I’m convinced that, fundamentally, there are two types of plant people. There are the folks who keep a select few houseplants, each carefully chosen for just a touch of greenery so as not to overwhelm the space. And then there’s the kind of plant people who already have dozens of houseplants and will always find room for another.
I’d fall firmly into the latter camp. Like George Costanza and his velvet, I would drape myself in plants if it were socially acceptable.
But when your collection gets to a point where every windowsill is full, all tabletops crowded, each corner stuffed, and whole shelves stocked – when it would appear you’ve run out of all available well-lit horizontal space – the only path forward for a plant maximalist is to make better use of the vertical plane.
Not to be dissuaded by the limits of physical space, plant enthusiasts have devised some pretty creative ways to display plants on high.
The walls, though, shouldn’t be overlooked – they are an enormous canvas for displaying living plant art. In lieu of another floating shelf, vary it up with a few plant sconces, shaped in half-moons for wall mounting. Or for the more ambitious, you can plant a succulent garden in a picture frame. And for the hopelessly plant-smitten, you could even build a fully-automated living plant wall.
Whether you’re a plant minimalist or maximalist, houseplants are a superb way to make a house into a home. But adding vertically-oriented plants – that’s how you turn a home into a jungle.
And of course, the houseplants to hoist up are the ones that cascade, gracefully arch, vine wildly, and generally tumble and trundle out of their pots.
Here are some of the very best in show:
1. Pothos (Epipremnum spp.)
I’d suspect that for many plant people, pothos is a part of their origin story. It certainly was for me – my very first hanging houseplant was a golden pothos, and he’s still with me 22 years later.
Pothos is the complete package. Really hard to kill, lives in high or low light, will forgive forgotten or overzealous watering, doesn’t care about humidity, and is just the chillest houseplant all around. I’ve named mine, the Dude.
And with legs that go on for days, pothos vines can reach lengths of several feet indoors. So naturally, these are great to display spilling out from a suspended pot. Trim back vines as needed (and propagate some more pothos while you’re at it), or let them grow unimpeded. Long vines, pinned against a wall, are an excellent look for pothos.
2. Spider Plant (Chlorophytum comosum)
Almost as easygoing as pothos, it isn’t at all hard to keep a spider plant happy.
With good light and moist soil, spider plants grow a considerable mop of foliage. The long and slender green-and-white striped leaves emerge from a rosette, curving up and over the sides of the container in every which direction. Give the plants a high perch so they can stretch those spider legs freely.
In spring and summer, spider plants send out long stems above the foliage that arch down past the leaves. These bear tiny white flowers that eventually develop into little spiderettes you can detach to beget more spider plants.
But to improve your plant verticals, leave some spiderettes to grow back on the plant. In time, they can grow to be nearly as large as the mother plant. The cascade of several generations of mini spider plants creates a wonderful tiered effect.
3. Heartleaf Philodendron (Philodendron hederaceum)
Heartleaf philodendron is also called sweetheart plant, and she is a sweetheart indeed. Tumbling enthusiastically out of the pot, vines grow in a dense carpet of heart-shaped leaves on delicate stems. The mane of vines dangles gracefully and has the most fabulous drape.
Winning the hearts and minds of plant people since the 1950s, heartleaf philodendron is a beautiful trailing houseplant with a strong constitution. A bit of moisture and light is all they need.
Though heartleaf philodendron will adapt and continue to grow in low light, plants placed in morning sun will be bushier and have their best leaf colors brought out.
4. English Ivy (Hedera helix)
One of the most wonderful things about the indoor garden is you can grow as many invasive plants inside the home as you like! And English ivy is one invasive species that’s best relegated to houseplant-only status in North America.
Indoors, English ivy is much better behaved and relatively easy to grow. It likes the bright light of an east or north exposure, prefers to dry out between deep waterings, and enjoys cooler temperatures between 50°F and 70°F (10°C and 21°C).
Give English ivy these things and it will quickly fill in with its characteristic lobed leaves on trailing or climbing vines. What’s neat about English ivy is that as the vines mature, they become woody and rigid. When the stems are still young, they can be trained to grow up a trellis, around a windowsill, or spiraling around a pole. It’s a fine plant for topiaries, too.
5. String of…
The ‘string of’ plants is a sizeable group of trailing succulents that share an incredibly distinctive look and habit.
When elevated, these plants will pour out of the pot and drop in a fairly straight line, hanging down like beaded curtains. In the company of other hanging plants, they add unique and intriguing textures and shapes to contrast the usual vines.
The shape the fleshy leaves take looks remarkably like the plant’s namesake:
- String of Pearls (Curio rowleyanus)
- String of Dolphins (Curio × peregrinus)
- String of Hearts (Ceropegia woodii)
- String of Tears (Curio citrifromis)
- String of Turtles (Peperomia prostrata)
- String of Bananas (Curio radicans)
- String of Watermelons (Curio herreanus)
Most of the ‘string of’ plants do well in bright light with just a titch of direct sun during the day. And since they’re succulents, let the soil become bone dry before you even think about giving them a drink.
