Backyard planting could be enjoyable, but it is definitely not for everybody, right? After all, not everyone likes getting their hands down and dirty. And, of course, most individuals don’t exactly have the time and area for outside gardening. Furthermore, establishing an elaborate garden outside presents its own set of challenges. Hence, most of us have at least one area and a window from where the sunshine flows. Now that’s our perfect spot for an indoor plant! 

A vibrant room filled with indoor plants
A vibrant room filled with indoor plants | Image Credit – Prudence Earl

You have arrived at the perfect place on the internet if you are trying to add some vibrancy and liveliness to your home interior- and who isn’t an indoor plant lover these days? Here, you will uncover an inventory of the 20 best indoor plants that have captured the hearts of plant lovers, whether they are beginners or experts in plant-parenting!

By the end of the list, make sure you choose your favorites and give plant-parenting a chance to touch your lives!

Table of Contents

1. Pilea Plant

Decorative potted plant on marble shelf
Decorative potted plant on marble shelf | Image Credit – Karolina Grabowska

Pilea, commonly known as the Chinese Money Plant, is a common indoor plant requiring little maintenance and delivering a sophisticated decorative touch. Money plants in China are estimated to reach a height of 30 cm.

It is an upright, fleshy, everlasting perennial with marvelous leaves that are spherical and deep green. The leaves can grow up to 10 cm in diameter. It has an emerald to darker brown stem that often stands vertically clinging to surfaces. This vegetation’s foliage makes it one of the most popular indoor plants.

2. Rattlesnake Plant

Rattlesnake Plant
Rattlesnake Plant | Image Credit – Axel Vazquez

The rattlesnake is a beautiful, enduring plant with speckled, spiky blades and purple flanks. Endemic to the Brazilian jungle, the rattlesnake plant flourishes in wet, humid, semi-shady settings.

The plant produces beautiful, bright orange flowers in the spring and summer seasons if the parameters are exactly right. The rattlesnake plant is a show-stopper, reaching heights of 30 inches and occasionally even higher.

3. Birds of Paradise

Birds of Paradise
Birds of Paradise | Image Credit – Wikimedia Commons

The Bird of Paradise has a beautiful show of enormous exotic leaves that can grow up to 20 feet tall in the wilderness of southern Africa. They are expected to grow between 3′ and 8′ tall in urban settings. And because of the immensity of their lush leaves, they are still one of the most popular indoor plants. 

The plant is cultivated outside in sunny regions and as a backyard plant for its lovely greenery and distinctive blossoms. However, they may not yield as many blooms if grown inside. People gave it the name because of its similarity to the magnificent forest birds recognized as birds of paradise.

4. Dracaena

Dracaena
Dracaena | Image Credit – Flickr

Dracaena is derived from the Greek terminology “drakaina,” meaning ‘female dragon.’ When this species is chopped, it generates a red liquid that mimics dragon blood. With its warm green, cord-like leaf, the dracaena vegetation, which includes roughly 40 distinct tree types, is a relatively low-maintenance plant. 

These perennials exist in various forms, with a few varieties having huge, tree-like shapes and others being much more modest. Dracaena plants, regardless of species, always have a towering structure that is ideal for indoor adornment.

5. Prayer Plant

Prayer Plant
Prayer Plant | Image Credit – Wikimedia Commons

Because of its stunning ornamental fronds, the prayer plant is among the most easily identified dwarf varieties. The classic tricolor cultivar is characterized by vibrant green velvety foliage with yellow speckles along the midrib and soaring red veins running through the leaf blade.

The prayer plant is a slow-growing indoor plant that can develop up to a foot tall. They are typically used as indoor plants and grown at any time of year.

