Indoor plants have been attracting plenty of attention over the past year. If you believe recent articles, they are having a resurgence from the years of the 1970s and 1980s as if they have never been popular before.
In fact, house plants have been popular for many centuries and have been cultivated by generations of people who looked to plants to beautify, decorate, and improve the health inside their homes. Plants in our homes help absorb pollutants emitted by things like glues and modern furnishings.
I purchased my first indoor plant and decorative pot while I was still living in my parents’ home. I can’t recall the type of plant but I do remember how well it thrived in my north-facing bedroom, which was flooded by light filtered through net curtains.
I have added to my collection of plants through all the decades since and say ‘welcome!’ to all the people who are just discovering the pleasure of cultivating plants indoors.
Fun fact:
Recent research from the University of Melbourne and RMIT suggests that it is the bacteria living in plant root systems that do the work, rather than the leaves of the plant. Fascinating!