3 Beautiful Easy-Care Potted Plants to Brighten Up Your Home

Missing nature while spending more time indoors lately? Bring the outside in and chase away the blahs with these leafy stunners that thrive in low to little light.

Perk up the living room with a Boston fern.

“Surrounding yourself with plants during is imperative — they instantly lift your spirits and add life to any room,” says The Houseplant Guru Lisa Eldred Steinkopf, author of Grow in the Dark: How to Choose and Care for Low-Light Houseplants ($15.99 [Originally $26.99], Amazon). Ferns naturally thrive in shaded areas of the forest, making them ideal for low-light dens or living rooms, she says. Simply remove a fern from its plastic pot and nestle into a tall planter filled with moisture-retaining soil. As the plant grows, its leaves will beautifully cascade over the edge of the pot. Place in a spot with morning sun; keep soil moist.

Grace a countertop with a piggyback plant.

“The way a piggyback plant grows is so interesting — individual leaves sprout new mini leaves from their centers for a lush, puckered appearance,” says Steinkopf. She suggests dropping a plastic potted piggyback plant into a blue planter. The plant’s light green and yellow hues will complement the cool-colored container. Place the display on a raised surface like a kitchen counter so the leaves are closer to eye-level and easy to admire. For the healthiest plant, give a piggyback morning sun and keep the soil evenly moist.

Beautify a bare corner with a zanzibar gem.

“With its gorgeous, dark green glossy foliage, a zanzibar gem plant adds modern flair to any home,” notes Steinkopf. Before repotting a zanzibar gem, lift the plant from its plastic pot and examine its roots. If roots circle the inside of the pot, the plant has outgrown its pot and needs to be added to a pot that’s one size up (if the roots aren’t circling, pop the plant in a pot that is the same size). Add decorative gravel to top of soil. Keep in low to bright light; water when soil is dry.

This article originally appeared in our print magazine.

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