Houseplants are the one home item I can never have too much of! Growing up, my nan always had SO many plants, and was always making more. Still today, almost every time I go to her house, she asks if I want to take a plant home. She is always propagating something, and I seem to have inherited the same green thumb.

Here is a little tour of the houseplants we currently have (and their names, because of course I name all of our plants).

Dottie | the monstera

I purchased Dottie in February 2021 as a Valentine’s Day gift to myself. I bought her at Scott’s Nursery here in Fredericton as a small plant, and she has grown SO much since then. Dottie is probably my favourite houseplant currently.

Thelma and louise | The Pink princess philodendrens

Thelma and Louise are 2 recent additions to our plant family. We bought them this past Fall at Home Depot, on clearance for $10 each, originally $39.99. These are usually very expensive plants, so I jumped at the chance to get them when I saw them. They haven’t had much chance to grow yet, but I’m looking forward to seeing them unfurl some new leaves soon.

Zelda | the small leaf spiderwort

Zelda is an heirloom plant, meaning that she has been in our family for a long time and passed down. My nan purchased her in the 50s or 60s, and has been propagating her ever since. This is not the original Zelda, this is one of the many propagations, but we name them all Zelda. I’ve had many Zeldas over the years, and so has several other members of our family. I still have many Zeldas around the house (some I forgot to photograph).

Nan and I both still propagate Zelda plants to this day (as you’ll see in my propagation wall photo).

The New monstera

I recently bought another Monstera at Home Depot, but have yet to name her. She was a birthday gift to myself, and very inexpensive (I think around $12). If you can think of any name ideas, let me know in the comments!

The little plant beside her is a Tradescantia Zebrina that I’m currently trying to bring back to life, and our Click and Grow garden is in the back!

The propagation wall

Kris and I bought these shelves at Ikea last year, and he put them up for me to use as a propagation wall! Currently I am only propagating Zeldas because she’s extremely easy to propagate, but want to try making more plants this year.

lily | The peace lily

(Plus another Zelda, and what I think is a neon philodendren)

Also, a piece of driftwood that Mason found on vacation.

I got this peace lily from another blog friend years ago. She was moving out west and could not take it with her. At the time, the plan was not doing well, but I brought her back to life, and she’s lived on my cabinets ever since. Peace lilies are thankfully not as toxic as true lillies. You CAN NOT have a true lily of any variety in your house with pets, as they are extremely toxic. We keep the peace lily high up on a shelf where the pets can’t reach her, but if they did it would most likely only cause some mouth irritation.

The other two plants on the shelf are another Zelda, and what I think is a neon philodendron, but I’m not 100% sure (it was a gift). I have a plant app that identifies plants, so I’ll have to try it and see what it is!

Aloe there | The aloe plant

We don’t have the best luck keeping aloe alive for some reason, but this is the second one we’ve had in the last year, so we’ll see what happens. Aloe is moderately toxic to cats, so we keep this plant high on a shelf in my office, and the door to my office stays closed at all times.

Matilda | the snake plant

Matilda is another heirloom plant from my nan. She was gifted to me as a MASSIVE plant in one pot, but I recently split her up into two separate pots. The white pot above is in my office, and the pink pot below is currently in our dining room. Snake plants are extremely easy to take care of, and I love having them around the house.

Other snake plants

The following are a few other snake plants I have around the house. I haven’t named them yet, so if you have any ideas, let me know!

I got this from my nan the last time I was there. She propagates these ones often.

Goldie | The Golden Pothos

Goldie is my only golden pothos, and was purchased at the same time at Dottie, at Scott’s Nursery. She sits in our upstairs hallway, and is getting a new plant stand soon!

Plants & Pets

I don’t keep any plants in the main part of our home that are fatally toxic to pets (and the only other one I have that is toxic is the Aloe in my office), however many of the plants we have contain calcium oxalate crystals and are mild to moderate irritants if eaten by pets. A mild to moderate irritant means that if eaten it may irritate the pet’s mouth, and cause drooling, vomiting, etc. Usually if a cat bites a plant like this, they know to stay away from it afterwards, BUT you have to know your own pets and their habits.

I am NOT a vet or pet expert, so please do your own research before purchasing plants for your own home. We have two cats and a dog, and only our younger cat sometimes tries to nibble the plants, but he usually only goes for Zelda, and she is non toxic to pets. He has occasionally taken a bite out of Dottie, or other plants, but generally leaves them alone. 99% of my plants are on stands or shelves where he can not access them. When we go on vacation, I move any accessible plants into my office and close the door so he can not access them at all, just as a precaution (and to save my plants from his wrath lol). Usually if he bothers a plant pot, it’s just digging through the dirt. Again, please do your own research, and talk to your vets if you have any questions.

Most plant nurseries will have a “pet friendly” section, or you can ask them which plants are safe for pets. We also like to grow cat grass occasionally so he has something of his own to eat.

I do have a few more Zeldas and a couple of smaller plants kicking around that I forgot to photograph, but for the most part, this is it!

What’s your favourite house plant? Let me know in the comments!

D

Houseplant Tour!