THE PLANT LIBRARY · 27 GUIDES

Other plants.

A houseplant for your window, herbs for dinner, or a little fruit outside. Choose a place to start.

Houseplants

A little green indoors. Start with a healthy nursery plant and learn when to leave the watering can alone.

All houseplants →
Trailing vine with green and yellow, heart-shaped leaves.Houseplants

Pothos

Epipremnum aureum

A little green for your bookshelf.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 small plant
See the growing steps
Snake plants with tall, striped leaves in blue indoor pots.Houseplants

Snake plant

Dracaena trifasciata

For the gardener who sometimes forgets.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 small plant
See the growing steps
A spider plant with arching green-and-white striped leaves and hanging plantlets.Houseplants

Spider plant

Chlorophytum comosum

A fountain of leaves, with little plants to share.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
A potted ZZ plant with upright stems and glossy green leaflets.Houseplants

ZZ plant

Zamioculcas zamiifolia

Glossy leaves, with a longer wait between waterings.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
A potted peace lily with glossy, pointed green leaves on a white stand.Houseplants

Peace lily

Compact Spathiphyllum hybrid

Peace lily care starts with soft window light and a soil check before watering.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
Clusters of fleshy oval green jade-plant leaves on branching stems.Houseplants

Jade plant

Crassula ovata

Jade plant care: a sunny window, a draining pot, and time to dry between drinks.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
Pendant pink Christmas-cactus flowers hang from flattened green stems with rounded, scalloped edges.Houseplants

Christmas cactus

Schlumbergera × buckleyi

Gentle light, a draining pot, and a moisture check—then cool, dark fall nights when you want blooms again.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
A potted Monstera deliciosa with glossy green leaves split into deep lobes and natural holes.Houseplants

Monstera

Green Monstera deliciosa

Settle the nursery pot, check the mix before you water, and give the climbing stem something to lean on.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 nursery plant
See the growing steps
Aloe vera rosettes with long green succulent leaves and small pale teeth along their edges, growing in a garden bed.Houseplants

Aloe vera

True Aloe vera grown indoors

Bright light, a draining pot, and dry mix between drinks—aloe is a drought-tolerant beginner succulent.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
Heartleaf philodendron vines with heart-shaped green leaves.Houseplants

Heartleaf philodendron

Philodendron hederaceum

A vining houseplant for bright indirect light, with waterings based on the mix and cuttings that include a node.

Pot
Keep the nursery pot at first
Start with
1 rooted plant
See the growing steps
AI-generated illustration of a potted cast iron plant with broad, arching dark-green leaves.Houseplants

Cast iron plant

Aspidistra elatior indoors

A leafy, forgiving choice for a room with softer light.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps
AI-generated illustration of a potted ponytail palm with a swollen trunk base and long, arching narrow leaves.Houseplants

Ponytail palm

Beaucarnea recurvata indoors

A sunny-window plant that prefers time between drinks.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted plant
AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps
AI-generated illustration of a potted baby rubber plant with thick glossy oval green leaves.Houseplants

Baby rubber plant

Peperomia obtusifolia indoors

Glossy, rounded leaves for a bright indoor shelf.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted nursery plant
AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps

Herbs

Fresh leaves for dinner, close to the kitchen. Start with a rooted plant or a few seeds, a draining pot, and a bright outdoor spot.

All herbs →
Bright green basil leaves with new growth at the stem tips.Herbs

Basil

Sweet or Genovese basil

A sunny pot, a handful for dinner.

Pot
3-gallon pot
Start with
1 nursery start
See the growing steps
Spearmint with textured green leaves and serrated edges.Herbs

Mint

Spearmint

Fresh leaves, kept happily in their own pot.

Pot
3-gallon pot
Start with
1 nursery start
See the growing steps
Fresh cilantro plants with bright green lobed leaves in nursery pots.Herbs

Cilantro

Slow-bolting leaf cilantro

A fresh handful for tacos, from your own pot.

Pot
12 × 12 × 10 in.
Start with
8 seeds → 4 plants
See the growing steps
A clump of common chives with slender green leaves and round purple flower heads.Herbs

Chives

Common onion chives

Snip a few leaves. Finish dinner.

Pot
3-gallon pot
Start with
1 rooted clump
See the growing steps
Flat, deeply divided green parsley leaves on slender stems.Herbs

Parsley

Culinary flat-leaf parsley

Fresh leaves for dinner, a few stems at a time.

Pot
12 × 12 in. pot
Start with
1 nursery plant
See the growing steps
A rosemary shoot with narrow green needle-like leaves.Herbs

Rosemary

Culinary rosemary

One sunny pot, with fragrant sprigs for the kitchen.

Pot
12 × 12 in. pot
Start with
1 nursery plant
See the growing steps
A dill plant with upright stems and fine, feathery green foliage.Herbs

Dill

Fernleaf dill

A few feathery sprigs for potatoes, fish, or pickles.

Pot
5-gallon pot
Start with
3 seeds → 1 plant
See the growing steps
A thyme sprig with tiny narrow green leaves held against a dark gardening glove.Herbs

Thyme

Common or German thyme

Tiny fragrant leaves from one small, sunny pot.

Pot
2-gallon pot
Start with
1 nursery plant
See the growing steps
Culinary sage, Salvia officinalis, with gray-green leaves.Herbs

Sage

Culinary Salvia officinalis

Common culinary sage in its own sunny pot: sharp drainage, light harvests, and a dry crown in winter.

Pot
Keep a draining 8–12 in. pot
Start with
1 culinary plant
See the growing steps
AI-generated illustration of a potted bay laurel with glossy green leaves and a woody stem.Herbs

Bay laurel

True bay laurel in a movable pot

A leafy little tree with fragrant leaves for the kitchen.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted bay plant
AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps
AI-generated illustration of a potted common oregano plant with small opposite green leaves.Herbs

Oregano

Culinary Origanum vulgare in a pot

A sunny herb pot for small, fragrant kitchen harvests.

Pot
Keep its draining nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted culinary plant
AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps

Fruit

A berry harvest or a dwarf fruiting shrub. Find a sunny-pot plan with watering checks, seasonal care, and realistic harvest expectations.

All fruit →
Red ripe and pale unripe strawberries hanging beneath green leaves.Fruit

Strawberry

Seascape day-neutral strawberry

A sunny pot and a few ripe berries to pick yourself.

Pot
3-gallon pot
Start with
1 nursery plant
See the growing steps
A cluster of ripe blue and unripe green blueberries beside a fresh green leaf.Fruit

Blueberry

Peach Sorbet compact blueberry

One compact acidic-soil bush for patio berries and colorful fall leaves.

Pot
16 in. wide × 12 in. deep
Start with
1 nursery shrub
See the growing steps
AI-generated illustration of a potted dwarf pomegranate with orange-red flowers and small fruits.Fruit

Dwarf pomegranate

Nana dwarf pomegranate in a container

Orange-red flowers and little fruits on a compact shrub.

Pot
Keep its nursery pot
Start with
1 rooted Nana plant
AI-generated illustrationSee the growing steps

ONE GOOD PLACE TO START

Not sure what to grow?

A herb for dinner, flowers by the door, or green on a shelf. Start with the space you already have.

Something I can eat →A little more color →Something for indoors →