Help me give the gift of urban gardening

October 7, 2016 6:50 PM

I think my husband would like more plants and his birthday is coming up. Help me figure out what to get him?

My husband and I live in a condo building with lots of windows but I don't think we get direct sunlight. We also have a small porch (enough room for two chairs, a small table and such) that gets no light whatsoever. The porch also unfortunately gets buggy. I tried looking for plants that would keep bugs away and can do well with minimal sunlight but I don't think that exists.

I know next to nothing about plants and gardening. He knows slightly more. We currently have a bamboo plant and we used to have a spider plant. If I was asking this question a few months ago, I'd be interested in getting a trellis for the porch and some climbing plants but it is about to get cold here so I think any new vegetation we acquire would need to be of the kind that we can easily bring indoors for the winter.

While having more plants appeals to both of us, I think we would need plants that are pretty low maintenance. I would love suggestions that I could largely acquire online (we have a baby and it's hard to find time to go to a store) but I do live near a crappy Home Depot and there are some decent hardware stores nearby.

I feel like I see a lot of grow-your-own-herbs type kits and that appeals to me but can that work in a condo or space with little light?

Specific things that I'd consider getting him:
- the above mentioned herb kit
- window boxes that we could easily hang, though again, we may need to bring those in at some point because weather
- specific plants that could thrive in the conditions described above
- whatever other plant related stuff one needs like soil
- cute planters that would look nice in our place

Suggestions? Ideas?

posted by kat518 to Home & Garden (8 answers total)

Can you share your general location? Highly relevant here! :)
posted by lovableiago at 7:23 PM on October 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

If you're after indoor plants, typically big-box home improvement stores have low-maintenance tropicals to be had for reasonable prices. I'd look for Sanseveria, Dracaena, Pothos, and "ZZ" plant (Zamioculcas zamiifolia).
posted by Emperor SnooKloze at 7:38 PM on October 7, 2016 [1 favorite]

I had very good results with a flower seed mix made up of plants that don't require much sunlight. I had them in a medium pot (16" or so) in a spot on the balcony that got no direct sunlight, but a decent amount of indirect light (lots of visible sky).
posted by clorox at 7:53 PM on October 7, 2016

Response by poster: loveableiago, I'm in Washington, DC. Thanks!
posted by kat518 at 1:04 AM on October 8, 2016

I would suggest a gift certificate to a nearby greenhouse/garden center (which you can hopefully buy online). The staff there can help you pick out plants suited to your specific needs and you and your husband can make a little trip out of it- take the baby, stop for coffee, ice cream etc and bring home some plants.
posted by sarajane at 5:38 AM on October 8, 2016 [1 favorite]

The variegated Peperomia plant I bought back in January 2013 is super happy with once weekly watering and indirect light, and as a bonus, doesn't look like every single other neglectable office plant.
posted by deludingmyself at 9:43 AM on October 8, 2016

YMMV, but here are some plants that are flexible w/r/t care and lower-maintenance, in my experience, which should be okay with bright light but no direct sun:

Aglaonema cvv. (Chinese evergreen)
Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine)
Ardisia elliptica (shoebutton tree)
Ardisia crenata (coral berry)
Clivia cvv. (clivia)
Cyperus alternifolius (umbrella papyrus)
Dracaena deremensis and D. fragrans cvv. (corn plant)
Epipremnum aureum cvv. (pothos, money vine, centipede vine)
Euphorbia tirucalli (pencil cactus)
Euphorbia trigona (African milk bush)
Ficus maclellandii (long-leaf fig)
most Haworthia cvv. (haworthia)
Hoya carnosa (wax plant)
Monstera deliciosa (split-leaf philodendron)
Pandanus veitchii (screw pine)
Peperomia obtusifolia (baby rubber plant) (same one recommended by deludingmyself)
Peperomia pereskiifolia
Philodendron erubescens cvv.
Philodendron hederaceum cvv. (heart-leaf philodendron)
Plectranthus verticillatus (Swedish ivy)
Polypodium aureum (hare's-foot fern)
Rhapis excelsa (lady palm)
Sansevieria trifasciata (snake plant, mother-in-law's tongue)
Schefflera arboricola (umbrella plant)
Schlumbergera cvv. (holiday cactus)
Spathiphyllum cvv. (peace lily)
Strelitzia nicolai (white bird of paradise)
Strelitzia reginae (bird of paradise)
Syngonium podophyllum (arrowhead vine)
Tradescantia pallida (purple heart)
Tradescantia zebrina (wandering jew)
Yucca guatemalensis (spineless yucca)
Zamioculcas zamiifolia (ZZ plant)

Some of these are dangerously toxic to pets and/or children (in particular Euphorbia tirucalli; Sansevieria trifasciata is toxic to cats specifically); others have sharp bits that may or may not be a problem for you (Euphorbia trigona, Pandanus veitchii, Yucca guatemalensis). Some are better suited to warmer or cooler homes, to more- or less-conscientious waterers, or to larger or smaller spaces. Feel free to MeMail.
posted by Spathe Cadet at 1:19 PM on October 8, 2016 [2 favorites]

Moss balls, or terrariums? I have moss balls in a bowl of water that are completely no care (rinse them once in a while, change the water) and look very sweet just hanging out on a mantel or shelf. I know terrariums recently were crazy popular, so they and their components should be easy to acquire and can be as simple as a fern in a jar.
posted by glitter at 3:08 AM on October 9, 2016