6. Fiddle-leaf Fig

A growing fiddle leaf fig
A growing fiddle leaf fig | Image Credit – Scott Webb

The fiddle-leaf fig is a spectacular indoor tree (yes, a tree!) with violin-shaped foliage that stand erect on a slim stalk and are very big, deeply glistening, and lustrous. If you wish to place a fiddle-leaf fig in a large pot that allows the plant to expand, make sure not to push it right to the wall. Also, keep in mind that this beautiful plant is poisonous to your precious cats and canines.

7. Lucky Bamboo

Lucky Bamboo
Lucky Bamboo | Image Credit – Flickr

Lucky bamboo is an ordinary houseplant believed to generate good energy inside the home. Many people assume lucky bamboo to be a dwarf variety of bamboo, but it is a cultivar of dracaena!

Lucky bamboo is a low-maintenance plant that thrives in a light-filled environment. It also thrives in direct sunlight. It can handle lower light conditions, but it will not develop very much in the absence of bright light. Hence, make absolutely sure to turn your plant frequently to ensure that the light hits all parts adequately.

8. Anthurium

Anthurium
Anthurium | Image Credit – Hassan Pasha

Anthurium is a family of over 1,000 vegetation belonging to Central and Northern America, the Caribbean, and South America. Anthuriums can be cultivated on the grounds in warmer regions, but they are most commonly grown as indoor plants.

They develop slowly or moderately, relying on how much light they receive without being scorched. They are also known as flamingo flowers because of their distinctive tropical appearance.

9. Dieffenbachia

Dieffenbachia
Dieffenbachia | Image Credit – ANKUR MADAN

Dieffenbachia is a low-maintenance plant that gives your basic bedroom a luxuriant, subtropical feel. The common term for this species is “dumbcane,” and for a legitimate reason: the plant’s fluid can cause numbing when contacted and affect one’s ability to talk if it comes near your lips, rendering you silent or dumb.  

Many varieties are available, most of which have sprinkled, spattered, or lightly banded foliage mixed with white and green cream and green or all-green foliage. Dieffenbachia is predominantly planted for its leaves, but the flower resembles a peace lily if it does blossom.

10. Ponytail Palm

Ponytail Palm
Ponytail Palm | Image Credit – Pixabay

Notwithstanding its title and palm-like structure, the ponytail palm is not a genuine palm. Its closest relatives are desert species from the Agave and Yucca genera. The classic ponytail palm has a wide, conical stump that transitions to a slender stalk.

As the plant matures, one or more rosettes of tall, emerald, rubbery leaves emerge from the top of the main stem. The leaf blades can grow up to 3 feet long indoors; however, they can grow twice that size if maintained outside.

11. Calathea Plant

Calathea Plant
Calathea Plant | Image Credit – Pixabay

Calathea plants are preferred for interior application since they are often easy to maintain and look fabulous, providing brilliant green hues to brighten up small rooms. Their foliage is known for being broad, green, and bright. They are excellent in low-light settings because of their large leaves that collect plenty of light.

Calathea flowers frequently bloom in nature; however, they don’t blossom as much indoors.

12. Polka Dot Plant

Top View of Potted Plants on Glass Table
Top View of Potted Plants on Glass Table | Image Credit – Tara Winstead

Polka dot plants are traditional indoor plants that have brightly colored leaves. They have been heavily modified to generate a broad color palette and foliage sprinkling patterns. This plant, also known as the freckle face plant, can thrive in any amount of indirect light, but the pigment is most refined in lower light. The burst collection exists in various shades with an emerald background leaf and irregular bursts of color in pink, white, violet, or red.

13. Aloe Vera

Aloe Vera
Aloe Vera | Image Credit – Wikimedia Commons

Aloe vera is a beautiful indoor perennial with prickly, juicy blades with edges looking like chamfered knives. It is a succulent that thrives in scorching, arid climates and saves water in its stem and foliages. As a result, it requires little watering, making it the ideal low-maintenance plant for novices.

The aloe vera juice is often used to treat inflammation, scorches, blistering, skin irritations, and bug bites, earning the nickname “first aid succulent.”

