Beautiful Leaves | 10 Beautiful House Plants That are Easy to Find at Your Local Store
Plants make people happy. We all know that. Plants make people happy because of their many benefits; they clean the surrounding air from toxins, they boost our mood and productivity and the care we provide to them make us feel rewarded.
However, let’s not forget the inspirational power the beauty of some very special plant’s leaves have on us.
I keep catching myself staring at a particular leaf detail over and over again, as I am sitting down strategizing a post or writing an article. It happens in the bathroom too! I have a beautiful Philodendron Brasil sitting on the corner of the bath tub and I often sit there way too long, (too much detail here), just staring at those “brush strokes” on the heart shaped leaves….
Do you call this wasting time you don’t have enough of in your busy life? Probably! I get it, I totally understand you! I used to think exactly the same!
Thankfully, after working really hard at it for more than 2 years, I learned the skills of Mindfulness. Yes, with a capital M! So now I know that when I catch myself staring at the details of a beautiful leaf, not only I am being mindful; I am enjoying the beauty of one little and simple detail created by nature. How mind blowing is that?!?
This is exactly why I continue to surround myself with beautiful plants. So that I can catch myself enjoying the sight wherever I am in our home!
But enough about me!
I wrote several articles about the many benefits of plants and their different characteristics to respond to everyone’s needs; Low Maintenance Plants, Low Light Plants, Non-Toxic Plants, Air Purifying Plants, Hanging Plants and a series of articles on the most versatile plants, such as: The Spider Plant, the ZZ Plant, the Snake Plant, the Chinese Money Plant and The Fiddle Leaf Fig. I have been practical all along with adaptable and easy to grow plants!
Today is all about Beauty! Our eyes deserve beauty!
So I created a list of the 10 house plants with the most beautiful leaves that are also easy to find at your local store and that are relatively inexpensive.
Now, let’s be a bit more specific about the definition of “local store”. I called it “local store” and not “green house” , because these days, many varieties of plants, including tropicals, can be found even in small town flower shops, grocery stores and even hardware stores. I kid you not!
I live in Canada. I bought my Philodendron Brasil and Bird’s Nest Fern from Home Hardware in our small town. My Peace Lily comes from the Flower Shop in our small town. My Mini Orchid comes from Sobey’s Grocery Store, where I also saw a very well priced Rattlesnake Alocasia. My Strings of Hearts comes from a downtown Winnipeg plant shop and my Medallion Calathea comes from a green house.
Let’s not forget online options; I bought my Alocasia Amazonica online from Plant Collective, but I want to keep plants online shopping for a different blog article.
These days, you can find many beautiful plant varieties near you…it’s non that hard anymore.
When it’s hard, rely on your friends and propagation!
Why do I describe how to propagate all these plants? Because sharing is caring! I cannot stress enough how meaningful plant gifts are! You have beautiful plants that give you joy. Why don’t you share such joy with the people you love?
Here is my list of Beautiful Plants to fill your eyes, heart and soul!
1. Alocasia Amazonica, (african mask)
The beauty of this plant it’s all leaves! Its arrowhead shaped, leathery, thick leaf is clearly marked by bright green, almost silvery veins.
There is quite a misconception when it comes to the origins of this plant; the Alocasia Amazonica is an hybrid plant. It was created in Florida in the 1950’s. It’s parents however, originated in Asia.
The African Mask enjoys bright, indirect light, relatively high humidity and moist soil.
While it is important to keep decent levels of humidity, it is critical the soil is not too soggy to avoid root rot. Water it when the surface soil starts to dry. Do not allow the soil to dry through in between waterings. The best trick to maintain a good level of humidity for this plant is to place a tray of pebbles filled with water, making sure the water does not touch the bottom of the pot.
To propagate the Alocasia, carefully divide the rhizomic roots when repotting thee plant. Only repot the plant when it outgrows its present container.
