Robust Plants that Don’t Require a Lot of Care
For those who lead busy lives or are always traveling, gardening can become an impossible task. That’s why we’ve decided to dedicate this article to a series of robust plants that don’t require much care.
Plants decorate your home and fill it will life. Also, they offer multiple benefits, such as air purification, stress reduction, and allow you to care for the environment. K
eep reading to learn more!
15 robust indoor plants
Most indoor plants come from tropical and subtropical climates. Therefore, they don’t withstand winter seasons in the outdoors and adapt to indoor conditions.
To care for these plants, generally speaking, the water you use to water them must be at room temperature and you should occasionally rotate them in their pots to make sure all parts of them get enough sunlight.
Below, discover 15 robust indoor plants that are very easy to care for.
1. Cactus
Cacti are the favorite plants of those who don’t have a lot of time to dedicate to gardening. They don’t require pruning nor constant watering. However, they do need to be in an illuminated place.
In hot climates or during the summer, you only have to water them once a week. In cold climates and autumn-winter seasons, you only have to water them once a month. One of the most beautiful species is Mammillaria, which has red flowers.
2. Echeveria Elegans, or Mexican snowball
Echeveria Elegans, or Mexican snowball, is a succulent evergreen perennial. It holds water, meaning it withstands dry seasons well. Also, you can use this plant to make different decorative designs, combined with other types of succulents.
You need to put this plant in an illuminated place and water it every 10 days in hot climates or once a month in cold climates.
3. Coleus
This is one of the most popular indoor plants, as its leaves are very beautiful. The combination of red, fuchsia, orange, yellow, and green in its leaves seem to be painted by hand. This plant is a beautiful work of art!
The best thing about it is that it’s very easy to grow. This plant will thrive as long as you place it in an illuminated place. However, avoid direct sun exposure. You simply have to water it a couple of times a week, making sure that its soil doesn’t dry out.
4. Croton, one of the most robust plants
Its leaves of various shapes and bright colors (red, orange, and yellow) make it very popular for interiors because it livens spaces. Although it’s a very low-maintenance plant, it requires constant humidity.
5. Aspidistra
If you have a dimly lit room you want to decorate with plants, Aspidistra is the perfect option. It lasts for many years, thrives best in dry environments, and doesn’t require fertilizers.
6. Anthuriums
Anthurium is one of the easiest plants to care for. It stays in bloom practically year-round with little care. All you have to do is keep its soil moist and spray water on its leaves once a week so that it stays in good condition.
7. Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe is a plant that blooms once a year, in the spring. It has multiple small fuchsia, red, orange, or yellow flowers. You shouldn’t directly expose it to the sun and it requires moderate watering. But make sure not to wet the leaves!
8. Aloe vera
Aloe vera has various cosmetic and health uses. It’s also a very easy plant to care for. It needs a lot of light and not a lot of watering. However, as it grows, you’ll need to transplant it to bigger pots that allow it to grow correctly.
9. Banana tree
If you have a big room you want to it give a tropical touch to, the banana tree is the ideal plant. It owes its name to how similar it is to a banana. It’s three feet tall and has quite big leaves. It needs constant humidity and light to thrive.
10. Maranta or prayer plant
This plant is originally from Brazil and has a very tropical air. Its leaves are green, yellow, and red. Because it comes from jungle environments, it develops well in humid conditions.
It grows slowly and doesn’t require a lot of care. It’s known by the name of “prayer plant” because its leaves are flat by day and fold up as the day comes to an end.
11. Boston fern
This is probably the most popular fern species. It’s perfect for low light environments and requires a lot of humidity. Thus, you should constantly spray it with a spray bottle. Ferns look great in hanging pots. Although they don’t have flowers, their leaves are very decorative and give spaces a bohemian touch.
12. Rubber fig, another of the robust plants
It’s a lush plant with beautiful green leaves that you must place in an illuminated space. However, it shouldn’t get direct sunlight. It requires moderate watering: once a week in hot climates and every two weeks during the winter. Also, it requires a large pot to grow properly.
13. Chamaedorea
This is one of the most robust indoor palm trees. It has elongated stems and leaves that make any space look elegant. It doesn’t need direct sunlight and survives well in the shade. This plant grows slowly and occasional watering allows the soil to dry out in between.
14. Spath
It’s a plant that withstands poorly lit spaces very well and produces elegant white flowers, known as peace lilies. However, it can be toxic to cats and dogs. Water it whenever its soil is dry or its leaves look droopy.
15. Monstera deliciosa
It’s a semi-climbing plant with big leaves of a particular shape. In fact, it’s known as Swiss cheese plant”, or just “cheese plant”, due to the holes which develop in its leaves similar to the holes in cheese. Due to its size, it needs to be placed in a big flowerpot. This plant requires light (albeit not direct sun rays) and constant humidity. In these conditions, it’ll grow fast and give your home a vintage touch.
Keep reading to learn more: How to Plant Different Culinary Plants
15 robust plants for your outdoors
The main characteristic of outdoor plants is that they tolerate sunlight well. Also, people often go for outdoor plants that are native to the place where they’re going to be planted or from similar climatic zones. Below, we’re going to talk about 15 resistant outdoor plants that adapt to different conditions.