14. Air Plant

Air Plant
Air Plant | Image Credit – Mike Walter

The bromeliad group includes air plants, which are epiphytes. They are becoming more appealing as indoor plants because of their unique appearance and low maintenance requirements. Late winter and mid-summer bring tiny blooms, typically less than three inches in diameter. 

The premise that air plants take all their nourishment and hydration from the environment gives them a direct translation. Thanks to tiny scales on the narrow, stiff leaf blades, the plant can collect water and nutrients. The adult plant will perish once it blossoms, but young plants will grow from the mother plant’s stem.

15. African Violet

African Violet
African Violet | Image Credit – Flickr

For valid reasons, African violets are among the most desirable indoor blooming plants on the planet. These low-growing, miniature vegetations flower multiple times a year and come in various leaf shapes and colors.

Don’t allow their propensity for complexity to deter you: African violets may prosper inside if you maintain a few easy principles. With minimal practice, you can nurture them to bloom almost all year.

16. Bromeliad

Bromeliad
Bromeliad | Image Credit – Flickr

The spectacular bromeliad may appear challenging to maintain with its incredible diversity of colors and patterns, yet it can readily acclimatize to typical residential settings. Bromeliads are recognized as gorgeous foliage houseplants, with blades in red, green, purple, orange, and yellow and bands, streaks, patches, and other patterns. Bromeliads are slow-growing perennials that develop into floral plants in one to three years.

17. Umbrella Plant

Umbrella Plant
Umbrella Plant | Image Credit – Flickr

Umbrella plants may not be at the forefront of the popular indoor plants ranking these days, but they have been for a very long time. They are a low-maintenance, easy-to-care-for species that can bring beautiful leaves to a plain living space. You can cultivate these lovely plants happily indoors.

One of the excellent parts about umbrella plants is how easily they can be minimally influenced, giving a bonsai look. They will reach no more than 4 to 8 feet, making it simple to keep your umbrella plant alive in your home.

18. Croton

Croton
Croton | Image Credit – Pixabay

Croton, often known as garden croton, is indigenous to Asia and Oceania’s tropical woodlands. They emerge as big bushes in nature, measuring 10 feet, but they remain modest inside the house or the backyard.

The croton is a low-maintenance houseplant with colorful leaves with green, scarlet, orange, and yellow specks. Because all components of this plant are fatal, particularly the seeds, you should not use them in households with inquisitive dogs or toddlers.

19. English Ivy

English Ivy
English Ivy | Image Credit – Jerry Wang

English ivy has a rich history and is a lovely vine. Ivy is prized by many for its capacity to wrap buildings and tree branches beautifully. The broad, orbicular, and typically lustrous leaflets of English ivy are the part of the plant that most people can identify. The veins are frequently light green, yellow, or white, ranging from moderate to dark green. The leaves can have a lovely variegated pattern with two or more colors. Dark green, light green, yellow, white, and red are among the most common colors.

20. Jade Plant

Jade Plant
Jade Plant | Image Credit – Flickr

Succulents like the classic Crassula ovata, sometimes recognized as jade plant, lucky plant, or money tree, are ideal for beginners. They are incredibly hardy, require minimal moisture, and stay green all year. They will also live long, making them an excellent plant buddy.

To Conclude

If you are worried about killing yet another plant, let me tell you that as long as you stick with the basic rule of adding water only when the top few inches of soil are dry, you will not kill any of the above-listed beauties. They are, in fact, some of the most easy-going plants requiring minimal to no care. Now, which of these beauties are you going to add to your bedroom for that colorful and lively Instagram-able look?

(Last Updated on May 19, 2022 by Sadrish Dabadi)

Shradha Bhatta holds a Bachelors’s Degree in Social Work along with a Post-graduate degree in Project Management from Georgian College in Canada. Shradha enjoys writing on a variety of topics and takes pleasure in discovering new ideas. She likes traveling and spending time with nature. She is a very people-person who loves talking about climate change and alerting people to go green!