I used to be a verrrry dirrrty girl but I have since cleaned up my act lol
I used to keep a lot of plants indoors. I grew up in a house dripping with vegetation (so much so that my brother as a kid once took gardening shears to the plants around the tv so he could see it) When I first had my own place I experimented growing tropical food plants like pomegranate, papaya, coffee, etc. Some of these (like coffee plants) make great hardy houseplants and that got me thinking a lot more about using plants in decor rather than having a collection of weedy looking specimens.
If you have a brown thumb and still want to brighten your place up with some greenery, there are lots of great tough houseplants out there. Plants that can grown in the shade or in the light and that you can leave for a month while you vacation and come back to and still see green leaves.
#1 I would pick up some aglaonema (Chinese Evergreen) at Walmart or Home Depot or such when you can find them for sale in the mixed tropicals for under $10. They will grow in deep shade (e.g., far back in the room away from windows, or in a basement with just one of those ground level half windows...) though they won't be as bushy they still look nice. They also tolerate full sun, e.g., if you go to Las Vegas you will see them in plantings outdoors along the strip. They can tolerate 4 weeks without water, if you tend not to be on top of these things. The wild and original houseplant forms of this plant are not very attractive (a real 1960's look) there are many broad leafed, brighter green strains being bred, and that's what you are likely to find in the hardware store, etc.
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Put one of these bushy monsters on each of the side tables around your couch and you will totally transform the feel of your room. Hard to kill in so many different ways. Do check out Google Images to see the variety of forms of this plant...you can fill a room with them and still have ton of variation. Some of the varieties are patented and are huge, I mean $70-$80 bucks for a plant you pay $10 for at Wallymart, so WM is a very good value!
#2 pick is a ZZ plant
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This plant has an elegant curving form (more like the first picture) and swellings at the base of it's leaf shafts that store water (meaning this is another beauty you can forget to water for a month) About 10-15 years ago they were hugely popular with set designers, so much so that it seems they were in every ad and commercial. If you aren't into plants I guessed you missed that. You can find them again at Home Depot and similar. Tough, tough, tough
For these big specimens that come in straight sided 9" pots, skip the plant pots and check out bathroom garbage pails! They are the right size, there is a good classy looking selection in the $10 range, and they are a cheap fix until you can get a pot upgrade.
If you have a sunny window, baskets of hoya (wax plant) or pothos will grow and cover your window and shelter out the light and make for an interesting effect...get the plants to grow along led Christmas lights and you have a unique window treatment. Two more really tough plants, and hoyas will create intensely fragrant clusters of blossoms if they are happy enough. You only need to start with a tiny one, under $5.
So brown thumbs, think about that! Cheap and green!
Ha ha after all that I don't have a lot going on indoors these days. Outdoors we have a raised bed 2' high that is full of grape, roma and beefsteak tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, cilantro...I salad/herb garden I guess.
Across the road is a naturalized area with raspberries and blackberries and there is another long row of the things up the hill from us. Towards downtown there is a depressed area and you can see all kinds of weeds, I mean WILDFLOWERS lol in the shaggy lawns if I head down to the bank. The best place to get catnip in town is in fact behind the bank...lol it's urban but nature is trying to take back control. My neighbours think I'm a freak because I keep on picking weeds like they mean something.
So I am no longer as dirty as I used to be but I still like talking plants!