Top 5 Easy-to-Care Houseplants for Beginners

As Lily's Florist provides flower delivery across Australia, we know many of our customers also love decorating their homes and offices with indoor plants. Nurturing indoor gardens brings natural beauty inside and can even improve your mood and focus. However, keeping houseplants thriving can seem intimidating for beginners.

That's why we've put together this essential guide to the most easy-care, resilient houseplants perfect for novice growers. Starting with these hard-to-kill varieties allows you to establish a hassle-free foundation of houseplants that practically care for themselves. We LOVE plants that care for themselves :)

We'll recommend starter plants suited for the typical Australian home or office environment. Varieties that tolerate low natural light, inconsistent watering, stretches of neglect if life gets too busy with work or the kids, and other beginner growing pitfalls. 

Whilst we don't sell plants as such we do sell a large variety of long lasting, native Australian flowers to suit all tastes and budgets!

The Lily's Florist Top 5

Keeping easy-care houseplants offers many benefits for beginner plant owners looking to venture into indoor gardening. Adding simple, low-maintenance greenery transforms any space into a lively urban jungle oasis without requiring time-intensive care. This article will provide an overview of the most forgiving starter plants to help establish an effortless foundation to a new houseplant hobby.

The top beginner-friendly houseplants thrive with basic general care while tolerating less-than-ideal growing conditions. Recommended low light plants are unfazed by bright rooms lacking natural sunlight or dim corners with infrequent waterings. Their resilience also withstands stretches of drying air and skipped feedings from busy schedules. When life gets chaotic, these tried-and-true varieties continue putting out lively green foliage.

When selecting starter houseplants, it's important to consider factors like the space's ambient light and humidity. Certain corners may be brighter or more humid. This guide will cover plants suiting various indoor conditions. Additional traits that make a low maintenance houseplant achievable for novices include:

• Drought-tolerance for less frequent watering
• Slow growth rate requiring less frequent repotting/pruning
• Disease/pest resistance avoiding interventions
• General adaptability to a wide range of environments

By starting with indestructible varieties tolerant of beginner growing mistakes, new plant parents can establish an attractive foundation of easy-care greenery. Then they can build up skills and confidence to gradually add more unique houseplants. Use this list of the top 5 forgiveness plants well-suited for first-timers to simplify the journey into indoor gardening.

1. The Snake Plant

Boasting striking architectural foliage and a hardy constitution, the Snake Plant (also know as Mother-in-Law's Tongue) is the ideal beginner houseplant requiring minimal care. This desert plant's dramatic, rigid-edged leaves tolerate erratic watering and feeding schedules, making it perfect for novice plant owners.

With leaves emerging from the soil in eye-catching rosette patterns and eventually arching upwards of 4 feet tall (121 centimetres), the Snake Plant commands attention with stark vertical shapes and vibrant green colors accented by vibrant yellow banding. Its exotic look stands out for design impact yet remains extraordinarily resilient.

As a native of arid regions, the Snake Plant prefers some neglect over pampering. It readily adapts to the full range of indoor conditions from brightly lit rooms to dim corners. With high heat tolerance, it also adjusts well to temperature fluctuations. Only needing modest watering every few weeks and sparing feedings, the Snake Plant retains its architectural beauty with minimal required upkeep once established.

The Snake Plant's commanding heights and gorgeously arched foliage contrast strikingly against smoother furniture and decor elements. This makes the Snake Plant a dramatic living sculpture. Place in an empty corner for exotic appeal, center as a living work of art, or flank each side of a TV console to frame the entertainment setup with this plants substantial presence.

For beautiful, beginner-friendly foliage requiring next to no maintenance, the Snake Plant delivers impressive aesthetic rewards without much effort.

2. The Pothos or Devil's Ivy

Known for its lush green vines and leaves, the Pothos, or Devil's Ivy, remains a favorite houseplant for beginners seeking to add live greenery without fuss. 

The Pothos sports heart-shaped satiny leaves on long, trailing or climbing stems that can reach 3 metres. Leaves emerge bright green then mature to dark green. Beautiful pure yellow and white variegated varieties also exist for decorative diversity.

As a resilient plant, the Pothos withstands overwatering well and bounces back quickly if irrigation is missed for a period. It tolerates a wide range of light levels from bright rooms to shady corners. Due to its hardy nature, it forgives irregular or minimal feedings.

