As an avid indoor gardener, I often marvel at the vibrant blooms that brighten our homes. These flowering houseplants offer more than just beauty. They help lower stress and can be a calming activity. Plus, some plants like areca palms and rubber plants clean the air by removing toxins and odors.
Gerbera daisies also keep giving off oxygen at night. Keeping a few in your bedroom can help you sleep better.
If you’re new to indoor flower gardening, don’t worry! There are many easy plants that can bring color and life to your home all year. Options like the African violet and peace lily are perfect for beginners. Are you ready to start your indoor garden?
Key Takeaways
- Interacting with houseplants can lower stress levels and provide a therapeutic experience.
- Some houseplants, like areca palms and rubber plants, can help purify the air in your home.
- Gerbera daisies continue to give off oxygen even after the sun goes down, making them a great choice for the bedroom.
- There are many easy-to-grow indoor flowering plants, from African violets to peace lilies, that can thrive in your home.
- Indoor flower gardening can help you create a vibrant, blooming oasis in your living spaces all year round.
African Violets: Vibrant Blooms Indoors
Looking for an indoor flower that’s easy to grow and blooms often? Check out the African violet (Saintpaulia ionantha). These plants are low-maintenance and come in many varieties. Each one has its own special look, from ruffled flowers to leaves with different colors.
African violets love warm, humid places with bright, indirect light. They do best about three feet from a window or under 40-watt fluorescent lights. With the right care, they can bloom all year, bringing vibrant colors indoors.
To help your African violets grow, use a potting mix like Miracle-Gro® Indoor Potting Mix. Water them when the soil feels dry, but avoid getting water on the leaves. A fertilizer like Miracle-Gro® Blooming Houseplant Food can also make them bloom more.
African violets can live a long time with the right care. They can live up to 20 years, and sometimes even 50 years. If you want to add some beauty to your home, consider these lovely plants.
“African violets are known to bloom year-round when healthy, making them a delightful addition to any indoor space.”
Oxalis: Clover-Like Foliage With Delicate Flowers
Looking to add some whimsy and color to your indoor garden? Consider the Oxalis plant, also known as the shamrock. This little gem has triangular, clover-like leaves that fold down at night. They reveal a constant show of pale pink or white flowers above the leaves.
Oxalis plants come in many varieties. The ‘Sunset Velvet’ can live 4-5 years in zone 9 gardens. The ‘Vulcanicola’ grows to 15″ x 15″ and thrives in zones 8 and above. The ‘Charmed Wine’ Oxalis is hardy to zone 7b, with vibrant foliage. The ‘Iron Cross’ variety from Mexico can handle temperatures as low as 10-15 degrees, showing off a stunning burgundy and bright green pattern.
The ‘Corniculate’ Oxalis is often a weed that needs careful removal. Potted shamrocks usually don’t get taller than 6 inches. They bloom with white flowers in the fall, winter, and spring. These plants love bright, indirect light and cooler night temperatures. They need watering 2-3 times a month and houseplant food when they’re growing.
With the right care, Oxalis plants can live indefinitely. They offer a touch of whimsy and blooms all year. Whether for St. Patrick’s Day or just to brighten your space, Oxalis are perfect for indoor gardeners.
Peace Lilies: Elegant White Blooms
Peace lilies (Spathiphyllum wallisii) are perfect for adding elegance and calm to your indoor garden. They have upright white flowers that stand out against deep green leaves. These plants bloom all year, bringing a tropical feel to any room.
Peace lilies bloom twice a year, most in spring and fall. You can find varieties like ‘Wallisii,’ ‘Power Petite,’ and ‘Mauna Loa Supreme.’ They like temperatures between 65 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit and prefer not to be too wet.
Peace lilies need indirect sunlight, best near a north or east window. They come from tropical South America and are in the Araceae family with philodendron and anthurium. But, they can be harmful to pets and people, so keep them away.
