Matching the Right Plant
with the Right Room

At this time of year when outdoor gardening isn't do-able, green thumbs should look to all the possibilities of gardening indoors. Here, we'll look at matching up the right plant with the right room.

Keeping your houseplants happy is mostly a matter of giving them the right environment. Just like outdoor plants, your indoor varieties need specific light and moisture conditions to flourish. Here's help to match the rooms in your home with the plants best adapted to the conditions in each.

Cool rooms. Flowering houseplants bloom longer if placed in a cool part of your house as soon as buds appear. Spider Plants, Cyclamen, Amaryllis and Strawberry Begonias will all do well in your coolest rooms.

Moist rooms. Your bathroom and kitchen are heaven to humidity-loving plants such as Orchids, Ferns and African Violets. Just make sure they get good light, too.

Bright rooms. These spaces suit the widest variety of houseplants. Dieffenbachia, Jade, Rubber Plants and Umbrella Palms are a few suggestions for soaking up the sun. In winter, place them adjacent to your windows in full sun. Move them out of direct sunlight during intense summer sun.

Moderately light rooms. Dracaena (corn plant), Asparagus Ferns, Creeping Figs, Shefflera, Piggyback Plants and Wandering Jew are all good choices for medium light conditions.

Dark rooms. Brighten dark hallways and stairs with Snake Plants, Japanese Aralia, Fatsedra, Philodendrons, Prayer Plants and Grape Ivy.

Picking the right soil. We recommend Black Gold Potting Soil as the ideal mix for planting or re-potting your indoor plants. And of course, you'll find it at Fred Meyer.

Now, click into Gardening Indoors Part II for tips on watering and feeding...