Did You Know? You Can Buy Live Plants On Amazon (Plus Some Houseplant Tips)

(Above: A spider plant hanging in my home office in a beautiful Convivial Production planter.)

I'm a huge fan of having plants in your home. They add instant life to a space, are perfect pieces of decor for just about any spot, and can even purify your air (bonus!). Over the past year or so, I've slowly been adding more houseplants into different areas of our home - I think I might be turning into a little bit of a crazy plant lady, but I just love them. Our neighborhood hardware store has a great selection and I have to try really hard to resist bringing another one home every time I walk by - it's trouble!

So when I recently heard that Amazon had a new houseplant "shop,"* I had to check it out. The idea of having live plants shipped right to my door was definitely enticing (not that I need any more...) and I was curious to see what they had listed. Since Amazon has an enormous inventory that can be a bear to sift through, I liked the idea of browsing a curated collection rather than having to look through a million results.  

I took a spin through the shop and what I found was a pretty wide selection of sizes, shapes, and species. They had three pages of plants that included everything from fiddle leaf figs to succulents to bonsai trees. The prices seem reasonable and the vast majority fall into the Prime category, so if you have a membership, they'll ship to you fast and free, which is pretty awesome! The one thing I found to be a little bit odd was that there were some that didn't have good reviews or had no reviews - wouldn't you think that if you're putting together a collection like this that you'd want to choose well-vetted plants? Maybe I'm wrong, but that thought did cross my mind, and it's something to note if you do some plant shopping there.

Of the houseplants in the shop, here are the ones that caught my eye:

rubber tree | snake plant | fiddle leaf fig | yucca cane plant | elephant ear | chinese evergreen | jade plant | pothos

As I was browsing, I figured out that sometimes the listing you see on the shop's home page actually has a variety of plants listed. For example, when I clicked on a listing for a Chinese evergreen, I found four different varieties in different colors and leaf patterns. So if you like a plant generally, but want a different color or variety, click through! You may find more options.

It can take a little bit of trial and error to see what plants work well in your home, but with a little bit of research to see if a plant's ideal growing conditions match the amount of care and light you can provide, you'll find the right ones in no time. It's true that some plants are more high maintenance than others, and sometimes you just have plain ole bad luck, but I'm a firm believer that anyone can keep a plant alive if it's the right one! I know it can be tempting to choose based on pure aesthetic, but trust me, if your home isn't the right setting for it, you'll convince yourself you have a black thumb when that's not really the case. Choose wisely! 

We live in a row house that has limited natural light, so most of my plants are ones that can handle low light conditions. We have a couple of windows that provide nice, bright light, so I've been able to bring in a few of plants that require a little more sunlight to thrive.

(Above: My little fiddle leaf fig (note that it normally sits in a window with bright light!) played the role of decor in my One Room Challenge reveal.) 

Here are the plants that have survived and and done well in my house with little maintenance:

• Pothos (I have one that gets very little light and still does great!)
• ZZ plant (it does well sitting in a window that gets afternoon sun)
• Prayer plant/red maranta (I have it hanging in a corner near a window in my office that gets decent light, but no direct sun)
• Jade plant (this one seems to do ok, but honestly could probably use more light throughout the day)
• Fiddle leaf fig (lives in a window that gets indirect light all day and some bright afternoon sun)

Just as importantly, here are the plants that have not done well in my house:

• Maidenhair fern (I've decided they are just too high maintenance for me!)
• Most succulents (my house just isn't bright enough for them to grow well)
• Spider plant (the one I had in my office in that photo at the top of the post didn't last very long! It may have just been the wrong spot for it though.) 

Thankfully, I've found some success along the way, and figured out that I do well with plants that need water about once a week or less (and that "tell me" when they need water based on the way their leaves droop!) and can grow in lower light conditions. I hope this can help some of you out there embrace your inner green thumb - I know you have one!

(Above: That's a pothos on top of my bookshelf - I've had it for a couple of years and it does well here with little natural light!)

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