The past week I’ve spent an outsized amount of time working and assisting customers inside the foliage department. This is where we house all the indoor or “full shade” plants. Coming from working with tropical plants, outdoor shrubs, and evergreen trees to this was a dramatic change in mindset. There isn’t a ton of flowering, but the foliage and leaves are incredible to get a closer look at.
I have a special place in my heart for snake plants for two reasons: I love anything I can propagate for free, and the vast number of varieties leaves you wanting something more. Snake plants, like most of the indoor species, require far less water than your outdoor plants. They are in a much more closely regulated environment (your home) and therefor might go a full week without the soil being dry enough to need a refill. Most all indoor plant deaths are a result of overwatering, so I always suggest using the digits of your fingers as a sort of test for soil moisture, but even dry pots should not be fully drenched if the sun is not helping the plant to remove the water.
Other than watering habits, I’d say these are some of the easier plants to grow and maintain. I recently got an ivy hanging basket with a bright neon-green tint. It’s been doing well suspended from the roof in the hallway, with only a small window giving it enough sunlight for the whole day! I also got an indoor fern that made me think for a bit. Customers ask me constantly if one plant or the other is considered full sun or full shade, but the honest truth is that many plants have been propagated to fit a wide variety of roles in your garden space. I see fig plants inside a totally enclosed foliage house, and I see creeping figs outside in the ground cover section. They are very different – granted – but many examples are only significantly different in their maturity size.
I like indoor plants for my home because I don’t have a large outdoor space and because I find these plants less demanding of my attention. I still have some stuff outside. It’s mostly cucumbers and a few more hanging baskets. However, when I walk inside the plant, I appreciate most is definitely the snake plant sitting tall on my desk.
