Lavender looks like an easy herb, but it is a plant of sunny, dry hillsides, and most struggles come from treating it like a leafy houseplant. Give it strong light, lean soil, and little water, and it is rewarding. Pamper it, and it browns and fades. This guide covers lavender (Lavandula) in the order that … Read more
Coleus are grown for their leaves rather than their flowers, and few houseplants offer so much color for so little money. They are also thirsty, light-hungry, and quick to sulk in the cold, so most problems come from treating them like a tough, forgiving foliage plant. This guide covers coleus (Plectranthus scutellarioides, long sold as … Read more
Geraniums look cheerful and forgiving, and they mostly are, as long as they get what they were built for: bright light, a free-draining pot, and a watering can that is used sparingly. Most problems come from treating them like a lush foliage plant. This guide covers the common zonal geranium (Pelargonium) in the order that … Read more
Rosemary is the herb that looks easy and is not. It is sold in every grocery store and garden center, and people bring it home expecting a hardy, scented bush for the windowsill. Indoors it can thrive, but it wants conditions close to the dry, bright, breezy places it grows naturally, and that is where … Read more
Hibiscus is the houseplant that looks like a vacation. The big, bright flowers are the reason people buy it, and they are also the reason people struggle with it. A hibiscus wants strong light, steady warmth, regular water, and regular feeding. Provide those and it flowers freely; fall short on one and it drops buds … Read more
Lucky bamboo is a popular desk and shelf plant because it can live in a vase of water with almost no fuss. The name is a bit misleading: it is not a bamboo but a Dracaena (Dracaena sanderiana), a relative of the corn plant. The easy part is that it tolerates low light and indoor … Read more
Gardenias are loved for their glossy leaves and strongly scented white flowers, and they have a reputation for being fussy. The reputation is fair but narrow: the plant is not hard to keep alive, it is hard to keep flowering. It wants steady conditions, bright light, humid air, evenly moist soil, and a soil that … Read more
Nepenthes are among the most recognizable houseplants, and one of the harder ones to get right in an average living room. The plant itself is not especially fragile. What trips people up is air that is drier than the tropical forest it comes from, tap water that is rich in minerals, and light that is … Read more
An amaryllis is one of the easiest ways to get a big, dramatic flower indoors in the dead of winter, and one of the most confusing to keep going afterward. The bulb arrives, a thick stalk shoots up, and a few weeks later the blooms are open. Then the flowers fade and many people assume … Read more
How to keep a florist cyclamen blooming: cool air, bright light, bottom watering, and how to rest the tuber over summer.