Plants. I love them. I need them. I collect them.
I love the the aesthetic and mood plants create in a home, to me a home without plants is an absolute no-no! I have houseplants in every room of my home, in fact plants are my number one go-to decorating accessory! And I am not ashamed! Unfortunately, my husband doesn’t share my deep love of plants and since he has to live here too I have keep my jungalisciouness in check.

Planties are wonderful additions to our homes. They look great, they help remove air pollutants from your home,and some have amazing health benefits when boiled into tea, eaten, or made into a poultice. BUT they also can be POISONOUS! I never really gave much thought to whether my plants were poisonous. Until I caught my nine month old about to eat a peace lily leaf. After I recovered from my mild heart attack I did some research and discovered that peace lilies or any kind of lily for that matter can be POISONOUS to humans and pets! Yikes!

I prompted moved the peace lily out of reach and began researching. Much to my relief, I found that most of my favorite plants are actually kiddo and pet friendly. So I compiled a list of 5 of my favorite houseplants, that won’t give your treasures ( furry or otherwise) a trip to the hospital or a severe tummy ache if ingested.

Boston Fern

The Boston Fern is one of my absolute favorite plants, though I haven’t had much luck keeping them alive. It can be used indoors or outdoors and loves to be misted once or twice a week. It is a great indoor plant not only because of its non toxicity, but also because o

ff its wonderful health benefits. It ranks #1 in removal of formaldehyde and also is a great humidifier if you need to restore moisture to the air in your home. But be sure to put it up high if you have cats, they love to play with the long fronds.

Spider plant

The spider plant is another totally safe house plant, in fact the baby leaves of the spider plants are used as spinach in Africa! It is high in vitamins and micronutrients and also contains high levels of Vitamin C, calcium, protein, and other powerful antioxidants. It is also said that within a two days, it can remove up to 90 percent of the toxins in the air of your home. It can also help absorb mold, allergens, small amounts of formaldehyde, and carbon monoxide! Talk about a super plant!! It is a very easy to grow plant ,even in low light. However, animals love the taste of spider plants, so keep out of reach

Jade

Jade (also called a money plant) has many benefits aside from being safe for your children and pets. It can also be used for treating warts, diarrhea, nausea, and corns. I don’t know much about Feng Shui, but it is said that Feng Shui enthusiasts claim that it nourishes the chi which results in a positive mental health benefits.

Wandering Jew

The Wandering Jew is probably the easiest of the plants to care for of the five mentioned. It vines uncontrollably and can root just about anywhere. Considered to be an invasive plant, be careful if you throw out clippings. It is also sometimes boiled to create a herbal tea that is beneficial for your kidneys. Wandering Jew is also thought to help cancer.

Christmas Cactus

The Christmas Cactus, though it sounds unfriendly, is quite possibly the safest house plant. The fronds do not actually have stickers and they produce beautiful flowers in the winter months. While I couldn’t find any health benefits associated with this plant, it is sure to lift the winter blues when it blooms. It is beautiful and adds a much needed burst of color during the long winter months.

There are many other friendly houseplants, but I don’t have the time to dive into them at the moment. But in case you were curious:

A few other friendly house plants are :

• Bamboo
• Parlor Palm
• Prayer plant
• Begonia
• Lipstick plant
• Peperomia
• Basil
• Cilantro
• Rosemary
• Lemon Balm

Now I can’t in good conscious end this post without letting you know which plants to avoid in our home, so the list below gives you a few common plants to avoid if you have small children or animals in your home.

• Philodendron
• Pothos
• Arrowhead
• Lily
• Peace Lily
• Dieffenbachia
• Oleander
• Caladium
• Mother-in-Law Tongue
• Ivy

-Jessica