To grow more peace lilies, divide them when you repot them. The roots will grow back in less than a month. Prune and remove dead flowers every six months to keep them looking great. Peace lilies add beauty with their white flowers and green leaves to any indoor garden.
Anthuriums: Heart-Shaped Flowers and Foliage
Bring the tropics into your home with anthuriums (Anthurium andraeanum). These plants have eye-catching flowers and foliage in a heart shape. They come in many colors like pink, red, lavender, and white, making them stand out in any room.
Anthuriums are known for being tough and adaptable. They can grow well in different light conditions. They can even handle bright light, making them great for indoor gardening. With the right care, they can bloom all year, showing off their unique heart-shaped flowers.
For anthuriums to grow well, they need a special soil mix. This mix is coarse, porous, and full of nutrients. They also love high humidity, like in the rainforest. To keep the humidity up, you can mist the plant or put it near a tray of water.
Feeding anthuriums is important for their flowers and leaves to stay vibrant. They do well with fertilizers high in phosphorus. Feeding them once a month from March to October helps them stay healthy and bloom more.
Anthuriums are a delight for indoor gardeners with their heart-shaped flowers and leaves. With the right care, you can enjoy these tropical plants all year. They add beauty and a touch of the tropics to your home.
| Anthurium Characteristics | Details |
|---|---|
| Bloom Duration | 8-12 weeks, with several non-blooming months in between |
| Lighting Requirements | Bright indirect light, tolerates bright direct light |
| Watering Frequency | Approximately every 1 month, adjusting based on seasons and conditions |
| Soil Requirements | Coarse, porous, nutrient-rich medium suitable for epiphytes |
| Fertilizer | Phosphorus-rich fertilizer, 16-16-16 ratio, applied monthly during growing season |
| Repotting | Every 2-4 years, in spring or summer, using a larger pot size |
| Propagation Methods | Division, cuttings, seeds, tissue culture |
| Pot Sizes | 4″ and 6″ pots, with a height range of 10″ to 20″ |
| Flower Colors | Red, white, pink, lavender, maroon, green, purple, bi-color |
Indoor Flower Gardening for Long-Lasting Blooms
Starting an indoor flower garden can be very rewarding. By picking the right plants and caring for them well, you can have lots of colorful flowers all year. Let’s look at some top choices for indoor flower gardening that will make your home bright and happy.
The Thanksgiving cactus (Schlumbergera truncata) is a top pick for indoor gardens. These plants bloom many times over the winter, bringing color to any room. With their bright flowers, Thanksgiving cacti are great for those who want flowers that last a long time.
Phalaenopsis orchids are also great for long-lasting flowers. They can bloom for weeks or even months. By watering them twice a week when it’s warm and once a week when it’s cold, you can keep these beautiful flowers around longer.
| Plant | Bloom Duration | Care Requirements |
|---|---|---|
| Thanksgiving Cactus | Multiple Months | Indirect Light, Low Water |
| Phalaenopsis Orchid | Several Weeks to Months | Twice Weekly Watering (Warmer), Once Weekly (Cooler) |
| Kalanchoe | 1 Year | Bright Indirect Light, Soil Drying Between Waterings |
| Anthurium | 2-3 Months | Bright Indirect Light, Humid Conditions |
| African Violet | Year-Round | Bright Indirect Light, Bottom Watering |
Kalanchoe can bloom for up to a year with proper care, and Anthurium can have vibrant flowers for 2-3 months. African violets are also great, offering blooms all year with bright, indirect light and bottom watering.
By choosing and taking care of these tough indoor flowers, you can make a beautiful indoor garden. With the right conditions and a bit of love, you can enjoy these lasting blooms at home.
Flowering Maples: Papery Lantern-Like Blooms
Flowering maples (Abutilon x hybridum) are a joy for indoor flower gardening. They have blooms that look like crepe paper in colors like red, pink, orange, and yellow. The maple-like leaves make the flowers stand out beautifully.
These plants are very flexible. You can grow them upright, shape them like a small tree, keep them bushy, or put them in hanging baskets. This makes them perfect for any indoor flower gardening space, big or small.
