Little Shop of Weidners. AKA: We Like Plants.

Plants! Not to be confused with pants. Although we like pants, too. Never mind.

A lot of you, and I mean A LOT OF YOU ask about our houseplants. I think it might be because we have 13 trillion, 723 billion, 294 million and a few more after that.

So! I thought I’d walk you through what we have, and how to keep it not dead. Truth is, I give almost every plant the same care routine. I water once a week, and tweak it based on how the soil of the plant is feeling. Sorry I said soil.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Our biggest and most dramatic plants (and my personal faves! not favs.) are these two enorm split-leaf philodendrons in our living room. Actually, most of our plants are philodendrons – either cascading or split-leaf. Mostly cascading. You’ll see.

And I swear I’ll keep this speedy! We’ve got a lot of plants to cover. I just really want you rooted in information. ROOTED BAAAHAHAHAH.

Oh.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Cascading philodendron!

Okay, there are lots of variations of these – some with solid green dark heart-shaped leaves, some more speckled with white or limey swirls. All wonderful. Easiest plant in the world to take care of. We have these everywhere. They add the perfect touch of green to any room corner, and I especially love it in our kitchen window. I water once a week. Done.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

This is a Mass Cane Floor Plant. We’ve had it FOREEEVERRR (Sandlot style), and it’s gone in and out of awesome and n’awesome. It’s happiest indoors, with a good soak once a week. I really like it in this spot. Adds drama and oxygen to an otherwise snoozy corner.

Also – our entire house is white, so I use plants as the decor. You’ll see I don’t have a lot of (or any?) art on the walls. That may change through the years, but for now, I prefer the plants be the home’s energy, if that makes sense. Plus all that oxygen, man!

Can I call you man?

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Another cascading philodendron! I tend to buy the ones with more solid leaves, but if you like the limey ones, you’re still a good person.

Oh, the white on the leaves is paint. Don’t ask.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

On the left we have a Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree. (another fave! not fav) We jokingly call it a hipster tree, as I see them eeeeeeeverrrrrrywhere these days. Every Kinfolk story, every minimal home shop, people love them. But I mean, look at it. It’s gorgeous. And they get HUGE. Matter of fact, if you buy them already big, be prepared to take out a second mortgage on your home. They ain’t cheap. But you can buy them as babies and not go broke. (<–pro tip.) (also, I water once a week. maybe more if the leaves start to droop and I hear the Crying Game in my cerebrum.)

On the right, the classic Mother-in-Law’s Tongue. Not too expensive, and a cinch to take care of, we’ve had these plants on and off for more than a decade. If you’re not too sure where to start with houseplants – my vote is this! It’s striking, and they come in all sizes, so you can start small. I water once a week, Seymour.

Can I call you Seymour?

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

This one has been with us for 10 solid years! #old The Rubber Plant.

Listen to this, when we bought this house 10 years next WEEK (which is insane), I wanted a show-stopping dramatic indoor plant. So we found Ralph. This H U G E rubber plant that seriously touched the ceiling. We fell in love, bought him, had him for a few years, then one day he went straight kaput. JUST DIED. Except for oooone tiny offspring leaf which was still dark green and healthy. So we cut it off and replanted that one single leaf/stem in some good soil, and put him in a well-lit spot in our bathroom (I’ll show you in a sec), and over time he came back to life! And here he is now. Oh Ralphy.

Crap I think it’s a girl.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Split-Leaf Philodendron! Large leaves on the ends of leggy stems, it’s absolutely exquisite in a large open corner. Also, philodendrons cry! Seriously, after a few days, you’ll notice tiny tear drops at the end of the leaves. It’s one of life’s great mysteries. I keep the soil pretty moist (SORRY) – once a week with a heavy water. If the lower leaves start to turn yellow, back off on the watering a tiny bit.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Another baby mother-in-law’s tongue. You know.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Truthfully, I have no idea what this little guy is. We bought him forever ago, from the succulent part of the store. I probably over water because he used to look cuter. But he’s not dead! So, there’s that?

Basically, succulents are incredible plants. SUPER low maintenance, and I love the thick, rubbery texture to the leaves. And they come in the most unique shapes and forms. They’re mostly on the small side, and look fantastic clustered together in a larger pot, or lined in a row in small individual pots. I LOVE SUCCULENTS. Sorry to scream.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Another split-leaf! You know.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

The Christmas Cactus. No really, it’s a thing. And get this – it blooms in December!

