Working from home? Here’s how to match your houseplants to your occupation
The second week of November is time to move the garden indoors and consider all the best houseplants to clean the air and calm the mind.
You can credit the coronavirus for the surge in houseplant mania. More people are working from home and indoor plants have become the living link to better air quality and home office sanity.
Time to lighten up and poke fun at the personality and common names of houseplants by pairing them up with professionals that work at home. You don’t need an online dating site to match these houseplants with home office worker:
For government, law enforcement or arbitration workers
Peace Lily (Spathiphyllum) is one of the most easy-to-grow houseplants that will clean the air in a home office. Common enough to find at the grocery store and foolproof enough that they thrive in college dorms, the plea here is to give peace a chance.
This houseplant will survive in low light so even if your home office is in the basement, you can add some peace. The reward if you do pamper this houseplant with bright light near an office window is it will send up a white flag or spath-like bloom as a reminder to surrender to the craziness of these uncertain times.
Growing tip: Consistent watering is the key as this tropical plant enjoys high humidity and moist soil. Mist the leaves and set the pot on a tray of pebbles to keep humidity high during the winter months. Leaf tips may turn brown from chemicals in your tap water. Pamper this plant with distilled water and you’ll be doing your part to promote perfect peace despite working in a profession known for conflict.
For healthcare workers, chefs and firefighters
Aloe vera is the first aid plant for burns — and hot tempers. There is scientific proof that squeezing the juice from a fleshy aloe vera plant can help heal a sun or cooking burn. The other vast benefits have not been proven directly but this is one plant with more than a thousand years of medicinal use. Today you can even purchase lotions at the local drugstore that contain aloe vera gel.
Anyone working around hot stoves or hot fires needs this houseplant in their home office. The cure for hot tempers just comes along with the ride because tending cool plants like this succulent can put the brakes on a ramping up of emotions.
Growing tip: Most people kill this houseplant by overwatering. It is a desert plant so grow it in a terra cotta or clay pot using a cactus mix potting soil or just add Perlite or sand to regular potting soil to increase drainage. Perfect drainage is a must. Then, water the plant only when the soil is bone dry — usually once every few weeks but soak the soil well, letting it drain completely. Bright light is also needed for aloe vera so if your office boasts a south- or west-facing window, you can put the weak winter sun to work growing what has been called a first aid kit in a pot.
For those in real estate, travel or hospitality
Pineapple lily (Eucomis comosa) is the houseplant that will increase the sale price of a home by 50% when used for staging! (OK, I just made that up, but it seems logical considering the exotic beauty of this show-stopping houseplant.) Not only is the pineapple an international symbol of welcome, but this tropical plant has colorful blooming spikes in vibrant shades of red, orange or bright pink. (Look for the pink blooming ‘Aloha.’)
Growing Tip: You can purchase a pineapple lily in bloom and enjoy the long-lasting color for months near a bright window but once the flower spike fades you will need to take some steps to convince it to bloom again. Move the plant to a very bright window with some direct sun and cut back on watering as soon as the flower spike fades. If you see leaves turning yellow you are most likely overwatering. This tropical plant likes warm rooms and high humidity so it is often difficult to get the pineapple lily to rebloom during the winter. No worries, just be sure to buy a plant already starting to flower and enjoy.
Reach Marianne Binetti through her website at binettigarden.com or write to her at P.O. Box 872, Enumclaw WA 98022.