The Best Plants for Shelves; 7 Easy and Trailing Plants to Style Any Shelf.
Indoor plants are known for their many benefits; from improving our mood, to cleaning the air from toxins, from increasing productivity, to boosting creativity, and so on…
As an Interior Designer, I appreciate how indoor plants tremendously enhance the look of any space.
There are plants for every function of the home, for every home type, style and environment, and for every person’s lifestyle.
There are also plants for every part of the home; like empty, high corners, kitchens, bathrooms, coffee tables, and shelves of course!
Some people fill their shelves and bookcases with books, others with collections of objects. I fill mine with plants!
Plants on shelves are great at breaking the monotony of a series of books, or simply at adding interest and flare at a boring shelf filled with objects without real meaning.
This is when plants become part of your decor and style!
I wrote an article about plant shelves and creative ways to set-up a plant shelfie.
This article is about the best plants for shelves. What are actually the best plants that are suitable for shelves?
Generally speaking, they are low maintenance plants that don’t make you climb on a stool EVERY week for watering, or that die after a month of neglect…
These are beautiful and unique, as well as easy indoor plants that are ideal for shelves and bookcases.
My favourite plant shelves.
1. Bird's nest snake plant, ( dracaena Hahnii)
The Bird’s Nest Snake Plant, like many other varieties of Snake Plant, is a virtually impossible to kill houseplant!
It is an ideal plant for shelves for many reasons; It grows slow so it can be kept pretty much in the same spot without needing to move to a bigger area, AND it’s an extremely adaptable plant, so you can place it on one of your highest shelves without worrying too much about it…It will be very forgiving when you miss a watering, (or two!).
Native to the tropical regions of West Africa, this plant is also an excellent air purifier.
The Bird’s Nest Snake Plant can thrive in bright, indirect light areas, as well as in areas with moderate light conditions.
It requires very little watering; it is actually important to let its soil dry out between waterings. I water mine every two weeks.
It adapts to any humidity condition your home may have.
The only negative aspect about any Snake Plant is its toxicity if ingested by humans and pets.
Read my article on the Snake Plant to learn more about this incredibly low maintenance succulent.
2. devil's ivy, (epipremnum aureum)
Also known as Golden Pothos, the Devils’ Ivy is not only one of the best indoor plants for beginners, it’s one of the most beautiful trailing plants for shelves.
It grows fast, so it is an ideal plant for higher shelves to create a cascading green effect, or to frame the top of a bookcase.
I have a Marble Queen Pothos in our home, which is a stark white and green variety of Devil’s Ivy.
Native to the Society Islands of French Polynesia, this plant has become naturalized to sub-tropical forests worldwide. It has been named Devil’s Ivy because it is impossible to kill, remaining green even when kept in the dark.
In-fact, the Pothos does well in moderate to bright light conditions, but it definitely thrives in bright, indirect light.
This plant is very forgiving when it comes to humidity levels and it really adapts to any home condition.
I water mine once a week but it doesn’t seem to mind if I am gone for two weeks and I skip one watering.
I fertilize it every second watering from Spring to Fall with a liquid plant food.
Its stems grow quite fast and it is a good idea to prune them off in early spring to encourage new growth.
I pruned a long stem of my Pothos and divided it into 4 stems that I rooted in water.
The plant grew so many new stems in place of the one long stem I cut off.
I suggest you read more about the advantages of pruning indoor plants. It’s unbelievable what plants can do when they get a trim!
(And you get to root the cuttings too!)
It’s important to know this plant can be toxic to pets if ingested.
This is the Marble Queen variety of Photos. Its leaves variegation is quite beautiful.
This stem is actually a cutting I pruned off from the mother plant, and is now growing in water.
3. Heartleaf philodendron, (Philodendron hederaceum)
The Heartleaf Philodendron is another great trailing plant for shelves that can be placed on higher shelves or bookcases.
Native to Central America and the Caribbean, this fast growing plant can adapt to different levels of light; from moderate to bright, indirect. Avoid direct light exposure though.
Water your Philodendron once 50% of the soil feels dry to the touch.
Depending on how much light it receives, its watering needs may change. This plant is quite forgiving if you forget to water it once…
Fertilize it monthly between Spring and Fall.
The interesting aspect of this plant is that it will grow its stems much faster than its roots, so you don’t need to repot it yearly.