Diverse Varieties and Captivating Blooms
There are over 100 types of flowering maples to pick from. Some popular ones include:
- Lucky Lantern ‘Tangerine’ – a compact variety growing 2-3 feet tall with large, tangerine-hued flowers
- ‘Cascade Dawn’ – a taller variety requiring morning and early afternoon sun to thrive
- ‘Thompsonii’ – featuring pale, translucent bell-shaped orange flowers and variegated leaves
- ‘Mobile Pink’ – with delicate, tissue paper-like blooms in a lovely blush of pink
- ‘Orange Hot Lava’ – displaying scarlet veining throughout its petals and growing 5-10 feet tall
Choosing a compact or a larger variety, growing flowering maples indoors brings tropical beauty and stunning blooms to your home.
Jasmine: Fragrant Vining Plants
Jasmine is a gem for indoor flower gardening lovers. Its strong, sweet smell and delicate flowers are unmatched. These vining plants come in many types that do well indoors with proper care.
The Grand Duke of Tuscany jasmine is famous for its amazing smell and lots of flowers in summer. The Maid of Orleans variety also stands out, with white blooms and a strong scent in late winter to early spring.
For a successful indoor jasmine garden, these plants need bright, indirect sunlight for at least six hours daily. They do best in slightly acidic, well-drained soil full of organic matter. It’s important to water them right, letting the soil dry out a bit between waterings, to avoid diseases and pests.
During winter, keep jasmine plants in cooler, draft-free spots, around 50 to 55 degrees Fahrenheit. This helps them bud and bloom better. Pruning after flowers and regular feeding with organic fertilizer also keeps them healthy and blooming.
Jasmine plants are a must for indoor flower gardening fans. By following these tips, you can enjoy their beauty and scent at home.
Clivia: Winter-Blooming Elegance
For those who love indoor flower gardening, the clivia (Clivia miniata) is a must-have. Known as the kaffir lily, it blooms in winter with up to 20 reddish-orange or yellow flowers. These plants grow slowly, taking three to five years to bloom from seed. But their winter blooms are worth the wait.
Clivias can grow 2 to 3 feet tall and just as wide, with long, arching leaves. They do well when their roots are not disturbed and can stay in one pot for up to five years. But, growing clivias can be tricky because they can’t be grown from tissue culture. They must be grown from seeds or divided.
To get lots of flowers, clivias need a six-to-eight-week break with little water. This mimics their natural environment in the subtropical forests of eastern South Africa. William J. Burchell, an English naturalist, discovered them in 1815.
Since clivias only grow well in USDA Zones 9 and 10, indoor gardening is perfect for enjoying these winter flowers. They grow slowly and bloom for a long time, making them great for indoor gardens. As new colors are developed, these unique flowers are becoming more popular among indoor flower gardening fans.
| Clivia Facts | Data |
|---|---|
| Time to first bloom from seed | 3-5 years |
| Mature plant size | 2-3 feet tall, almost as wide |
| Pot lifespan | Up to 5 years |
| Rest period for bloom | 6-8 weeks with little water |
| Native habitat | Subtropical forests of eastern South Africa |
| USDA hardiness zones | 9-10 |
Calamondin Orange: Edible Flowers and Fruits
Bring the zesty flavor of the tropics into your home with the calamondin orange (x Citrofortunella microcarpa). This unique plant is a mix between a mandarin orange and a kumquat. It has fragrant white flowers and produces 1-inch-diameter orange fruits that stay on the plant for weeks.
Calamondin orange trees can live over 50 years and grow up to seven meters tall outside. But indoors, they stay smaller, reaching about five feet high after ten years. They produce fruits from December to late spring, giving you a steady supply of citrus treats.
It’s easy to grow a calamondin orange from softwood cuttings in spring. You can also start seeds from the fruits in seed compost. Seeds germinate in three weeks at 60 degrees Celsius.
