The holidays are over, the Christmas tree is down and disassembled. The flowers you had in the house to create a special atmosphere for those festivities have seen better days. January 10^th is National Houseplant Appreciation Day. It’s the perfect chance for you to bring a bit of brightness into your house – make it feel warm and tropical, do a wealth of good for your mental and physical health, and bring a bit of outside inside. It is a day when people who deal with plants and flowers, like us at People’s Flower Shops, can help you see the benefits of adding houseplants to different places in your home – or to your office.

What Are Some of the Benefits of Houseplants?

• Houseplants are helpful for removing impurities from the air – especially VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) that are found in paint, carpeting, computer ink, and many typical household chemicals that you probably use for cleaning or other things.

• Houseplants are thought to improve thinking, increase productivity, awareness, and foster greater creativity.

• Houseplants can also elevate mood, and help stave off that winter depression that affects so many people.

Tropical Houseplants

Bromeliad plants are found in tropical Rainforests. They are very easy to grow and offer a lot of interest. Whether you are looking for an unusual houseplant that will a touch of exoticism to your home or office, or want something that’s very different than the usual houseplants – either for a gift or for yourself, you’ll find all this and more in a colorful bromeliad.

The flower shoots up from the center of the plant. Healthy bromeliads produce “pups,” or babies that grow off the main plant. After flowering, the main plant eventually dies, but the baby plant continues to thrive, producing more and more babies. Grow in a place with good light and consistent temperatures.

Anthurium plants have very unusual flowers that look more like leaves than actual flowers. The bright red flowers offer a nice contrast against the shiny, dark green leaves. These tropical beauties are common in Hawaiian gardens. They are long-lasting, fun to grow, and truly bring a touch of the warm air and cool ocean breezes that many mainlanders dream about during the long cold, dreary winter.

Croton plants are easily recognized because of their colorful, variegated leaves that are usually a combination of yellow, red, or burgundy, and light and dark green. These interesting plants brighten any home or office and add color to spaces that might otherwise look boring and monochromatic. These long-lasting plants can be taken outside during the warm summer months where you can let them grow on a patio or deck. Provide them with plenty of bright light to bring out the best color in them.