1. Geraniums
This is one of the most popular outdoor flowering plants in the world. It’s used to decorate balconies. Its colorful and plentiful flowers that are easy to care for add vitality to spaces. They require two weekly waterings during the summer or in hot climates and one in cold climates or during the winter.
2. Cayenne
Cayenne is a fast-growing blooming shrub that doesn’t need a lot of watering. It thrives in sunny environments and grows fast, which is why it requires pruning every six months. This plant will make your garden look alive and colorful!
3. African daisy
This variety of daisy stands out because it grows well in arid environments and for having colorful flowers that open and close throughout the day. This plant prefers sunny climates and can go many days without being watered.
4. Siberian dwarf pine
This is a variety of pine that you can plant in a pot and leave outdoors, as it thrives in outdoor spaces. It’s one of the robust plants because it resists all types of weather. However, it thrives best on sunny days. In hot climates or during the summer, you need to keep its soil moist. Besides that, it requires minimal care.
5. Vervain
Vervain is a plant that grows well outdoors in warm and temperate climates. It doesn’t require constant watering and will grow in your garden with beautiful colors.
6. Tree heather
This is a very robust plant that can grow in difficult conditions and will fill your garden with lilacs and pinks. It prefers sunny environments. Nevertheless, it withstands cold climates as well. This plant requires little watering. In fact, you simply need to make sure its soil doesn’t completely dry out.
7. Bromeliads
Bromeliads are very robust and rustic plants that adapt to both indoors and outdoors. As they’re native to tropical climates, they like humidity and sunlight, albeit not direct sunlight. Therefore, they grow very well in the shade of trees or eaves. They’re perfect for those who love exotic plants, as their flowers are very unique.
8. Gazanias
These species bloom year-round in hot climates. They grow very well in environments where they can get direct sunlight. However, it can only withstand a temperature of 41°F. They’re perfect for those who want to create colorful spaces.
9. Chamomile
This plant resists all types of soils. However, it thrives in dry ones. Therefore, you shouldn’t overwater it. This plant is very low maintenance and withstands the sun. It produces beautiful small white and yellow flowers that have different medicinal properties and smell great.
10. Ivy
Whether to decorate walls or to create a green ground cover, ivy is the perfect option. It grows quickly, adapts to various conditions, and doesn’t need constant watering. Also, it withstands dimly lit environments.
11. Lampranthus spectabilis
This is one of the most robust plants around, which is why it’s usually used as a flowering ground cover in gardens. If your children or pets play in the garden, this is a perfect option, as it’s very strong. Its flowers are very striking and grow very well in sunny places.
12. Chrysanthemums
Chrysanthemums are ideal balcony plants because they adapt to flowerpots. Although they need a lot of light, they also need shade. You have to water them every time the soil dries up. They’re very easy to care for and bloom with little maintenance.
13. Bougainvillea
These species are famous for their beautiful and abundant fuchsia and white flowers. They don’t need to be watered much and their greatest advantage is that they don’t need fertilizer to bloom.
It’s a climber, which makes it a perfect option to cover a wall or a column. In fact, it can help you create romantic atmospheres in terraces or gardens. In places that experience the four seasons, they bloom during the spring and summer. However, in temperate climates, they bloom year-round.
14. Wild pansy
If you live in an area with a cold climate, the wild pansy is the ideal flower for your garden. Although it doesn’t withstand very high temperatures, it thrives in cold temperatures.
The flowers can be red, yellow, pink, blue, purple, white, and even a combination of all these colors. They’re very robust. You have to make sure that the soil remains moist but avoid overwatering it.
15. Lavender
Lavender is another plant that withstands cold climates well and also has various therapeutic relaxation properties. It’s a rustic or wild plant, meaning that it supports adverse conditions very well.
It must enjoy good ventilation and get a lot of sunlight. Thus, you shouldn’t plant it with shrubs that give it shade or take up its space. You should only water it once the soil is dry, about once a week.
Find out more here: This Lavender Lemonade May Help Calm Headaches
Choose the robust plants that are best suited for your city
According to a publication by the University of Georgia, it’s harder to take care of plants that aren’t properly planted or those that don’t thrive in the climate conditions where they’re planted. Therefore, you should research the perfect robust plants for your climate.
Just because a plant is robust doesn’t mean it doesn’t require care. Thus, choose those that best suit your lifestyle and the characteristics of your home.
All cited sources were thoroughly reviewed by our team to ensure their quality, reliability, currency, and validity. The bibliography of this article was considered reliable and of academic or scientific accuracy.
- Ponce O, Rodriguez A, Hernández E, Leiva Á, Pérez L. Manual de técnicas de cultivo de plantas ornamentales. 2nd ed. La Havana: Jardín Botánico Nacional; 2014.
- Rubio Coll, M. and Fernández Terricabras, M., 2018. El Gran Libro De Las Plantas De Interior. Editorial De Vecchi S.A.
- Soto A. Guía básica de plantas ornamentales para el diseño de jardines de interior y exterior para clima templado [Maestría]. Universidad Rafael Landivar; 2017.
- Torrecilla, C., 1998. Manual Práctico De La Jardinería. Madrid: Ed. El País.
