Thank you so much for the list! I’ve been looking for houseplants that would benefit the environment inside our home. And I love how you just broke it all down for me. I’m pretty much a serial killer when it comes to plants, but I’m excited to give it another go round. And this time, I plan on keeping them alive no matter what it takes. I’ll set up a plant ER right in the garage if need be. Thanks!

-oooh, second one already!
-did you check to see if any of the plants are poisonous? I had to get rid of all of ours because Catie (though plenty old enough to know better) kept gnawing on them – blech!)
-how many did you buy??? I couldn’t keep up with enough to change the air in this house – that’s a lot of plants!

Great post! I’m starting to get inspired – it’s scary. Haven’t had a lot of success in the past, but maybe it’s due to the soft water. Thanks for the tip!

Hmmm. I wonder if it’s the soft water that killed my herbs…

This is inspiring me to go get more plants. We only have a handful in our home, and a few of them actually died this winter (we have no idea why!). Thanks for the list…I’m gonna print it out and take it with me to the nursery!

Thank you for this tip. I can never figure out where to buy houseplants though. Lately I’ve just been asking friends for slips but I would like some particular ones. Any ideas?

I have never been into house plants either. I think we had so many growing up and they always seemed so messy and hippyish……I’ll have to take a look next time I’m out and see if they seem cute now!

Very interesting! I have a brown thumb – I even killed a cactus once! That, combined with 3 cats, does not make live plants a good choice for me!

Good for you! The only bad thing about them is getting someone to water them while you’re away.

Peace lily, my favorite…I have 3 since I moved here, a little over a year ago and they are amazing and blooming again…they kinda will even say to you ” I am a little thirsty ” you just have to listen

What a great list. I am always on the look out for more plants to help clean the air around here, but our house gets very little sunshine, so they frequently don’t live long.

Sounds like a great list….but I have such a brown thumb!!!!

Good for you for taking on this new endeavor and so happy to hear book TWO is in the works!
I must confess that I’m quite the plant killer. Every time I bring home a plant my husband groans. He knows it’s going to die. And it always does. Would love to hear how much work it takes to keep these new lovely plants alive. The benefits are almost enticing enough for me to give it another try!

Hey Darcie– spent some time this morning catching up on you via your blog. Found this post through WFMW and was like “Darcie!” So then I came here and read your posts for several pages worth. You are a great writer. Truly. Keep up the good work. I still think you should come to She Speaks. Just sayin.

I know that everything you right is so true, but I have killed every plant that has entered my house. I have a black thumb.

[...] Houseplants that will improve your home I need houseplants. [...]

I was curious, I wanted to make sure if I bought these houseplants, any of them, they’d be non-toxic for my daughter, our dogs and our cats. So I did research. Well, 7 of the 10 listed ARE toxic, ick! I wrote about it here (I’m just a mom, not a blogger, but I was curious, so if you are curious too, check it out, I did the work for you) http://loreleisierra.blogspot.com/2010/03/houseplants.html

The plants you listed are all common names. For instance Janet Craig is not a plant but a named variety of the plant family Dracena. Common names are ok but it is important to include at least part of the proper name. Google Janet Craig and you are more apt to get the addreess of a neighbor than the house plant….