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Popular Houseplants for 2021

Note: This article originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post January 7, 2021, as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column may have been edited slightly or deleted here if they are no longer relevant.

As we continue to sequester ourselves at home, many of us are adding more houseplants to our homes or apartments and planning for expansion of outdoor flower and vegetable gardens later this spring. Houseplants have many advantages; not only do they add beauty and color to a room, but they can help make the room healthier. Studies have shown that some plants may help to remove air pollutants, and if nothing else, can help you feel less stressed and more creative. A few of these helpful plants include certain species of palms (Rhapsis excelsa and Chrysalidocarpus lutescens), rubber plant (Ficus spp.), English ivy (Hedera helix), Boston fern (Nephrolepsis exaltata), Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema), philodendron vines, and Snake plant (Sanseveiria).

The most popular houseplants for 2021 are expected to be those with patterned or textured foliage, those that are edible (i.e., herbs, edible flowers/foliage, and “mini” vegetables), and those that do well in low light. And of course, many of us would add easy maintenance to that list. With those criteria in mind, we scoured the University of Maryland Extension Service and several other web sites for a few of the most often recommended plants.

Patterned/textured foliage

This past year, the fiddle leaf fig (Ficus lyrata) has been quite popular, but plant prognosticator and long-time columnist Joyce Mast predicts that Ficus altissima (the omnipresent rubber tree) will take over in 2021 because it is easier to care for and has “velvety variegated leaves” (https://www.treehugger.com/top-houseplant-trends). F. altissima grows to be quite large, can survive low light, and is well known for its ability to remove toxins from the air, and for its low maintenance. In fact, it has long been a very popular office plant, probably because of that last reason.

Other plants Mast recommends for their foliage include Anthurium hookeri, A. crystallinum, and several species of Alocasia (A. black velvet, polly, regal shield, and frydek). Alocasias like moist but not overly saturated soil and bright to medium indirect light. Although they all have long, deeply heart-shaped leaves with prominent white veins, individual species vary. For example, A. polly’s leaves are sharply scalloped, almost like holly leaves; A. regal shield, also known as Elephant Ears, has rather broad leaves and may grow quite large or tall indoors.

Edible plants

You may have potted up some of your herbs last fall for continued use in the kitchen this winter. Basil, rosemary, sage, chervil, and thyme grow well inside to use for cooking—or just grow them indoors for their unique scents. Mint is another that does well inside; it can be quite a thug and very invasive in the garden outside. Next fall, you’ll want to check the University of Maryland Extension Service (https://extension.umd.edu/sites/extension.umd.edu/files/_docs/programs/hgic/HGIC_Pubs/houseplants_seasonal/HG%20105OverwinteringTropicalPlants_2018.pdf) to see other herbs or other edible plants you can bring inside, and what kind of light, moisture levels, etc., they’ll need.

Low-light plants

If you brought in tropical plants from outdoors last fall, you’ve probably already treated them for pests and dealt with leaves yellowing and dropping before they became accustomed to the changes in light and atmosphere. Once inside last October, my Brugemania initially lost all of its leaves, although the coleus at its base has maintained color and leaves. I sequestered Brugemania in a spare room and watered it regularly. Despite the low light of the room, leaves are once more beginning to grow from the Brugemania stalk.

The University of Maryland Extension Service web site says that “Supplemental lighting with cool white florescent lights can improve survival [of tropical plants]. Don’t expect the plants to grow much, if at all, during the winter months because the light conditions are simply too low. When plants receive reduced light, their need for water also declines. It is very important not to overwater them, especially during the initial adjustment period. Water only when the soil is dry. Remember, the larger the pot, the longer it takes for the soil to dry.”

Plants that do well indoors in medium to low light include various species of Snake plant (Sansevieria), philodendron vine, pothos vine (Scindapsus; related to philodendron), Peace lily (Spathiphyllum), Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema), and Dracaena. Beware: While most plants grow very little in low-light conditions, others can grow several feet.

