Interiors By Katherine Sorrell
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A Passion for House Plants Go green in style with our guide to creating a beautiful indoor garden in any room There are many good reasons why we are all falling in love with house plants once again. They look amazing, for starters, adding colour, pattern, texture, interesting forms and a feeling of vibrancy wherever they are placed. They can fill a dull corner, provide soft screening and even help dampen down noise levels. They have proven physical benefits, too. The Royal Horticultural Society reports that indoor plants have been shown to lower blood pressure and reduce fatigue and headaches by up to twenty-five per cent. Intriguingly, patients in hospital rooms containing plants report decreased post-operative pain. This is powerful stuff! And then there are the psychological benefits: the satisfaction of nurturing something, perhaps from a small seedling, and watching it grow into a healthy, thriving, mature plant. There’s the regular pleasure and almost hypnotic task of watering, misting and pruning. There’s the link to the wider environment – perhaps we feel closer to nature through our house plants, even if we live in a busy town or city. The psychological benefits of house plants, says the RHS,
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have been shown to include reduced stress levels, a better mood, increased productivity and, potentially, an improved attention span. Whether it’s a solitary spider plant or a full-on biophilic bonanza, it’s true to say that plants just make us feel good. What plants to choose? When selecting house plants, it is wise to focus on those types that are happiest to live in our homes, where the environment is shadier and has greater fluctuations of temperature than in their normal habitat. Some of the most low-maintenance species – which not only have attractive leaves but are also pretty hard to kill – include: the aforementioned spider plant; the Boston fern; several varieties of dracaena, including the corn plant and dragon tree; Sansevieria trifasciata – aka the ‘snake plant’ or ‘mother-in-law’s tongue’; rubber plants (ficus elastica); peace lilies (spathiphyllum); aspidistra; and even good old ivy. Of course there are also succulents and cacti, which come in an enormous range of shapes and sizes, from tiny to towering, and tend to be relatively easy to care for.
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