2. Lemon Lime Maranta Leuconeura, (Prayer Plant)
I can’t stare enough at the leaves of this plant. I often ask myself how is it even possible nature can create such perfect compositions of patterns and colours. This plant’s leaves have hypnotic powers on me. The more I stare at them closely, the more I feel hypnotized! It’s crazy! It must be the plant’s strategy to keep animals and insects away…
This beautiful trailing plant is native to the Brazilian rainforests. As such, she enjoys high humidity, a moist soil but not too soggy. Like for the Alocasia Amazonica, place a tray of pebbles with water under its pot to increase humidity levels if you leave in a dry home like me. Water it once the soil starts to dry on the surface.
Even though this plant can survive in low light conditions, it definitely thrives in bright, indirect light.
Simply cut a branch below the nodes closest to the bottom of the stem to propagate it or by division of the roots when repotting the plant. Place the cuttings in a jug of water for a few weeks to promote root development. Plant the divided roots into a pot of soil and cover the soil with a perforated plastic sheet to retain moisture for a few weeks as well until the divided roots have established in the new pot.
3. Arrowhead Plant (Nephthytis)
My species of Arrowhead Plant is variegated but there are a few different types on the market in different solid colours as well.
This gorgeous plant doesn’t grow very fast, making it a good option for both a table top or a hanger. If you don’t want to hang this plant, you can simply trim its leaves, which will also promote the growth of more and smaller arrowhead shaped leaves, rather than the continued growth of bigger three-finger like shaped leaves.
The Arrowhead Plant is native to Latin America, which means, she also enjoys high humidity, with moist soil but not too soggy. Once again, don’t let the soil dry through. Water it once the surface soil starts to dry out.
Here’s the thing; if you have this plant on a table top I recommend you place a tray of pebble filled with water under the pot to provide that extra humidity the plant will need if you live in a dry environment.
However, if you have your plant in a hanging pot like me, most likely, there is no drainage at the bottom of that pot, which is actually not that bad for humidity, provided that you have a good layer of draining rocks and activated charcoal at the bottom of that pot! If you don’t have a draining layer of rocks and charcoal at the bottom of your pot, remove your plant from the pot immediately and make sure it’s not filled with stagnant water.
Add some draining rocks, and if you have it, some activated charcoal to prevent root rot. Only after that, you can re-pot your Arrowhead Plant in the pot and hang it on the wall.
Keep in mind this drainage layering procedure should be applied to all plants in pots without draining holes.
Even though the Arrowhead Plant does well in medium light, it thrives in bright, indirect light.
If you have a variegated species and enjoy the variegation, make sure you place it in bright, indirect light. Low light levels will grow solid colours leaves.
You can propagate this plant by stem cuttings or roots division. Cut the stems below the nodes and place them in a water jug for a few weeks to promote roots development.
4. Variegated Rubber Plant (Ficus Elastica)
Rubber Plants are very attractive plants, whether they are variegated like mine, or solid dark green. Its solid green leaves are of a deep green with rich burgundy tones in the stems and buds. The thick, waxy leaves tend to attract dust and require periodical wiping.
This plant is native to Eastern South Asia and it is now naturalized in Sri Lanka, West Indies and Florida.
It’s not a difficult plant to care for but it does require a good balance of light and water. Once you’ve found the perfect balance for your plant within your home, it will be extremely easy to care for it.
Rubber Plants generally thrive in bright, indirect light. The more light you provide to a variegated species, the more variegation, you’ll get. Never expose your plan to direct sunlight though.
As fas as watering goes, this type of Ficus, enjoys moist soil but not too soggy. Do not allow the soil to dry through in between waterings. I water mine once every two weeks.
In my opinion, Rubber Plants are trickier to propagate than other plants. Perhaps because I’ve only read about it and I’ve never tried it before. I’ve heard of many success stories though.
There are a few ways to propagate this plant, however, I recommend stems cuttings as the easiest way to begin with. Simply cut a healthy stem off of your plant and place it in a water jug for a few weeks to promote roots development.
5. Purple shamrock Plant, (Oxalis Regnellii)
Even though this dark beauty is primarily purple, it qualifies to be one of the prized black plants.
Purple Shamrock, aka Black Shamrock or Black Oxalis is more often used outdoors as accent plant in yards and planters. However, it is common to find this beautiful plant indoor in the northern hemisphere.
