Houseplants Are Nature’s Air Fresheners

Imagine that it’s 10,000 years ago. Winter cold would have driven you deep within your cave, where you spend long hours huddled by a fire. Good thing you brought in a few evergreen branches to cheer up the cave a bit, offering a reminder that life goes on outside.

Now let’s whisk ourselves up to the present winter. Even if the temperatures are low outdoors, indoor lights blaze long after sunset and temperatures remain almost tropical. Yet we still have indoor greenery, wreaths and--until a few weeks ago--Christmas trees.

And houseplants--those actually growing indoors.

These houseplants can do more than just cheer up winter with lush foliage and colorful, perhaps fragrant, flowers.

An important, practical benefit of houseplants is that they clean the air. Gas stoves, new carpets and drapes and photocopiers are just some of the appliances, furnishings and materials that emit toxins.

Research has shown that plants, along with associated soil microorganisms, can scrub over 75% of such pollutants as benzene and formaldehyde from the air.

So if winter brings you respiratory and sinus complaints, itchy eyes, skin rashes or drowsiness, the prescription for your maladies may be houseplants. Start with a dose of 10 plants, strategically placed throughout your house.

Choose houseplants to suit your horticultural skill and inclinations as well as the conditions in your home. The easiest plants for average conditions include rubber tree, weeping fig, schefflera, dracaena, Wandering Jew, dumb cane and grape ivy. If your house is so dark that you need artificial light for daytime reading, try growing philodendron, pothos, snake plant, bird’s nest fern, a parlor palm (so-named because it tolerated drafty Victorian parlors) and the appropriately named cast-iron plant.

Houseplants that are more of a challenge include gardenia, primrose and cyclamen.