Even though they’re from the tropics, calamondin oranges can handle some frost. They’re moved outside from early June to early October to get enough sunlight. In summer, they need lots of water, about ten times what a standard blue watering device holds.
The calamondin orange is not just pretty; its fruits are tasty too. You can make marmalade or eat them fresh. The peel is sweet and can be frozen for drink ice cubes. For those who love gardening and exotic flavors, growing a calamondin orange indoors is a great choice.
| Feature | Statistic |
|---|---|
| Lifespan | More than 50 years |
| Maximum Height | 7 meters in open ground |
| Common Pests | Citrus mealybugs and scale insects |
| Propagation Method | Softwood cuttings or seeds |
| Seed Germination Time | 3 weeks at 60°C |
| Fruit Bearing Time | 2 years after planting |
| Frost Tolerance | Survives several degrees of frost |
| Fruit Uses | Marmalade, fresh consumption, ice cubes |
Conclusion
Indoor flower gardening brings joy and beauty into our homes. With plants like African violets and peace lilies, we have many choices. By knowing how to care for them, we can have flowers all year.
Indoor flowers are great for everyone, whether you’re experienced or new to gardening. Studies show they help with stress, mental health, and make us more creative. They turn our homes into peaceful, green spaces.
Let’s dive deeper into indoor flower gardening. Whether you like African violets or exotic plants like anthuriums, growing them brings happiness. Start your indoor flower gardening journey and feel the positive change in your life.
FAQ
What are some of the benefits of indoor flower gardening?
Studies show that houseplants can lower stress levels. Caring for them is calming. Some plants, like areca palms and rubber plants, clean the air by removing toxins and odors.
Which indoor flowering plants are the easiest to grow?
African violets are easy to grow indoors. They bloom often with little effort. They come in many varieties with different colors, shapes, and foliage.
What are some other good options for indoor flowering plants?
Other great options include oxalis, peace lilies, anthuriums, flowering maples, jasmine, clivia, and calamondin orange. These plants have various flower colors, shapes, and growth habits.
How can I ensure my indoor flowering plants bloom for a long time?
To keep your plants blooming, give them the right light, temperature, and moisture. Proper care and attention help them thrive and flower all year.
Are there any indoor flowering plants that are toxic to pets?
Yes, peace lilies are toxic to people and pets. Keep them away from curious pets at home.
Source Links
- 22 Indoor Flowering Plants That Will Make Your Home Feel Happier
- Anyone Can Grow These Indoor Flowering Plants
- 20 Flowering Indoor Plants That Will Brighten Up Your Home
- How to Grow African Violets
- How to Grow African Violets
- Ornamental Oxalis in the Garden – Harmony in the Garden
- Shamrock Houseplants: How To Grow A Potted Shamrock Plant
- How to Grow and Care for Peace Lily Plants
- A Classic Houseplant, Peace Lily Is Super Easy to Grow for Its Glossy, Green Leaves
- How to Care for Peace Lilies | Gardener’s Supply
- Medium Indoor Anthurium Plant for Sale | easyplant
- Anthurium: Care & Growing Tips for This Beautiful Blooming Houseplant
- Anthurium Care & Growing Tips
- Indoor flower garden
- 16 Indoor Flowering Plants to Add Color to Your Home
- The Best Indoor Flowering Plants to Brighten Up Your Living Space | Plantly
- Flowering Maple, Chinese Lantern: Abutilon
- Flowering Maple, <em>Abutilon</em> spp.
- How to Grow and Care for an Indoor Jasmine Plant
- Fragrant jasmine is one of the best climbing plants for scent in the garden
- Growing Fragrant Jasmine Indoors
- Clivia | Chicago Botanic Garden
- Clivia
- Clivias – elegant flowering plants for winter
- How to grow and care for a calamondin orange tree
- Growing our calamondin orange
- Growing Indoor Plants with Success
- 7 Science-Backed Benefits of Indoor Plants
- Effects of Indoor Plants on Human Functions: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analyses
