Having plants indoors has become a lot more popular over the past decade and for good reason – plants provide a host of benefits to us. From relieving stress to purifying the air and improving mental health, plants should be a staple in everyone’s home. If you’re uncertain about your skills regarding taking care of a plant, then start with tough, hard to kill varieties. Below are some of the most forgiving and easy to care for plants any beginner can handle. Choose several and see how easy it is to maintain healthy plants in your home.

Best Beginner Plants

Heartleaf Philodendrons

Also known as the Sweetheart Plant, this is a trailing plant with dark green, heart-shaped leaves that have a natural high shine to them. There are also varieties with leaves that have a beautiful yellow and green variegated pattern. Adaptable to most lighting conditions, this plant is easy to grow and is a great starter plant. For optimum growth, place in an area with a moderate amount of indirect light and let the soil dry out between waterings. Being mildly toxic, make sure to keep pets and kids away.

Snake Plant

This striking plant has stiff, lengthy vertical leaves with pointed ends. The leaves are dark green with margins of bright yellow. They also come in green and yellow variegated patterns. The Snake Plant, also called the Mother-in-Law’s Tongue, is very resilient and hard to kill. It can handle low light or bright light and a spotty watering schedule. The Snake Plant is a great air purifier as it converts CO2 into oxygen during the night.

Peperomia

A striking little plant that comes with beautiful, ornamental leaves. There are numerous species of this plant that have thick, waxy leaves with solid, variegated, marbled red, green, or purple shades. This is plant that gets noticed. Adaptable to a variety of environments, this little beauty makes a great desk plant and will flourish even under flourescents. Water once soil has become completely dry and place in moderate to low indirect light.

Prayer Plant

For a colorful, hardy, tropical plant, the Prayer Plant is a great choice. It comes in varieties of colorufl leaves and patterns. They are called Prayer Plant because some of them fold their leaves up at night resembling hands in prayer. They are not too picky about their lighting conditions, but bright, indirect light is best, and keep the soil moist.

Aloe

Most people know Aloe for its medicinal properties in its leaves, primarily to soothe sunburns, but they also make striking houseplants. Their cool, spiky, thick leaves can grow in length up to 20 inches. They require little maintenance and grow much faster than most other succulents. Aloe loves the sun, even direct sunlight. Place in a pot that drained and wat until soil dries out between waterings.

Fittonias (Nerve Plant)

This pretty plant comes in a variety of leaf colors and has veined leaves giving it a very ornamental look. It loves water so is perfect for those overwaterers out there. They love humidity and warm conditions so misting in between waterings may be necessary. Place in bright, indirect light and wait for soil to dry out before watering.

Wandering Jew Plant

A very attractive and colorful plant native to Mexico, this gorgeous plant is considered difficult to kill. Their leaves are a pretty purple and green with purple growth being more new than the green growth. Keep in bright, indirect light or the colorful leaves will fade. Mist frequently as it loves high humidity and keep the soil moist.