Create a cosy winter hideaway with indoor plants

The Citizen

11-07-2025

Winter can be a cold, dull season, with very little sign of life outdoors and homes that feel equally chilly. Just adding colour, especially colourful winter throws and cosy knee blankets are warm on the eye while indoor plants and flowers bring a room to life. Another bonus of indoor plants is that they keep the air fresh and improve humidity when windows and doors are kept closed.
Make the most of sunny rooms and windowsills, by adding flowering plants and succulents that enjoy the milder winter sun. Zantedeschia, chrysanthemums, anthuriums, kalanchoe and calandiva, as well as Gymnocalycium cactus will provide long lasting winter colour. While cyclamen like a cooler spot they will also thrive in sunny room as long as they are not in direct sun. Indoor flowering plants should have consistently moist but not soggy soil. Cut off dead flowers to encourage new flowers.
Calla lilies (Zantedeschia) add indoor warmth with their vivid colours. Plants grown indoors can bloom for up to six weeks. Feed with a liquid fertiliser once a month and remove spent blooms to encourage new blooms. True to their tropical nature, these mini lilies flower best in a warm, bright room and can take some morning sun.
Bold and big
Big leaved feature plants like Monstera deliciosa, Alocasia, Ficus robusta and Ficus lyrata always make a statement and effortlessly add that missing element to a well-furnished living room. These are all tropical plants that need a warm room and medium light. Water when the potting soil feels moderately dry.
Alocasia 'Red Secret' has large leaves with an intriguing texture and colour. The upper side of the heart-shaped leaf has a metallic, bronze glow, but its 'secret' is the burgundy red under leaf. It is easier to grow than it looks and its strong point is that it adapts to different light conditions, growing faster with bright light and slower with low light.
Bathroom forest
Plants that love humidity are perfect for steamy bathrooms and showers. Why not try the jungle look to transform your bathroom. Indulge in a long, hot soak and imagine yourself in some tropical paradise. Think ferns like Bird's nest fern (Asplenium) or Maidenhair fern (Adiantum) as well as leafy plants like Spathiphyllum (peace lily), Ficus Lyrata, Delicious monster and even Strelitzia. For a trailing effect try string of turtles (Peperomia prostrata). All these plants like medium light and can tolerate low light.
Sweet dreams
Plants that release oxygen at night and remove toxins from the air are especially good for bedrooms and one of these is Sansevieria, also known as mother-in-law tongue.
Basically, the stomata on Sansevieria leaves stay closed during the day to prevent evaporation and loss of water, and only open at night releasing all the stored oxygen. It will survive almost anywhere. It will take low light, cool temperatures, and dry soil very well.
Cascading beauties
Trailing plants don't necessarily have to trail although that is part of their charm. They can be trimmed to fill a hanging basket or to reduce their spread to fit into a smaller space. They are great for adding greenery in corners, higher up on bookshelves or spilling over the edge of a container or coffee table.
Most trailing plants need warmth and medium to bright indirect light.Don't neglect watering as it is easy to forget to water less accessible plants. However, most don't like to be over watered.
For a luxuriant effect there is Golden Pothos (Scindapsus Aureus) or the heart leaf plant (Philodendron scandens). Peperomia Angulata is a trailing peperomia with light greens stripes on its bright green oval leaves and Peperomia prostrata, also known as 'String of Turtles' is a really quaint trailing plant that is idea for baskets.
For more details: www.lvgplant.co.za
For more on gardening, visit Get It Magazine.