The Pothos’ cascading vines and smaller heart-shaped foliage contrast playfully against heavier structural decor elements. For best effect, display in hanging planters or on shelves to showcase its flowing vines. Creative ideas include letting stems trail down bookshelves, tumble out of wall planter pockets, cascade from hanging containers like macrame, or accentuate tabletops by allowing vines to spill over edges.

With its vibrant leaves, vining growth habit and nearly indestructible nature, the Pothos activates any space as a lively accent without requiring expert care – making it ideal for beginning plant owners seeking to add effortless greenery.

3. The ZZ Plant

For beginners desiring a completely fuss-free, ultra resilient houseplant, the ZZ Plant should top the list. Renowned for tolerating extreme neglect, its waxy spreading foliage thrives despite absent-minded care and challenging conditions.

The ZZ Plant is prized for its large, shiny oval leaves that emerge from thick underground rhizomes in a lush rosette pattern. Its leaves can reach up to a 30 centimetres, creating substantial visual presence or vibe as my daughters like to say, teenagers hey. But what makes the ZZ Plant truly exceptional is its unfazed response to irregular watering, feeding, and lighting regimes.

This survivor houseplant readily tolerates months of neglect in nearly complete darkness. Despite such resilience, the ZZ Plant appreciates modest care including watering every few weeks, occasional feedings, and low to medium natural light. However, if these basic practices slide, the ZZ Plant in unlikely to suffer.

The ZZ Plant’s smooth, leather-like leaves and spreading rosette shape create bold textural drama contrasting beautifully against ceramic planters. Its waxy foliage grabs attention spotlighted alone in a corner yet also shines against bright walls and when balanced with more delicate plants.

For effortless growth almost impossible to disrupt, the ZZ Plant's extreme tolerance makes it a top recommendation for beginners lacking confidence in their caretaking abilities. This hardy houseplants survives and thrives when most others would perish from inattention.

4. The Peace Lily

Recognisable for its deep green leaves and iconic white blooms emerging from signature hooded floral spikes, the Peace Lily delivers vivid beauty with remarkably simple care requirements.

This plant is prized for its lush, broad dark green oval leaves that vigorously spread upwards from the soil in a full, clumping shape. With graceful elegance, the Peace Lily's famous hooded white blooms emerge amongst the foliage, resembling peaceful doves. These sparking white flowers intermittently appear when the plant is happy and healthy.

While the Peace Lily appreciates routine care, meticulous attention is not critical for this forgiving plant. Leaving it unattended for periods does not disrupt its harmony and ambiance. Only occasional watering when the soil feels dry is needed once established. It thrives in low to medium light levels indoors and benefits from monthly feedings. Fairly drought-resistant, the Peace Lily rebounds well if cultivation practices slide briefly.

The Peace Lily's vibrant green foliage acts as the perfect lush foil to highlight its elegant white blooms. Showcase this plant amongst an urban all-green jungle as a bright pop of color. Its flowers draw attention when blooming, lighting up dark corners. Centered on stands or side tables, the Peace Lily puts its refined flowers at center stage. Placed on bedroom nightstands, it promotes peaceful sleep.

5. The Chinese Evergreen

The beautifully variegated Chinese Evergreen delivers eye-catching style with minimal required maintenance. This plant showcases spectacular multicolored leaves in captivating color combinations that emerge from branching stems into a full, bushy shape. The fun variegated foliage patterns give it playful pop.

Defining characteristics include colorful pink, silver and white variegated leaves, a bushy spreading form, and new leaf growth featuring pink tones. Despite its vibrance, the Chinese Evergreen readily adapts to typical indoor conditions without fuss, thriving in medium to low light.

Caring for this unfussy plant simply involves watering weekly or when the potting mix dries out slightly between irrigations. Wiping dust off leaves periodically promotes its best appearance.

The Chinese Evergreen’s variegated leaves pair beautifully with solid green plants or can mix with other rainbow-leaf varieties to create a cheerful indoor garden vignette. Creative positioning ideas include spotlighting as a centerpiece foliage plant atop coffee tables, providing eye-catching contrast on plant stands, or brightening a windowsill with splashes of color.

Vibrant yet forgiving, the Chinese Evergreen brings intrigue and easy joy to interior spaces both at home or at work.

Seeds of Wisdom

The houseplant's covered in this guide by Lily's Florist represent great starter varieties for novice indoor gardeners looking to gain confidence with keeping plants. By outlining the most beginner-friendly plants tolerant of imperfect care while still thriving, new hobbyists can establish an alluring foundation of easy-care greenery.

For more detailed information on plant our flower care please visit our flower care series here.

This article was originally posted on 4.4.24. It was completely written again on 16.10.24.