So, you don’t have the greenest thumb in the world? Thats ok, because we know how you can create an easy oasis of plants right where they prefer to be! Bath & shower plants aren’t a new thing, but they are a new trend. How come? I think everyone is looking for ways to bring some serenity into their lives and their homes, and bringing plants into the bathroom lets you do both. (Regardless of how many you have killed in the past!) They add a high end spa feel to your bathroom, and who doesn’t want to feel like they are always on vacation at an upscale resort?
Not only does a bathroom with a window provide the perfect growing environment for many plants, plants in the bathroom help us, too. Aside from the obvious benefit of plants adding color, life and texture to our rooms, they also clean the air! Plants filter toxic substances from the air we breathe, and replace it with fresh oxygen. Is there anywhere else that we want to feel more safe than lying in a bubble bath? Right. Final argument for bath & shower plants? They are easy. They love the humidity from the shower and bath. It can make the different between a thriving plant and a… well, whatever that thing is in the pot by the front door. So let’s give this trend a try! Here’s how to pick, choose and use bath & shower plants!
Bath & Shower Plants – Our Picks
Most of these plants will tolerate low light, but none will tolerate “no” light. So folks, if you don’t have any natural light coming into your bathroom at all, you may have to run to Ikea for a pot of their “faux” options. But for most of us, even a small amount of natural light will give a home to one of these plants! Photo above are air plants (Tillandsia) loving every minute of their time in our shower nook!
Bath & Shower Plants that Tolerate Low to Medium Light
- Air plants
- Birds Nest Fern
- Cast Iron Plant
- Snake Plant
- Ficus
- Heartleaf or “Pothos” Philodendron
- Spider Plant
- Chinese Evergreen
- Diffenbachia
- Boston Fern
Bath & Shower Plants that Require Bright Light
- Orchids
- Asparagus Fern
- Cactus
- Succulents
- Gardenia
This is a bird’s nest fern living in the tropical climate of our shower. We have a glass shower wall that has a window just beyond for light. This variety will do fine in lower light bathrooms however. It loves the humidity!
Succulents work well as bathroom plants as well, but they do need brighter light than some of our other picks. These are sitting on a window sill of a frosted pane of glass, and they love it!
The snake plant here in the corner of the shower is one of the easiest to grow of all plants. It will tolerate low light, low water, dry air, moist air… and looks amazing all the time. You can see in the foreground we have a small succulent, and again, the bird’s nest fern.
So far we’ve shown you how easy it is to make a huge difference in the feel of your bathroom with just a few plants. But if you have always dreamed of an indoor botanical garden, there is no easier place to pull that off than in a shower space! From ‘Marcia Prentice Photography‘, this designer used lots of tropical plants in her shower space, taking advantage of her skylights. This may be a fantasy space for most of us, but it’s so inspiring! (And that tile!)
A lot of orchid fans say the best way to grow an orchid is in the bathroom. Long considered a finicky plant to grow, if they find a happy, bright spot in a bathroom, they are almost impossible to kill! Photo by ‘Bercelli‘.
This photo from ‘John Donkin Architect‘ is a great example of using several different kinds of plants in the bath. The upright plant is a majesty palm, and the one in the corner is a Boston fern. Remember, ferns don’t need this much light to thrive, but palms do.
This heartleaf philodendron will grow like a vine, and spread from one end of the bathroom to another if you let it! You can place little push pins or cup hooks into the wall to support the vine as it stretches out. ‘Photo by Pixi‘.
Ok, yes, I know. Most of us don’t have a bathroom this “grand”. But so what, let’s get inspired, right? This fiddle leaf fig is just one plant in the corner… can you imagine how boring this space would be without it? From ‘Burnham Design‘.
If you want to go a step further and really integrate plants in the bathroom, then try making a moss mat carpet! We found this amazing photo on ‘Kickstarter‘. Unfortunately, it looks like it never got funded.
But never fear, we found a DIY project on ‘EHow‘! If anybody tries this, let us know in comments, how it goes.
So bring some bath & shower plants into your bathroom, and join the trend. Create a spa space with this one change, and have a more serene, even healthier bath! If you enjoyed learning about this topic, check out our posts on how to grow orchids, and easy care houseplants.
[image-credits]
I love all of the cool ideas, especially because I have skylights in the bathrooms that beckon some life and greenery. They need reno and many of the bathrooms in your presentation gave me inspiration also! The master is large and the other is not large enough for more than a plant on shelf, smaller ones on the high window that is only 18″ high or less. I would like to see a way to hang them within the skylight and diffuse some of that intense sun and heat in the warmer months. The plant would have to love that environment. I used to have a tropical rain forest-worthy great room due to the prolific quantity of plants in the house. “Back in the day” when tropicals became all the rage I had my own little biz and connection as a prior admin asst with the largest growerv’s nursery for the south-west. I knew everyone and the botonist. They let me take the largest plants because they tried to standardize the orders for the stores. Ladies loved my plants and accessories. I used to average cycling 150 plants of various sizes through my two bedroom upstairs apartment every week. Of course, there was no fuss with bugs or diseases because the inventory rotated rapidly before they might need extra love and care. I don’t suggest 150 plants indoors without an outdoor solarium or protected place to rotate them into rehab occasionally, especially the larger/taller ficus trees and dieffenbachia or anything tropical. This is not green thumb advise for all plants beause I’m only familiar with about 225 of the common and some exotic tropicals that work indoors and mostly outdoors in San Diego County but not anywhere with frost unless brought inside. Thank you, Kathy Woodard, for the fun topic, great pics, and fab ideas! I have a hankering to go visit a nursery today.
“Sanseveria” that’s “Tilandsia.” Sanseveria would be the snake plant shown later.
Oops! Thank you!