House Plants That Don’t Die in Victorian Houses

Looking for houseplants for shady cool spots? Victorian houses are generally dark and cold. Mine is anyways! There are only a few house plants I have found don’t mind being in my house – most of them need more light or warmth than I can give them. Here are my favourite house plants that don’t die in Victorian houses.

 

I have a couple of dragon trees (Dracaena Marginata) which are pretty indestructible. They live in the bathroom, which is possibly the coldest bathroom on earth. We have the window open a lot to let fresh air in and help reduce condensation, so it is COLD. I accidentally dripped bleach on one of them (oops!) and although the leaves had burn marks on, it’s showing signs of new growth and didn’t die! These guys are slow growing plants, don’t mind a shady spot or cold and you should water when the soil feels dry or the plant and pot feel really light. For more information, check out House Plant Expert‘s advice on dragon trees.

We have had this Snake Plant or Sansevieria since we bought it from Ikea a few years ago. It lives next to Mr R’s side of the bed and usually has a horrible 1980s alarm clock for company (just out of shot for this pic). This plant gets a fair amount of light from our north-east facing window, but gets totally forgotten about. I’ve probably watered it once every six months or so and it seems pretty happy. For more information on these plants check out Stupid Egg‘s plant care advice.

Another plant I don’t seem to be able to kill is Malcolm, my Monstera Monkey Mask. I bought him two years ago and since then he has had a huge growth spurt! This could be because he has a name? I don’t know. Either way, I’ve now had to give him a moss pole to scramble up and he’s almost covered it already. He lives in our living room next to the sofa, probably 2m away from the north-east facing window. He gets watered once every ten days and I feed him every so often in the growing season. I probably should be a bit more regimented with it, he might do even better! Stupid Egg Interiors have a great selection of Malcolms available.

Ivy is another great plant for period homes. It can tolerate pretty much any levels of light and looks beautiful trailing over furniture and off shelves. I have this one in the bedroom and it gets watered when the soil feels dry.

Another plant I’d recommend for a darker room is a Dieffenbachia or Dumb Cane/Leopard Lily. It has variagated leaves and thrives in our bathroom under the sink where it gets approximately 10 seconds of sunlight. It adds a much needed touch of brightness. It is poisonous! Here is some more information on these plants, if you’re thinking of getting one.

My other piece of advice is this – if all else fails, get a faux one! I can’t for the life of me grow string of pearls plants, so this one here is a fake one. I get the look I want, with none of the death!

You may also want to check out my post on styling your home with house plants, available HERE.

 

So there you go, a round up of the house plants I haven’t been able to kill yet! Can you recommend any others for darker, cooler houses?

 

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