Kathy’s Home & Garden Tips – Beautiful Houseplants that Thrive in Low Light

Think your house is too dark for houseplants to be happy and thrive? Think again. These varieties are beautiful and do especially well in low light. As a bonus, they are incredibly easy to care for.

The old-fashioned Corn Plant (dracaena fragrans) is a great low light plant. It is named for its long, green, variegated leaves that resemble corn stalk leaves. This plant only needs water when it is quite dry and thrives in indirect and very low light.

Chinese Evergreen (aglaonema) is easy to care for and thrives in the darkest of rooms. Its pink and red accented green leaves make this plant a beautiful addition to any room.

English Ivy is well known for its beautiful leaves and ability to live through just about anything. Low light and dry conditions are no problem for this hardy vine. Often trained into beautiful topiaries, this vine is wildly popular.

Peace Lily (spathiphyllum) does need regular water, but its shiny green foliage looks great even when not producing its signature white flowers. Even though it wilts dramatically when dry, a good soak will bring it back. I know mine has come back more times than I can count.

The Hoya plant is another hardy, old-fashioned plant. This plant has green or green and cream variegated shiny, waxy leaves. Its slow growth means there is usually no need to repot. Another slow grower is the cast iron plant (aspidistra elatior), which needs only occasional water and little light.

The Ponytail Palm (beaucarnea recurvata) resembles its name with long leaves rising from a fat base. This base stores excess water, so this plant can last several weeks without water.

ZZ plant (zamioculeas zamifolia) survives even with florescent light and tolerates dry conditions. It’s also beautiful with upright stems full of shiny, dark green leaves.

Heartleaf Philodendron (philodendron hedreraceum), named for its heart shaped leaves, does great in hanging baskets or on a trellis. Water when dry and give the leaves a quick dust occasionally.

Pothos (epipremnum aureum) are similar to Philodendron. Keep out of direct sun and water when dry. As some plants get too leggy in low light, trim back as necessary.

Dieffenbachia are popular plants that offer leaves in a wide range of variegated yellow and green or white and green. They do need strong indirect light and water only when dry. These plants are poisonous though, so they don’t belong in houses with pets and young children.