3 Easy-to-grow houseplants for health and creativity
It happens to all creatives at some point - the dreaded creative road block. No matter if you are creating a business, a painting, a novel, a new fashion collection, an interior design project - if you consider yourself a creative type this just happens.
The bright side? You may be able to lift yourself out of the dreaded block AND literally clean your indoor air pollution just by bringing a plant into your space. This just happens to be really great news - one, because I love houseplants and two…because house plants are now officially ‘a thing’ - as you’ve noticed if you’ve spent any time checking out social media as of late.
Oh sure, you’ve probably heard about air pollution …but indoor pollution? What the heck? You may be surprised to hear that one of the top risks to public health is toxic, stagnant indoor environments that allow pollutants to build up and stay awhile - a long while. Entire buildings have even been given their own ‘disease’ called “sick building syndrome”. As much as I don’t want to think about it, the reality is that , lots of us are innocently living and working in places filled with stagnant air and toxic contaminants! How did it happen you ask? Well, they got in from your new sofa or mattress ‘off-gassing’, or synthetic building materials, toxic cleaning supplies, or outdoor car exhaust finding it’s way inside. And the side effects are not good: dizziness headaches, even eye and throat irritation. Our homes are literally making us sick! This is especially true if your ventilation is poor.
The good news? There’s is a chic, easy way to help clean the indoor air in the form of a gorgeous little (or large) houseplant. Plants just naturally purify the air. And, they look cool while doing it.
Plants accomplish it all by taking in carbon dioxide and absorbing some of the particulates from the air around you. Plus, don’t forget about the potting soil - there are tiny microorganisms associated with the plants that are present in the soil, and they too contribute to the cleaning effect.
Plants just seem to make people feel better and more inspired too! Ever heard of that hospital study where there were a group of patients who had rooms looking out over a garden and some who were not so lucky (no window or a view of a concrete wall - wah, wah). Yep, you guessed it. The ones looking out on the garden were in better moods, healed faster and were outta there sooner!
More reason to love plants? Well, when you ask just about any creative person what their biggest inspiration is they all tend to mention nature at the very top of their list…and spending time in nature has now even become a wellness trend (google ‘forest-bathing) with researchers showing the healing powers of time spent at the beach, hiking local trails or taking in a local park. Studies show that bringing a little slice of the outside ‘in’ can have similar effects boosting mood, creativity, and concentration.
It looks like a carefully chosen houseplant may just may be the ‘secret sauce’ you need! And hey, if it doesn’t bust you out of a creative funk at least you have a new companion for your space and cleaner air to breathe.
Because nobody needs a high maintenance houseplant, here are my three favorite no-fuss, hard to kill, creativity-boosting varieties:
1. Pothos Jade
Thrives in low to moderate light and any level of humidity. Avoid direct intense sun and water once per week allowing the topsoil to dry out between waterings
2. Sansevieria, or Mother-in-Law’s Tongue
Love the cool retro vibe! It can even handle dark corners and very little water.
3. Snake Plant Zeylanica
A tropical plant that’s actually a succulent, wha???? This one has some very sculptural vertical spikes and is super easy growing. You practically have to try to kill this guy! It can take just about any light and humidity level. Water every two weeks and make sure to let your top soil dry out well in between.