This plant is beautiful whether you look at it from far away as a whole, as it resembles a kaleidoscope of butterflies, or close, at the details of the individual leaf. The Purple Shamrock leaves are an incredible double-sided combination of colours; the front with its dark purple, almost black tones contrasting with the lighter violet in the middle; the back with a solid bright magenta-purple. No matter which side you look at it from, it’s just gorgeous!
The leaves of this plant are so beautiful that the little clustered violet flowers are really second row on stage…
Black Oxalis originates in South Africa and Tropical America and it is fairly easy to grow both indoors and outdoors.
It grows best in moderate to bright light but no direct light.
It requires weekly watering in dry environments. More often when you just plant them or re-pot them.
To propagate your Oxalis, simply divide the roots when you are ready to re-pot your plant.
6. Strings of Hearts, (Ceropegia Woodii)
This dainty, yet captivating plant is a wonderful trailing plant to either hang from a hanging pot or to let cascade from a high shelf! Its thin and long stems produce incredible tiny heart shaped leaves with intricate silver patterns. It’s just so hard to resist!
The Rosary Vine Plant, also known as Strings of Hearts is native to South Africa and Zimbabwe. It’s probably the toughest one in this list of beautiful plants to find. But if you are patient you’ll come across one eventually. Or even better, if you have a friend that owns one, take a snip or two to propagate it!
While it’s quite easy to care for this plant, it’s important to understand it is not a succulent! Its care however, is similar to a succulent.
Strings of Hearts enjoy bright, indirect light. It is important to let the soil dry through in between waterings as this plant is prone to root rot. Based on your climate, you’ll have to adjust your watering frequency.
Propagating this beautiful vines is easy. There are two ways to do that; by stem cuttings or by laying the tuber on the soil.
If you cut the vine’s stems, make sure you cut stems that have nodes in it and place them in a jug of water for a few weeks to encourage root development. If you find a tuber or two in your plant’s vines, you can cut the stem off and place the tuber directly into a pot of soil to let it root and start a new plant.
7. Calathea Roseopicta, (Calathea Medallion)
There are many different species of Calatheas on the market these days and they are all incredibly beautiful. Some species are harder to find than others, but then again, if you are lucky, you can find one at your local grocery store!
The Calathea Medallion has beautiful double-sided leaves. The front with stunning painted strokes of green tones; the back with rich, deep, purple and burgundy tones. These tones are visible in the curled up new leaves and in the evenings and night, when the plant’s leaves lift up as to reach the sky!
Native to Tropical Americas, this plant thrives in medium to bright indirect light and high humidity conditions.
Place your stunning Calathea in a bright spot that does not receive direct sunlight. The sun will burn its beautiful leaves and that’s a crime!
Like all other tropical plants, Calathea’s soil needs to be moist but not too soggy. Do not allow to dry through in between waterings. Water it once the surface soil starts to dry.
Place a tray of pebbles filled with water in order to provide the humidity this plant enjoys. Make sure water does not touch the bottom of the pot in order to avoid root rot.
I have one recommendation for this plant but it does really apply to all plants with foliage susceptible to brown tips like Prayer Plants, Peace Lilies and Spider Plants. Brown tips on the plant’s leaves is often a sign of too much Chlorine or Fluoride in your tap water. I suggest preparing jugs of tap water the night before you plan to water your plants. This will allow excessive Chlorine and Fluoride to evaporate.
You can propagate your Calathea by root division when you re-pot it. Like I suggested for the Prayer Plant, it’s best if you cover the soil with a perforated plastic sheet after planting your new plant in order to maintain a high level of humidity for it.
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.
8. Philodendron Brasil
My Philodendron Brasil was one of the lucky finds in our small town hardware store. And it was inexpensive too! At the time I didn’t need a new plant, but honestly; when do you ever NEED a new plant? However, the leaves of this plant were so beautiful that I had no choice but to take it to the till.
The beauty of its leaves it’s not just limited to two stripes of contrasting greens…Nope! An inside plant painter is working on the transitioning of green tones through studied paint strokes in just the right spots on the leaf! How does it do that?!?
