I love gardening. There was a time when I thought it's too bad I can't do it year round. Then I realized I can, and I do.

When the weather cools and my outdoor gardens wither and go dormant, I shift 100% of my gardening love and attention to my indoor plants. Over the years I've owned many varieties of plants, so many that I'm constantly gifting them to friends and family, whether they like it or not.

When the snow sets in, I find myself walking through narrowed rooms, with many of my outdoor plants lining the walls, needing a place to winter. If you're picturing a mad scientist with cut-off celery growing in petri dishes and other experiments about, you wouldn't be too far off. What can I say, I love gardening.
Since it's taboo to gift a recycled stock of celery, I'm sharing some of my favourite indoor houseplants that anyone can care for. All of which would make perfect gifts.

If you're a novice gardener and you have a hard time keeping plants alive, or you're living in a downstairs apartment with low light. This list is for you.

Popular indoor plants

The most popular plants are not always the easiest to care for, so this list will focus on the popular plants that are. I have all these plants and some of them have been around for a decade or more. From a time when I didn't pay much attention to my plants.

Easy to grow indoor plants

Succulents

Pothos

The Pothos plant is a versatile plant that's very easy to grow and care for. When it gets too big for your liking or application, you can cut it back and set a cutting into a glass of water to grow another plant.

I like to perch a Pothos plant up high and have the vines drape down or climb an archway. They don't like direct sunlight and while they thrive bright indirect light, they're tolerant of low lighting too. Allow the top inch of soil to dry before watering. Usually about once every week or two depending on the climate and how much light it's getting.

Spider Plant

Another plant that you can easily grow cuttings from is the Spider Plant. Don't freak out, it's not called a Spider Plant because it attracts spiders. Imagine? The person who named it simply thought the offshoots looked like spider.

Spider Plants need a moderate amount of indirect sunlight and need to be watered about once a week. They look great sitting on the ground in a nice pot with the leaves cascading it, or up high in a hanging basket.

Majesty Palm

With so many lookalike palm varieties available, it can be hard to tell them all apart. The Majesty Palm is inexpensive and versatile plant that can liven up any outdoor patio space and it can thrive equally as well in your living room. I like it best when they're set in a nice pot with flowers planted around the base for some added colour.

The Majesty Palm does well in moist soil, so you'll want to water it about once every week or two. It thrives in bright indirect light but can tolerate moderate light as well.

Snake Plant

The Snake Plant is perhaps the hardiest and most forgiving plant on this list as it needs very little care to survive. For instance, the plant should only be watered if the soil feels really dry and they can usually go two months without water during the winter months. During the summer, you'll want to water it every month or so. The Snake Plant prefers bright indirect sunlight but can adapt to direct sun as well as low light conditions making it very versatile.

How to care for indoor plants

• Water your houseplants as often as required
• Re-mineralize or fertilize the soil every few months
• Place your plants in areas where they'll get the proper light
• Repot your houseplants every so often

Water

The rule of thumb for most houseplants is to keep the soil moist. The exception on this list is the Snake Plant, which prefers it to be dryer than your typical houseplant. But usually, when the first inch of soil dries out, that's the time to think about adding some water.
Take care not to water too much or you'll cause other problems. If you do overwater your plants, where the water sits stagnant in the catchment tray, dump that out.

Remineralize

A lot of people don't realize that indoor plants need nutrients to grow and thrive. What it has in the pot it came in, is all it has to work with and after a couple of months, there's likely not many nutrients left.

IRON EARTH™ Soil Remineralizer is approved for organic use by CSI. It contains 76 earth bound elements including humic and fulvic acids and amino acids. The all-natural soil remineralizer comes in a granular and liquid solution and can be applied to indoor plants every few months.

Give Plants Proper Light

Proper light is what the plant needs to thrive. If a plant thrives in bright, indirect light, that means it needs to be in a bright room, but off to the side, out of the suns direct rays.

Repot Your Plants

Every so often, your plants are going to need a shakeup. After a while of sitting in the same pot and soil, regardless of how much you're feeding your plants, you'll need to repot them. This is a good opportunity to think about the size of your pot and to resize it if necessary. Dump out the old soil and replace it with new soil. Loosen up the roots, removing any dried or dead bits the best you can. Then place your plant into the soil, making sure no roots are left exposed. The final step is to water your plant thoroughly and enjoy.

The next time you're looking for a last minute gift idea, look around your house and give someone a plant instead! All of these plants would make a wonderful gift.

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