Looking for houseplants?

For a number of reasons, today’s homes do not always have the best indoor air quality, but before you rush out and get one of those air cleaning machines, another thought is adding pollution-busting houseplants to your home. A list of the best as per The New Ecologist includes some you may have heard of such as African violets, Christmas cactus and peace lily, as well as a few you may not have including devil’s ivy, English ivy, garlic vine, the Feston Rose plant, parlor ivy, phalaenopsis and yellow goddess. If you’d like to add some houseplants but need to know more about them, the following ten websites should help you out. They are listed in order of their Alexa traffic count rating.

1. Cornell University – Houseplants: http://www.gardening.cornell.edu/houseplants/

Global Alexa Rating: 3,002

On this site at the link given you will find the Cornell Classics factsheets regarding such topics as selecting the plants in your own, growing African violets, techniques for propagation and growing houseplants from seeds. The factsheets are in .pdf format making them easy to download, print out and refer to as often as you would like to or need to. These factsheets along with the other topics on this page are good solid information that has stood the test of time.

2. LoveToKnow Garden: http://garden.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Category:Indoor_Plant_Care

Global Alexa Rating: 7,937

This is a great site for gardening advice of other types as well, but their section on indoor plant care offers the most relevant information. There is a slideshow of indoor plants for shade along with articles on a variety of plant care topics including houseplant seeds, hydroponic grow boxes, poinsettia, wax begonia, gardenia, orchids, choosing and caring for house plants, caring for African violets and more.

3. The Garden Helper: http://www.thegardenhelper.com/houseplants.html

Global Alexa Rating: 152,456

This is another site that deals with more gardening topics than just houseplants, so it can be a great resource for your plants outside as well. The article discusses topics such as watering, lighting requirements, using artificial grow lights, temperature, humidity, fresh air requirements and dormancy requirements. Be sure to click on the last line of the first section as that takes you to a great list of houseplants that you might not have even realized was there since it lacks a “click here” or some other indication. The line reads, “A little research should be done for each of your House Plants to understand their individual needs.” The site also has a nice forum.

4. Guide-to-Houseplants: http://www.guide-to-houseplants.com/

Global Alexa Rating: 302,189

This is a very comprehensive site with houseplant profiles, types of plants, tips, solutions and how-tos and a few articles as well. The profile section is arranged into three parts: foliage plants, flowering plants and cacti & other succulents. Each item listed gives you a full description and care tips for that houseplant. Under plant types you will find some interesting sections including unusual houseplants, exotic houseplants, poisonous houseplants and plants that clean the air. There is even a section on how to have an indoor vegetable garden should you want to try your hand at growing some food for your family. The tips section includes dealing with pests and diseases, propagating houseplants and more.

5. House Plants Expert: http://www.houseplantsexpert.com/

Global Alexa Rating: 692,237

Unlike the other sites that cover other types of gardening as well, this one is completely devoted to house plants. There is an A-Z plant list on the website as well as information about propagating and reading about the benefits you can expect from having houseplants. You can browse plants by type including common plants, indoor palms, flowering, unusual and cacti. The site also includes a plant of the month, upcoming contests and plant care guides. They also offer to help you identify a plant by emailing them a description or photo, or posting a picture on their Facebook page.

6. Houseplant 411: http://www.houseplant411.com/

Global Alexa Rating: 1,124,648

This site dubs itself as your personal online indoor plant advisor because you can interact with them with your questions, get help identifying houseplants, use their wizard to help choose the best houseplant for you and even sign up for watering reminders. The popular houseplants area gives a listing and if you click on any picture you will learn the best way to care for and propagate that houseplant. This site is well done and easy to navigate. You can also network with plant lovers on Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to check out the posts section for nicely written articles.

7. Our House Plants: http://www.ourhouseplants.com/

Global Alexa Rating: 1,373,983

This is a simple site devoted to houseplants. There are just three sections to roam about in, making it easy to navigate. You have plants, guides and FAQ – couldn’t be simpler! The plants section can be filtered alphabetically or by their ease of care including easy, intermediate and difficult. The guides section is also able to be filtered alphabetically or by beginners, intermediate and advanced. The guides include information on humidity, feeding, light, pests, diseases, propagation, repotting, temperature, plants that clean the air and watering.

8. House Plants Guru: http://www.houseplantsguru.com/

Global Alexa Rating: 1,730,726

This is a compilation of articles about specific topics. Read as you come to them, view the recent posts on the right, or use the category drop down to get to the topic you are most interested in. You can also use the search feature to find something specific. Not an easy site to navigate but the information is very unique and useful. There is quite a bit of time devoted to hardy perennials as of late which could be a great idea.

9. Little Miss Greenfingers Gardening-Advice: http://www.gardening-advice.net/

Global Alexa Rating: 2,961,118

This site covers a variety of gardening topics including flowers, garden trees, garden shrubs, roses, vegetables, fruit and herbs, along with indoor plants. The indoor plant section has 12 topics including house plants safe for cats, how to grow a pineapple, various plants and more. You can also subscribe to their newsletter for more free tips and advice or purchase their eBook on growing culinary herbs.

10. Healthy Houseplants: http://www.healthyhouseplants.com/

Global Alexa Rating: 3,757,453

This site is specific to creating a spectacular indoor garden. The site was founded by garden writer and indoor gardening expert, Julie Bawden-Davis. She has written various houseplant books and columns and decided that a website was needed as well. The site includes an indoor house plants encyclopedia, indoor plant care tips & tricks, her blog, a video library and various other resources. On the main page you will find the plant of the month, feature of the month and what’s new. The plant section has only minimal information, unfortunately, but the blogs are wonderful.

Whether you want to describe them as “houseplants” or “house plants” is up to you since you’ll see it written both ways on the various websites. Don’t forget that houseplants make a great “office plant” as well cheering up a work area while working on that stagnant office indoor air. Just be sure you don’t water them too close to your computer! It doesn’t take a green thumb to grow houseplants – it takes choosing the right one for the location and providing the right amount of attention. You may have a few test subjects fail to make it, but in time you’ll enjoy a nice lush indoor landscape.