When you do that, I recommend using a tropical plant mix with some perlite to increase drainage, using 4 parts soil to 1 part perlite ratio.
When its stems grow too long and leggy, you need to prune them. It will tremendously benefit the plant and it will allow you to root those cuttings into new plants!
Click here to learn more about the Heartleaf Philodendron and its care.
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4. Wax plant, (hoya carnosa)
The Wax Plant, in addition to being a great plant for shelves, it’s one of the best plants for beginners, and an excellent non-toxic plant, safe for children and pets despite its succulent leaves.
Native to Eastern Asia and Australia, The Hoya Carnosa isn’t technically a succulent. It’s a succulent-like plant.
This plant thrives in bright light conditions. The brighter the surrounding area, the more likely it will produce the sweet fragrant porcelain looking flower that doesn’t even seem real!
It needs to be watered when the soil is dry to the touch. I water mine once every two weeks in both winter and summer.
Wax Plants are extremely easy to propagate by simply cutting the stems and allowing them to grow roots into water. In-fact, my plant is the result of three stems I cut off from my friend’s plant!
Like for many other trailing and climbing plants, there are so many different ways to display a Hoya Carnosa, including trailing from shelves and bookcases.
Its trailing stems won’t grow terribly fast but the more bright light you provide, the faster it will grow.
After rooting these cuttings in water for a couple of months, I planted them in soil.
5. Strings of Hearts, (ceropegia woodii)
The Strings of Hearts, (or Rosary Vine), is one of my favourite plants.
It’s a unique indoor trailing plant that will add flare ad interest to any shelf!
It’s harder to find than other plants and you may need to do extra research, (and spend a bit more money), but it’s definitely worth the effort!
Native to South Africa and Zimbabwe, this plant grows on rocks in its natural habitat.
Its strings grow quite fast, producing more and more tiny silvery and green hearts!
Their care and maintenance is quite simple.
Strings of Hearts thrive in bright light without direct sun exposure. The soil needs to dry out in between waterings. Keep in mind that this plant goes dormant during the winter months, so it will need even less water during the cold season.
I give mine water once a week during the growing season and I scale it back to once every two weeks in winter.
It’s very important to keep this plant in pots with drainage holes with well draining soil in order to prevent roots rot.
Propagating Rosary Vines is quite simple; just cut the strings between the nodes, and let them root in water for a few weeks before planting in soil.
Alternatively, you can simply plant the tuber, (the node) directly in the soil.
For more details on Strings of Hearts care and propagation, read this article.
Strings of Hearts literally look like a gentle shower of tiny green hearts.
6. Peperomia hope, (peperomia deppeana X quadrifolia)
This low maintenance plant is another non-toxic option among the “unique” plants for shelves.
The Peperomia Hope is not a succulent, (as many are led to believe due to their thick and fleshy leaves), but an epiphytes, growing on trees in its natural habitat.
Native to the tropical regions of Central and South America, this plant enjoys bright, indirect light and high humidity.
Despite its nature, this plant can do relatively well in average homes humidity.
It is important to not over-water this beautiful trailing plant. Only water it when the top soil feels dry to the touch. (I water mine every week-10 days.)
It’s worth knowing that, like many epiphytes, this plant’s roots are much smaller than its stems and leaves volume. For this reason, Peperomia Hope doesn’t need to be repotted often. It is actually recommended that its pot remains only 2″ bigger than its rootball, and that such pot has draining holes.
Proper drainage is critical for the health of any plant, epiphytes in particular.
If you enjoy propagating plants, Peperomia Hope is relatively easy to propagate, by either leaf or stem cut.
Believe it or not, this cute little Peperomia Hope has grown from simply rooting one single juicy leaf that I had accidentally knocked off the mother plant.
7. Arrowhead plant, (Nephthytis)
Arrowhead Plants are excellent plants for shelves as they can grow as lush, slightly trailing plants, without cascading all the way to the floor!
Native to Latin America, this plant enjoys high humidity, with moist soil, (but not too soggy). Don’t let the soil dry through. Water it once the surface soil starts to dry out.
As a reference, I water mine once a week.
In order to increase its humidity levels you can either mist it regularly, or place its pot on a pebble tray filled with water.
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. Too much light will bleach its leaves, and low light levels will grow solid colours leaves.
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