5 Common Houseplants That are Seriously Underrated

5 Beautiful Common Houseplants That Deserve a Little More Love

Everyone is constantly searching for the “newest” and “rarest” houseplants, which is driving up the prices of “rare” houseplants, making them even more inaccessible. Prominent community members have been encouraging appreciation for the houseplants that often don’t get enough press, and are readily available. These are often referred to as “common houseplants”.

Truthfully, “common” houseplants are common for a good reason. They are typically more resilient, easier to grow, thus easier to propagate and don’t die as quickly before they end up in our hands. They are truly tried, tested and true.

Here is a list of 5 of my personal favourite “common houseplants” that I think you’ll enjoy too!

1. Peperomia Tetragona

I cannot rave about this plant enough. This plant is easy to find and readily available in southern Ontario, and this plant makes me so incredibly happy. It has a very unique growth pattern with it’s tough and cardboard textured leaves. Not only does it grow very quickly and can go from a tiny baby plant to a large bushy beast in a matter of months, but it also propagates very quickly and easily in water or moss. It truly is forgiving on all accounts: watering, sunlight, pet-friendly and hardy. You will not be disappointed by this plant!

2. Pile Peperomioides

This plant used to be the latest craze, and it was very difficult to come by. It also used to be very expensive once upon a time. Today, they are very common and are readily available at most garden centres, shops, and even some big box stores. The speed in which these adorable plants produce pups that you can propagate and share gave it the reputation of “the friendship plant” and now they are considered quite common. This plant is very fashionable, but also relatively laid back and have similar care needs to succulents or hoyas. It has very recently fallen out of the hype, but I think it’s still a beautiful plant that is a must-add to your collection!

3. Spider Plant

I absolutely love a good spider plant! These are another pet-friendly option, according to the ASPCA website. The green variety gives the perfect pop of green in your home in a pet accessible space. It’s  fast grower, it also produces many little pups that are easy to propagate and share, and it has very easy care requirements making it a solid beginner houseplant as well. Not to mention, they are just about everywhere! Grocery stores, nurseries, shops, it will not take you very long to find one and they are very affordable. They also come in other varieties with variegation, and the curly spider plant is incredibly cool for those who like curly leaves as much as I do.

4. Maranta Laconeura (Prayer Plant)

I will forever sing the praises of my marantas! The red veined and the lemon lime varieties are my absolute favourites. The red veined variety in particular is very easy to find and the lemon lime are growing in popularity and availability as well. The leaf patterns are beautiful, and the varieties with thicker leaves are much easier to care for than the more delicate foliage species. They will also fold their leaves with the light, giving them the nickname “Prayer Plant”, but are the easiest of the marantaceae family members to care for by a landslide (see full care tips here). They grow very quickly, will happily thrive in medium to low light, and they also propagate very easily!

5. Hoya Carnosa Krimson Princess

I happen to own a MASSIVE Krimson Princess hoya and it is one of my top 5 favourite houseplants in my home. These are easy as far as hoyas go, and you can find smaller specimens of them in many greenhouses or plant shops in North America. The leaves are absolutely stunning; they variegation starts off as a bright pink and fade to a creamy white. There are also many other common hoya varieties that are very underrated, beautiful, and easy to care for such as hoya pubicalyx, australis, kerrii.

Common Plants Need Love Too!

I hope that this encouraged you to appreciate the plants in your own collection or plants that are readily available in your area—especially the plants that do not get as much press on social media. Show them love! And please, comment below your own favourite common houseplant, and stay tuned because I will likely also make a part two of this series in the near future.

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