Why Do You Have Houseplants in Your Home?

The history and charm of indoor gardening

Did you ever think about the history of houseplants?

How did this trend begin?

Where did it come from?

If you have never thought about it, I am not really surprised; these questions never came to my mind either. Thanks to Dr. Preeti Singh and her prompt about houseplants that sparked my curiosity and interest in discovering the antiquity of indoor plants.

Background

It all started during the Victorian Era when doctors and scientists took an interest in studying plants. Those experts carried plants to their houses to observe and experiment with the plants to find out the benefits they had for humans and their environment. They learned how plants purified the air and cured diseases. The educated upper class and middle class brought plants to their houses. Some Europeans were also interested in exotic plants and the climate was not suitable for growing those plants outdoors so they grew potted plants indoors. Windowsill gardening also got popular during the late eighteenth century. Keeping houseplants also became a status symbol by then. It was not until 1940s when indoor foliage reached North America and the vicinity. Women realized the aesthetic aspect of domesticating greenery and started decorating office spaces and rooms in the houses with floras.

My Love for Plants

I have loved plants since my childhood. My parents lived in a one-bedroom apartment on the second floor when I was young. We had a small balcony where we had a few potted plants. I always helped my grandmother water the plants. Those plants were my grandmother’s responsibility. She sat with the plants during the evenings and talked to them. She catered to the plants’ needs. I wondered why she conversed with those plants and whether the plants listened to what she said.

One day I finally asked her out of curiosity. She told me that plants were living beings who breathed and grew just like humans and animals. She explained further that they would die if we didn’t care for them properly. I was so intrigued and stunned by this discovery.

Moreover, I always used to look at the house underneath our apartment with the big courtyard. The family who lived there had a variety of potted plants and trees in their yard. I gazed at their flower plants, climbers, and trees and admired their beauty every evening and every season of the year.

My mom always wanted to live in a house. Her wish didn’t come true because she passed away before my father could afford to buy a home. Sometimes I wonder why she wanted a house so desperately. I know now because she desired to grow her own garden.

Two years after my mother’s demise, we moved into a bungalow that had a small backyard. My father hired a gardener to plant different flowers and climbers in our yard in memory of my deceased mother. The gardener visited the house every Sunday to observe the plants. I was in charge of our small garden during the weekdays. I watered the plants and watched them grow. We had some great flowers whose fragrance circulated through our yard every evening – Flowers like roses, bougainvillea, gardenia, and jasmine.

Shocking Discovery

Once I got married and moved to Canada, I was shocked to see that most flowers were not fragrant. When my husband got me roses for the first time, I smelled the roses but there was no perfume, I felt devastated. My husband told me that even the roses grown in Canada did not have any scent. He explained that it was due the cold climate.

The days went by and I became the mother of two boys. I got so busy that I hardly ever had time to comb my hair or iron my clothes. I forgot all about plants and gardening.

Indoor Garden — How and Why?

It was when my third son was five years old when we moved into our three-bedroom condo. I started thinking about furnishing our condo. I looked at different magazines. That’s when indoor gardening clicked in my mind.

You usually consider indoor plants when you do not have outdoor space to grow your own garden. Maybe it’s not really the gardening stuff that interests you, it’s just the beauty of it. If not, you might just want those plants to purify the air of your condo.

It also depends on your budget too. Some plants are much more expensive than others and they also require more of your effort in terms of their care.

I have tried growing some of the plants more than once but they did not last long under my care. For me, It was all four things that inspired me to start growing plants inside the house — the beauty of indoor plants, the passion for gardening, the purification of the air, and the peace and tranquility provided by the company of those plants.

My Indoor Plants

Many plants thrived on my windowsill when I was living in my condo but they did not do well when we moved to our house. our house doesn't have a spacious edge beside the windows to place the potted plants there. I had many succulents that died. The ones that survived and the few I bought after the move are these:

Dieffenbachia

This is one of my favorite babies. It is five years old now.

It is a tropical plant native to the new world tropics from Mexico and the West Indies south to Argentina — also known as a dumb cane or leopard lily. I had a hard time finding it.

I looked for it in many stores but there were other varieties that were available. I wanted this specific one. I saw this one at a pizza shop where we used to go buy pizza on the weekends.

I was so desperate for this one that once I asked my husband to ask the shopkeeper to give us an offshoot that I could propagate on my own.

Neon Pothos

This is another one of my babies that stood by me through thick and thin. It’s five years old now.

It’s called neon pothos due to the colour of its foliage and it is native to Solomon Island. It is a very low maintenance plant.

Golden Pothos

I bought this one when I moved here so it’s not that old. It’s approximately two years old – another variety of pothos – golden pothos is also a low maintenance plant.

Orchids and Succulent

These two darlings were also bought after our move. One is succulent species and the other one is orchid. Orchids seem to be pretty feisty. You have to pay extra attention to them and their needs. Another tropical native to Asia and Australia.

The succulent does pretty well in a bright or sunny spot and does not need a lot of water.

ZZ Plant

This was another addition to my plant family. This is a hardy plant that can tolerate low light and water conditions. It’s been with us for almost four to five years now.

Zz plant is also another tropical plant that is native to Eastern Africa – from southern Kenia to northeastern South Africa.

These are all my lovely plants children. I hope you enjoyed reading about them and knowing their whereabouts.

© 2022 by Saba Haider

Here is one of my poems about my garden if your are interested:

If you are also interested in the prompt about houseplants, you can read the info here:

I have also enjoyed reading my fellow writers’ stories about their plants and gardens. Here is a story by Elder about his houseplants:

Here is another story of houseplants by William J Spirdione :

Thanks everyone for reading my story and thanks to the editors — Dr. Preeti Singh, Yana Bostongirl and Sahil Patel of Reciprocal to provide such a wonderful publication for the writers to build connections as a medium community.