For further information about houseplants, you may want to review the following web sites:

  • https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/herbs
  • https://www.treehugger.com/top-houseplant-trends-4858425
  • https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/houseplants/hpgen/acclimate-plants-indoors-winter.htm
  • https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/bloomscape-top-plant-trends-2021-36852168

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The Perfect Gift? Try a Houseplant!

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Note: This article originally appeared in the Frederick News-Post on December 2, 2020, as a column for the Frederick County Master Gardeners. It is reprinted with permission of the Features Editor. Some details from the original column may have been edited slightly or deleted here if they are no longer relevant.

Now that it’s too cold to sit outside, social distancing with friends and extended family members (so hard when the Old Coach and I have one son and family across the street and one just two doors down!), how can we let them know we’re thinking of them?

How about an easy-care house plant or dish of succulents, assuming the family pets will leave said plants alone? The University of Maryland Extension Service (https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/topics/selecting-indoor-plants) has many recommendations. In case a potted plant or dish garden is on your mind, here are just a few that UMD recommends, from easy-care to finicky.

  1. Don’t have a green thumb? No problem. The UMD Extension Service calls the well-named Snake plant(Sansevieria) “the toughest plant on the planet.” Well-named, indeed: I have had a small Sansevieria growing in a dish garden for about 10 years. For some reason, one of its blades has grown with a bend that reminds me of a cobra stretching up out of its basket. And tough, indeed: I once put a pot of Sansevieria on the sheltered front porch of our former home in Annapolis and left it there, totally neglected, all winter. It did not die.
  1. Dracaena, with colorful, striped or patterned foliage, usually darker green and chartreuse stripes or a purplish stripe, is a large, easy-care plant. Often, Dracaenas like a somewhat dry soil.
  1. Another easy-care plant is the ZZ, or Zamioculcas. According to Wikipedia, “Zamioculcas is…in the family Araceae, containing the single species Zamioculcas zamiifolia. It is a tropical perennial plant native to eastern Africa, from southern Kenya to northeastern South Africa.” 
  • If you’re looking for color, Dracaena, mentioned above, and Bromeliads are good choices. Water bromeliads by pouring water into the “cup” formed by their leaves; they will tolerate low light for a long time, although they much prefer bright lights. So, if you want to brighten up a windowless room, such as a bathroom, you might rotate a Bromeliad with other low light-tolerant plants, giving them longer turns in bright-light rooms, and shorter times in darker rooms.
  1. Chinese Evergreen (Aglaonema) has broad foliage, which grows from a central stem, is usually silver or gray-green, sometimes mottled with a mauve splotchiness or a mauve stripe, bringing some subtle color to the room it’s in. The UMD extension service warns that “old plants develop tall stems [which] should be cut back to promote more compact growth.”
  1. Sometimes foliage plants, bought primarily for their shades of green, can surprise you. A dish garden I received in 2009 included a small Hoya vine with thick, leathery, pointed and speckled, dark green leaves. Although it’s always been in the same brightly lit window, only this year did it bloom—and did so several times—magnificent tight clusters of waxy, delicate, star-shaped pale pink flowers, each star with a second, smaller star on top, and a dark pink center that feathered into the pale pink. And even the tiny brown seed pods that were left when the Hoya finished blooming were pretty—I will spray some of them gold and use them with pinecones and other dried materials to decorate Christmas presents.
  1. Succulents or cacti are easy to grow, have many species in a huge variety of shapes, colors, and sizes, and host very few pest or disease problems. They generally do well in south-facing windows, especially if they have good drainage and the soil dries between waterings.

[And one more observation]: Colin Skelly, horticulturist for the fabulous Eden Project in Cornwall, UK (https://www.edenproject.com/eden-story), notes that “…light and water…can have dramatic effects on a succulent’s colour. In winter, they are quite green, but as light levels increase, coloured forms take on their darker tones. When stressed by lack of water, even green succulents take on red, pink and yellow tints. Often this is when they look most dazzling…one of the delights of growing succulents…”

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