6 Easy Indoor Plants You Can't Kill

Woman watering indoor plants on window sill.

Houseplants contribute a lot to your home: beauty, serenity, even oxygen as they go about their daily growth and flowering. But their need for constant care can also be a drain on your time.

Can you keep houseplants healthy and vigorous even if you can barely spare a minute to care for them?

Yes - if you follow a few simple rules and choose the right ones for your home's available light and your availability. These six easy indoor plants can survive some neglect.

Avoid Houseplant Headaches

First, keep only those plants that you genuinely enjoy, and that do well in your surroundings. If your house is dark and shady, for example, stay away from all cacti and other sun lovers - in low light, they'll grow spindly and misshapen.

If you're often out of town, avoid plants that need frequent watering, such as ferns - they will die of thirst. The tag in a new plant's potting soil can help guide you as to how much light and water the plant needs.

Take a similar approach to plants you keep out of habit. If that scraggly cutting from Aunt Agatha's rose geranium refuses to prosper, add it to the compost; she'll forgive you.

If the potted azalea that sat on your desk at your hated old job makes you miserable when you look at it, toss it.

Own fewer, larger plants instead of a lot of smaller ones. They'll make a bolder statement, and you won't need to spend as much time caring for them.

To make plant care easier, keep plants in the part of the house where they'll do best: Gather those moisture-loving plants in your humid bathroom. Then group plants that prefer life on the dry side on the same sunny sill. That way you won't harm some as you try to keep others alive.

If you want a sure thing, these easy indoor plants are your botanical best bets.

Easy Indoor Plants

The asparagus fern is an easy indoor plant that can survive some neglect.

1. Asparagus Fern (asparagus setaceus)

Even if its soil is bone dry, the Asparagus Fern, a vigorous relative of the edible stalk, won't go into a permanent swoon.

2. Cast-Iron Plant (aspidistra elation)

Vacation plans? Don't fret. The Cast Iron plant will be healthy upon your return - even if you're gone for weeks.

3. Chinese Evergreen

The Chinese Evergreen plant actually prefers the soil to dry out between waterings, and needs little light to thrive in your home.

4. Grape Ivy (cissus species)

The Grape Ivy plant is a handsome vine with tendrils resembling those of grapes. This plant adapts easily to limited light and soil that's a bit on the dry side.

5. Janet Craig Dracaena (dracaena deremensis)

The shrub-like Janet Craig Dracaena has broad leaves and adapts to low light and favors moderately dry soil.

6. Ponytail Plant (beaucarnea species)

The Ponytail plant is a succulent that requires little grooming, and does best when its soil is kept not too wet. Just give it lots of sun and let the soil dry out between waterings.

Brown thumb or not, these plants are a good bet to bring home.