Four Mindful Reasons to Get a Plant

This may be the simplest slow living advice I ever write: you should get a plant.

Don’t just buy a plant. Choose a plant and get to know it. Learn its scientific name. Read up on how to care for it. Become familiar with the color of its leaves and the texture of its branches, so you know when it’s struggling and when it’s thriving. Google symptoms and learn how to treat them. Be aware of the smallest changes. Caring for a plant will teach you attentiveness.

Learn one plant before getting another. Don’t set yourself up for failure by taking on too many variables. It may take some experimentation to find the best location for your plant’s needs—the right amount of light, the correct amount of moisture in the air, the best fertilizer, the necessary watering schedule. You’ll have to wait, sometimes for days or weeks, to see the results of each change. Caring for a plant will teach you patience.

Know that sometimes it won’t work. Sometimes, no place in your home is right for a particular plant. Sometimes, an insect infestation can’t be undone. Sometimes, you make mistakes—too much water or not enough, too much sun or not enough, too small of a pot, too heavy a soil, you just forgot about it. Caring for a plant will teach you acceptance.

Whatever happens, it’s not a tragedy. If your plant dies, compost what’s left or cut it back to see if it will regrow. Get another plant. Try again. Caring for a plant will teach you persistence.

Are you already a plant person? What has caring for a plant taught you?

My favorite easy-to-find plants for beginners:

A ZZ Plant is perfect if you’re away from home a lot, tend to be forgetful, or live somewhere without a lot of light. You’ll kill it if you’re over-attentive, so put that orchid mister away.

Spider plants are great if you want to want to be a benevolent gifter of baby plants. They’re easy to take care of and regularly put off “spiderettes” which you can clip off and share with friends. They’re also totally pet-safe, if you struggle with a plant-eater like I do.

A money tree is great if you want something bigger, but still easy to care for. It needs more humidity than the other two, but I was able to keep one alive at 5000 feet in Colorado,  so you don’t need a steamy greenhouse to grow one.

I’ve linked to Apartment Therapy’s Houseplant Encyclopedia for all the plant care guides above, because their descriptions are a user-friendly and practical place to start. Check out the full list for more ideas.