I bought it for two dollars (“I WANT MY TWO DOLLARS.” – name that movie) at a thrift store a couple of years back, and it’s been as happy as a Christmas cactus clam ever since. I water once a week.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Another cascading philodendron! You know.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Thiiiiiis is a ZZ Plant. Or, the Zanzibar Gem.

Obviously I call it ZZ Top. Crazy easy to take care of (I water once a week), and apparently it’s a super air purifier! I mean, all plants give off oxygen, but this one I guess is super charged. I dunno. I like the way it looks. The end.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

The Jade plant! The classic succulent.

Dark green, thick stubby leaves, and thrives on neglect. Just like my soul.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Another ZZ Top plant. We’ve had the one above for y e a r s, but overall they’re slow growing. And simple to manage! I water once a week. Do you see a trend here?

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Look at that color! You need one of these.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Another cascading philodendron. This is the plant I get asked about the absolute most. I’m showing you the up-close, but you can see the full LOOK in this Instagram photo. It’s two old thrifted theater can lights, flipped upside down, bottom hole sealed, filled with soil, and plants stuck in them. And they’re stunning! I couldn’t dig them more.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Now THIS thing is wack. It’s called the Devil’s Backbone, and it’s all Aaron. (Oh! this is the bathroom spot that Ralph came back to life. Ralphina? Crap.) Aaron’s drawn to plants with a stronger masculine quality. Spikes, sharp points, jagged stems. So in his bathroom it stays. I’m still a good person.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

And there you have it! Our housepants. I mean plants.

Oh oh – one thing that works for me with planting aesthetics, is that I stick to mostly terracotta planters. They’re classic for any home, and the color works for any style. You can’t go wrong. If I don’t use terracotta, I stick to neutrals, or warm metals. Or hot pink. Just kidding.

Weidner Houseplants / Bev Cooks

Tell me your fave (not fav) houseplants! I’m alwaysalwaysalways on the lookout for (MORE) dramatic indoor greenery. One day I hope to find this fabulous heart-leaf hoya for my life. Waaaah!

Also, I have no idea what’s happening in this photo.

Get planted!

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27 Responses to Little Shop of Weidners. AKA: We Like Plants.

