If you have killed a plant or two in your day, you might think about getting a hard to kill plant. Once you have gained some confidence and experience with some of the hard to kill plants, you might try to move on to some less hearty plants. Then again, you might not. There are plenty of plants suitable for brown thumbs and they are every bit as beautiful as the more needy species.
The Spider Plant–One of the most striking looking plants is the spider plant. These plants will keep on growing and making baby plants until they are several feet in diameter. These plants are often seen hanging from large baskets in places like hotel lobbies because they get big, and they are dramatic looking with vines hanging down from them. The leaves are long blades and usually, they are dark green on the outside and light green in the middle, although there are different varieties and they come in different colors. All of the plants are easy to care for; they don’t require much light; if you water them once a week they will flourish, and they basically never have to be repotted. I’ve had one in the same pot for ten years. The pot is about eighteen inches in diameter and the plant is about four feet in diameter. I don’t plan on ever repotting it quite honestly, if it ever starts to die, Ill just harvest one of the baby plants and start again.
Devil’s Ivy—devil’s ivy is a hard to kill vine that grows and grows. My ivy sits on the entertainment center and the vines go everywhere, through all of the items sitting on top of the center and then cascading down onto the floor. One of the great things about these vines is that they are not climbing vines so you don’t have to worry about them wrapping around any of the items they sit near. About every three to five inches along the vine, a leave comes off. The leaves are a nice dark green color and they are shaped like hearts. If the leaves start to die or turn brown all you do is pull it off, another will grow in its place. The same is true if one of the vines starts to die. You just cut it off where it is turning brown and the vine will continue growing, this time nice and green. If you want a baby plant just cut off a portion of the vine. Put the vine portion in water and wait until roots start to develop; once the roots have started, you can stick it in soil, and it will grow. These plants are super easy and any one with any thumb at all can grow them.
The Christmas Cactus—this is one of the only flowering plants that is easy to grow. These are kind of unusual looking plants with leaves growing out of one another in segments. These plants are easy to grow and don’t need a lot of water but, being cacti, they do need a reasonable amount of light. If you want to see the plant flower, however, you will need to give it a reasonable amount of water as well. If you remember to water the plant once a week, you should be able to see it flower. The flowers are cool looking, dark pink colored spikes that grow out of the last leaf of each row of leaves. The reason the plant is called a Christmas cactus is that it tends to flower around Christmas time, or at least in the early winter. A closely related plant flowers in the late winter or early spring. These plants are called Easter cacti.