Crispy brown tips on a dracaena often have nothing to do with the watering schedule — the tap water itself is a common culprit. This genus is unusually sensitive to fluoride, which many municipal water supplies add, and switching to distilled or rainwater is the usual fix; when the water is the problem, new growth … Read more
The first sight of thick, cord-like roots pushing out of an anthurium’s stem above the soil line can look like something has gone badly wrong. Those are aerial roots, and they’re a completely normal part of how this plant grows in the wild, climbing trees and pulling in moisture from humid air. Once you know … Read more
Begonia is the plant that shows the word “begonia” barely means anything on its own. A rex begonia bought in the expectation that it will behave like a cane begonia on a porch is easy to nearly kill by treating the two the same way. This genus is enormous and wildly varied, so the single … Read more
The first time a hoya blooms, it’s tempting to cut off the flower stalk afterward, assuming it’s spent and needs tidying up like a faded daffodil. Don’t — that same stubby little spur goes on to produce new flower clusters year after year, and snipping it off would set the plant back considerably. Hoya rewards … Read more
Treat a Christmas cactus like the desert cacti on the windowsill — bright blazing sun, water once in a blue moon — and it tends to just sit there sulking, never once flowering. This plant is actually an epiphyte from Brazilian rainforests, distantly related to desert cacti but living a completely different life clinging to … Read more
The best thing about a ZZ plant is watching a new shoot come up. It emerges as a single tightly curled spear, almost like a fiddlehead fern, bright chartreuse and glossy, before slowly unfurling into the familiar dark green fronds over a couple of weeks. It’s one of the more satisfying things to watch in … Read more
The first time a spider plant sends out a long arching stem with a tiny plantlet dangling off the end, it can look like something is wrong. That’s just what a happy, slightly root-bound spider plant does — it throws out babies almost as a reflex. Once that’s understood, there’s less reason to fuss over … Read more
Peace lily is the plant that shows watering doesn’t have to be a guessing game. It droops dramatically when it’s thirsty, leaves going soft and flopping over the pot in a way that looks alarming the first time you see it, then perks back up within hours of a good watering, good as new. Once … Read more
A snake plant can sit in a dim hallway corner for close to two years with almost no direct attention, watered maybe once a month, and just keep growing new leaves the entire time. It’s the plant to recommend first to anyone who says they’ve killed every houseplant they’ve ever owned, mostly because it’s genuinely … Read more
Succulents on a north-facing windowsill can go eight months or so before the problem becomes obvious: they stretch into pale, leggy versions of themselves, reaching sideways toward the one bright spot in the room. It’s easy to assume succulents are just easy, low-light plants because that’s how garden centers seem to display them, tucked into … Read more