Foliage Houseplants: Types and Care

This article was prepared with the support of UFL flower delivery. Houseplants are loosely divided into flowering plants and foliage plants. Foliage plants are prized for their leaves: plain green or variegated, patterned or velvety, feathery or sword-shaped. Many flower rarely or inconspicuously, but they look striking all year, cope better with low light and usually live longer than flowering plants. More plants with names and tips in our houseplant catalogue.

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What makes foliage plants special

• Colour. From dark green to silver, purple and pink, with stripes, spots and veins. Variegated forms usually need more light.
• Leaf shape. Entire, divided, lobed or linear, with wavy or toothed edges.
• Size. From tiny peperomias and pileas to ceiling-high ficus and monstera.
• Growth habit. Shrubs, small trees, palms, climbers, trailing and ground-cover plants.

Choosing by light

15 popular foliage plants

Four plants worth knowing

Norfolk Island pine (Araucaria heterophylla)

The "indoor Christmas tree" from Norfolk Island, one of the few conifers that grows well indoors. It likes bright light and a cool winter (10–15 °C) and hates dry heat from radiators. At the holidays you can decorate it with light ornaments instead of a cut tree.

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Cordyline

Native to tropical Asia and Oceania, with variegated sword-shaped leaves in green, pink and purple. It needs warmth (not below 16 °C), humid air and protection from draughts. It is often confused with dracaena, but cordyline leaves have stalks and its roots are white.

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Bay laurel

A Mediterranean tree that reaches 1.5–2 m in a tub. It takes clipping well and can be shaped into balls, pyramids and standards. Put it on the balcony in summer and keep it somewhere bright and cool (5–12 °C) in winter. Its leaves are the familiar bay leaves.

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Oyster plant (Tradescantia spathacea)

A rosette of stiff leaves, green on top and purple underneath. Small white flowers appear at the leaf bases inside boat-shaped bracts. It is undemanding, but the sap can irritate skin.

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Variegated plants: why leaves lose their pattern

Variegated cultivars have little chlorophyll in the pale parts of the leaf, so they need more light. In shade, new leaves turn green as the plant reverts to its original form to feed better. If an all-green shoot appears on a variegated pothos, ficus or dracaena, move the pot nearer the window and cut out the green stems, or they will gradually take over. Fully white leaves with no green are short-lived; that is normal.

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Large foliage plants for the floor

• Monstera: up to 2–3 m; needs support and space.
• Fiddle-leaf fig: large violin-shaped leaves; likes steady bright light.
• Kentia and parlour palms: for bright corners.
• Dracaena: cane forms with tufts of leaves that cope with partial shade.
• Giant white bird of paradise (Strelitzia nicolai): huge banana-like leaves for very bright rooms.

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General care tips

• Give variegated forms more light and dark green ones less.
• Water when the top of the compost is dry, and less often in winter.
• Wipe dust off large leaves with a damp cloth every 2 weeks.
• Feed with a foliage plant fertiliser from March to September.
• Turn the pot every 1–2 weeks so the plant grows evenly.

Discover more in our articles on snake plant types, Swedish ivy and carnivorous plants. If you have allergies, see our guide to allergenic houseplants. For one of the most popular vines, see pothos varieties and care.

FAQ

Which foliage plant is the easiest?

ZZ plant, snake plant and cast-iron plant, which tolerate shade and infrequent watering.

Which plants are safe for cats?

Spider plant, prayer plant, calathea, Boston fern, peperomia, pilea and cast-iron plant.

Choose a green friend among our houseplants with delivery in Kyiv from UFL.

Author: Maria Svitlovir

Graduated from Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Institute of Biology and Medicine (2001). BSc in Biology, MSc in Horticulture. Writes about plants, works at a garden centre selecting and repotting plants, and contributes to plant reference guides.

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