By Stacy Nguyen
As a visual artist and designer, beautiful aesthetics are very important to me (which is why I especially love Zungleboo tableware! Eco-friendliness plus clean and modern lines? No brainer!). One way I make my surrounding space beautiful, nourishing, and also healthful is by decorating with my favorite houseplants. I am obsessed with anything living and green that I can manage to keep alive.
You know what’s also important to keep alive? Yes, my two dogs. Their names are Georgie (a mutt that is part Pomeranian and part pure nervousness) and Maxi (a Havanese that is pure chaos and always hungry). Because Maxi is so curious and always putting everything into her mouth, it’s important for me to have houseplants that are pet-safe.
Here are five of my faves — and by the way, a cool bonus is that, in addition to being beautiful, these favorite houseplants also purify the air in our homes.
Peperomias
There are a lot of different kinds of peperomia plants (also known as baby rubber plants), and amazingly, the entire peperomia family is non-toxic to pets. I love peperomias because they are not very fussy and will grow in many environments. I had one of mine in a dark corner for months expecting it to suffer and get leggy. But it actually ended up doing pretty good!
Christmas cacti
I love Christmas cacti because they bloom in the dead of winter, during a time when all other plants are like, “no thanks!” These are easy to care for and come in a variety of really pretty colors. They are very easy to propagate, too! In fact, so easy that I believe all of my Christmas cacti have come from cuttings from friends.
Spider plants
Spider plants are not only non-toxic to pets, but they also do well in light-challenged spaces, making them a go-to staple in freshening up an office space without a ton of windows. They also put out really adorable spider plant babies occasionally, which are a great gift for other plant aficionados.
Pilea peperomioides
These plants are also known as the Chinese money plant, probably because of their lily pad-like leaves. These are so trendy that I always see them on Instagram on home decor accounts. Just take note that these babies do not like a lot of direct sun (I learned this the hard way!) or to sit in a lot of water. If you give them bright indirect light and let the soil dry out between waterings, you’ll have a lot of cool pancake leaves to enjoy.
Orchids
When Maxi was still a puppy, one of the first things she did was chomp down on an orchid flower that I had been lovingly coaxing into blooming for months. I was devastated to lose the bloom to her mouth! And I was also worried she had maybe poisoned herself until I Googled. Imagine my elation when I learned that orchids are non-toxic to dogs! Phew!
There you go! These are my five favorite houseplants, though there are many more that are pet-friendly. Do you have a favorite one that I didn’t mention? Let me know!
