective at cleaning the air.

[deadflowr]

Aloe is another great plant. Very practical.
I would never recommend anything with vines and large leaves though.
Vines become hard to manage and lack of attention can lead to unwieldy messes.
And big leaves tend to fall off, dry up and cripple into a thousand pieces, making a big mess to clean.

[houseworkshy]

Spruce?

Well not in the average home perhaps. Aloe vera is good and quite useful to have around. Aspideatra, cheeseplants. Any bonsied evergreen. For low fuss a self contained bottle is interesting. I got an old sweet jar and put some random soil and some water in then screwed the lid on tight, just to see what happened. Ended up with all sorts of plants I couldn't identify, mostly ferns, and some small insects which seemed perfectly happy.
It's been sealed for decades now and it's independant eco system is still healthy. As long as it has a bit of sun it's fine. It got temporarily lost during one of my moves and was in the dark for a long time. The funguses had done well but the greens hadn't. Put it back in the sun and it all revived.
In Victorian Britain planting self contained garderns in Carbouys and other glass vessels was very popular, many of them are still thriving. Facinating and about as high maintainence as a brick.

Just browsed around a bit and demijohn is the right word. the ones I've seen look like the third illustration on this page
http://www.bottlebooks.com/demijohn/big_bottles_big_history_demijohn.htm
except almost clear glass with only a hint of green and are big.

My random experiment isn't nearly so posh. It's in the sort of jar loose sweets are sold from in confectioners, oblong with rounded sides, tapering at the top to a circular screwtop lid. It still works though. Actually when it nearly died it helped as a lot of alge had grown on the inside spoiling the view. As so much had rotted I was able to shake it around a bit and clean the sides before putting it back in sunlight. I imagine there will be a lot of methane inside it now ( just done the maths and it's at least a quarter century since it was connected to the outside world ) but the lifeforms inside cope with it.

[stlu]

Almost all houseplants are green all year. Ive never seen anyone with a brown, dead looking houseplant.

Exactly, if your houseplants are going brown, getting a different kind wont change things.


The artificial sort tend to stay green pretty well.

If you already went through a lot of plants, maybe this is your safest bet. ;)

[TNFrank]

Something else to think about, if you have animals in the house be careful which plants you get. Some are very poisonous to animals and some aren't. Choose wisely. Also, don't over water them. More folks kill their plants by giving them too much water which causes root rot. If you have to go one way or the other it's better to slightly under water then then it is to over water them.
Also, some of the broad leaf plants do better in low light and there's some larger ones like Palm that look great in a corner of a room.

[oldos2er]

what whatthefunk said, if they're kept warm and watered most'll stay green but I like orchids too. Mine are on the second flowering this year but the leaves have gone all limp...Going to have to spring for plant food

If a plant is in a weakened condition, fertilizer is the last thing it needs.

[King Dude]

Bonsai Tree... I think.