  1. Sarah June 13, 2017 at 8:58 am #
    Love this! I love gardening but for some reason I am terrible at houseplants. You've given me a fever to try try again!
  2. Brittany | Words Like Honeycomb June 13, 2017 at 9:34 am #
    OH my gosh!!! I am one of the people that have been anxiously awaiting this post!! I so desperately want some green life in my house that I can neglect. T H A N K Y O U <3
  3. Jessica June 13, 2017 at 10:44 am #
    Your plants are all beautiful! I have a bunch of those hanging philodendrons, but I always call them pothos- maybe that's the same thing? I also have an awesomely hardy ponytail palm. I love my jade plant. I also love my split leaf philodendron but we are still getting used to each other and figuring out what kind of care he likes best...fingers crossed that he'll make it!
  4. erica June 13, 2017 at 10:59 am #
    a gal after my own heart :) *swoon* i have so many...but my fiance isn't the biggest fan. i still bring them home though <3
  5. Allison June 13, 2017 at 11:09 am #
    This is my dream plant house! I'm slowly filling my own house with plants and seeing what I can keep alive (RIP Fiddle Leaf Fig). I'm going to have to buy some of these cascading philodendrons to add to my collection. I get a lot of cacti from the farmers market on Saturday since I have had good luck with them!
  6. Laura June 13, 2017 at 12:07 pm #
    Love this post! We have a Christmas cactus that was my husband's great grandmothers. It's lived in 7 or 8 houses now. Amazing.
  7. Katie June 13, 2017 at 12:25 pm #
    So the split leaf philodendron is actually a monstera delicosa (they are commonly known and sold as a philodendron but are not really Phils). I love my asparagus fern and my monstera delicosa out of all my plants. My house has one east facing room and it is now known as the jungle.
  8. Jackie June 13, 2017 at 12:30 pm #
    Thanks for the tour! I have an umbrella plant (schefflera) thats been doing well and is fairly dramatic. I also love any fern; they tolerate my low light house.
  9. Elizabeth P June 13, 2017 at 12:39 pm #
    This was so fun! I love succulents and philodendrons. It is a love (sickness?) passed on from my dad. In fact, he is notorious for, when we are out and about, grabbing a leaf from a succulent he likes (usually fallen off the plant), pocketing it, and trying to start a new one at home. We are talking yards, stores, botanical gardens, anywhere. He may have even brought one home from an international trip. Please don't tell the authorities - he is a good guy who just really loves succulents. Anyhow, being a the broke grad student I have been the past two years, repopulating succulent leaves is how I have gotten my plants! There is a happy little row of baby succulents in my window at the moment. One of these days I will steal a cutting off of one of my parents philodendron plants and start my own since they are so easy to grow from cuttings. I did recently buy a Dracaena Warneckii which I love but am having issues figuring out what it likes so fingers crossed I keep her alive. I named her La'fern' as in Laverne and Shirley.
  10. Christi June 13, 2017 at 3:32 pm #
    Bless your heart! My policy in the house... nothing that needs watering, changing or feeding. I did however, create quite the container herb garden for my new place.
  11. Heather June 13, 2017 at 4:20 pm #
    First, I love that your plants have names! I should name mine and maybe they would do even better :). We have a bunch of Areca palms because they are supposed to be one of the best plants that purifies the air. We have the cascading philodendrons (so easy to take care of!), snake plants (your MIL tongue plants), & spider plants. We got a Boston fern, which looked beautiful, but it was like Ralph (Ralphina?) and died down to one frond, but it's coming back and now has five fronds! I need to get a ZZ plant.
  12. Amber H June 13, 2017 at 4:37 pm #
    The mother in law's tongue is also called a snake plant. And they are also one of the best air filtering plants! Love those! SO easy to care for. I also love me some rattlesnack plants. You might like those, although they do have some color to the leaves. So maybe not? Love all those split-leaf phils! I need to get one of those!
  13. Nicky June 14, 2017 at 1:20 am #
    Hi from South Africa! The plant your unsure of is a native South African plant! So I felt compelled yes, COMPELLED!) to tell you where it's roots are from... see what I did there? Ha! It's commonly called a "Spekboom", but the fancy name for it is a "Portulacaria afra". Love your obsession with philodendrons :)
  14. Holly June 14, 2017 at 10:32 am #
    Yes to the ZZ plant, IKEA sells them! I tie mine and stake them to keep them more upright and off the floor. Indoor air pollution be gone!
  15. Laura Lee June 14, 2017 at 6:00 pm #
    "2 dollars, I want my 2 dollars!" It's from Better off Dead with John Cusack. Classic 80s.
  16. Anonymous June 15, 2017 at 6:44 pm #
    So why am I the only one wondering or worrying, rather, about water damage? I love the look of the terra cotta but always worry about overflow or seepage (ha) onto tabletops or wood floors??
    • Bev Weidner June 16, 2017 at 7:29 am #
      I have trays under most of the containers! The other ones with no trays don't have holes in the bottom. Hope that helps!
  17. Jill Bishop June 15, 2017 at 6:45 pm #
    Do t mean to be anon...
  18. Katie June 17, 2017 at 8:33 am #
    I always chuckle when people talk about how easy philodendrons are to take care of. I guess I'm the only one that can actually kill one of those. Haha. ?
  19. Sharayah June 22, 2017 at 10:17 am #
    As someone who lives in a tiny 500 sqft East facing apartment with only two windows and a sliding door..thats right TWO windows, go ahead and cry with me :( I only get sunlight in the morning so I tend to kill all plants because I don't have much light. Any suggestions on the best plants for low light??
  20. Kara July 12, 2017 at 9:02 pm #
    Okay, what did you do with those big, beautiful plants when the kiddos were younger? I can (kind of) trust my 3 year old to be nice to the plants, but definitely not my 1 year old! Did you just keep them higher up?
  21. Jenn August 27, 2017 at 8:58 pm #
    Favorites: Hoya Hindu Rope! A 17 year old Rubber plant...a 20 year old (enormous) Jade...a 15 year old Christmas Cactus (blooms 2x/year!)... 6' tall ponytail palm...
  22. Kris May 27, 2018 at 6:11 pm #
    So, today I went and bought two wandering jews for my front porch and now suddenly I have this obsessive desire to decorate with ALL the plants! I was sitting here on Google and thought "where can i get some good plant ideas? BEG! I bet she has a post on them!" And voila! Thanks for this!

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