My girlfriend is an avid gardener and I know nothing about gardening at all. I want to learn a bit so that I can be helpful. I want to start by having a few houseplants. What is an easy plant for me to start with?
My wife keeps strawberry begonia, wandering Jew, spider plants, hens and chickens. All regenerative plants, [i]i.e.[i] plants that have young off shoots that can be potted on their own. Its like rabbits multiplying. I'm sure there are some better plants in your area. You might want to check with a gardening/landscaping pro. Glenn
If either of you is into cooking, herbs are a good way to get into growing things. Rosemary, basil and parsley are always useful, and mints, chives and thyme are generally very easy to grow. They smell nice and are decorative as well as tasty.
There is not a lot of fuss involved, but keep the herbs trimmed so they won't take up too much room, and make use of the trimmings. All you really need is a place where they can get enough sunlight.
Posts: 261 | Location: VA, AL, GA | Registered: 23 October 2007
There are a lot of resources for you out there to figure out what plants you could keep that are hardy.
I think one of your best resources would be a plant shop. I would check in with local nurseries (if you have any) or maybe the major stores like Home Depot and Lowes. Tell them what you are looking for and they should be able to help.
Sometimes your water company will be able to provide you information, either in a pamphlet or their website. I know my local water company had a number of pamphlets that had information about outdoor and indoor landscaping
Of course to, just plugging into google "hardy indoor plants" should give you quite a listing.
Wow, are you ever sweet to want to share her interest in gardening. Big points for that. Peace lilly is really a good choice but remember that it doesn't like to be really hot (so not DIRECTLY in front of your brightest window) and if you forget to water it and it droops all over like it has died, don't panic. Just water it and it will perk backup. It's a great choice if you don't have a lot of light too.
I think a spider plant (some people call it an airplane plant, chlorophytum) is easy too. It will give you little plantlets too, so you could pot one up for your girlfriend!
Or, I like the Snake Plant (Sansevieria). A lot of people don't like the look of it, I happen to like it, kind of different. I don't think it is possible to abuse it too much.