Philodendron Brasil is native to Central America and the Caribbean. It’s one of the plants that performs well in low light conditions and enjoys higher levels of humidity. For this reason it’s a recommended plant for bathrooms and Kitchens.
Having said that, this plant still thrives in bright indirect light. As a matter of fact, the bright light is a huge factor in the variegation of its leaves. The lesser the light the more solid coloured the leaves will be.
While humidity is good for this plant, you need to be careful with the amount of water your provide to it. Allow the top 50% of its soil to dry through before watering. This plant is not drought tolerant but it doesn’t like too much water either.
To propagate this gorgeous Philodendron, simply divide the roots when re-potting it or, cut longer stems with nodes. Place the stems in a water jug for a few weeks to allow roots development.
9. Wandering Jew, (Tradescantia Zebrina)
This fast growing trailing plant is an ideal candidate for hanging pots and macrame’s.
Its beautiful deep purple, green and silver leaves, painted in a zebra pattern will wow you and your guests. This is another plant with double-sided leaves that are incredibly attractive no matter which side you look at. The front side has zebra stripes in dark purple, green and silver; the back side is a solid rich magenta.
Native to Mexico, Central America and Colombia, this plant likes bright, indirect light and humidity. However, households relative humidity seems to be enough for this plant if watered properly.
Place your Wandering Jew in a bright spot with no direct sunlight. The brighter the area you place your plant in, the darker and richer the purple will be.
Water your Tradescantia once the surface soil starts to dry. She enjoys moist soil but not too soggy. If you want to avoid misting, like I do, place your pot on top of a tray of pebbles filled with water.
I recommend you trim your Wandering Jew Plant often as it tends to grow fast and to grow long, leggy stems. By trimming your long stems you encourage the plant to grow new stems and general fullness. You will also notice that your fresh, top buds and leaves tend to have a much brighter purple then your old leaves at the other end of the stem, which tend to look faded green. Periodical pinch backs will promote the plant’s general health and fullness.
To propagate your Wandering Jew, place those stems cuttings in water jars and you’ll notice they develop new roots in no time. You can plant these stems in a new pot to make a new plant or you can add them to your current pot to fill the plant. Alternatively, you can simply stick those stems cuttings into the same pot and let the new plants grow next to the mother plant to have one big full and lush pot of Wandering Jew Plants!
10. Watermelon Peperomia, (Peperomia Argyreia)
Watermelon Peperomia make me really happy. There is something about this plant that always draws my attention to it. It must be its foliage. The stem and leaf structure resembles the Pilea Plant’s structure. However, the Watermelon Peperomia Leaves are pointier and they are not as flat as the Pilea’s. In-fact the leaves are lovely little cups in the shape of tear drops with beautiful green and silvery stripes.
From far away you get the optical illusion of looking at a bunch of little watermelons hanging from a shrub! It’s almost dainty!
This gorgeous plant is native to the northern portion of South America. It enjoys medium to bright light, high humidity and to have a somewhat moist soil.
Place your Peperomia in a bright spot, making sure it’s not too bright or directly exposed to sunlight. Differently from other plants, where low light fades the foliage colour, in the case of this plant, low light will darken the leaves and too much light will fade the leaves.
Water it when the top 1-2″ of soil starts to feel dry. Don’t let it dry through. Place a tray of pebbles filled with water under the Peperomia pot to increase its humidity levels.
This plant enjoys to be root bound, meaning she likes to pack her roots in tight planters. When you feel it’s really time to re-pot it, make sure you only increase the pot size by 1″ in diameter.
The most common way to propagate Watermelon Peperomia is to cut its leaf in half and dip both halves in rooting hormone before gently tucking them into a 1″ of soil. Keep the planted cutting into a warm and humid spot, with medium to bright light and water as soon as the surface soil is dry. After a few weeks you’ll notice the new plantlet growth!
Hey Plant Loving Woman!
Are you a middle age mom?
Do you constantly feel overwhelmed and anxious?
Do you believe in the healing power of nature?
To reveal your #1 Personal Houseplant that best
helps you reduce your anxiety.