About Guide to Houseplants

Welcome! I'm Christine, avid gardener, writer, and owner of Guide-to-Houseplants.com.

I started this website to share my knowledge and passion for house plants. The most satisfying for me are those that stretch my skills, or at least teach me something new. I especially love tropical plants -- for their exotic beauty and sometimes the challenge of keeping them healthy indoors.

My Budding Passion

I've had an interest in gardening for as long as I can remember. I sowed flower seeds from packets, dutifully sprinkled them with water (when I remembered) and let nature do the rest. Beautiful rows of snapdragons, zinnias, and bachelor's buttons thrived outdoors. My early gardening success came easily, and I was encouraged.

Step indoors...

My interest in indoor plants began when I was about 10 years old. Houseplants were hot in the 70s and I loved the jungle look indoors. My first victims houseplants included a spider plant dangling from a macramé hanger, a small cactus on the windowsill, and an asparagus fern I started from seed. Some actually survived...for a while. I can still picture the dried, brown leaflets of the asparagus fern scattered across the shag carpet. Ugh.

I learned a lot by trial and error. As I got older, I started researching these tropical and desert plants to learn how they grow in their native habitats. As I got to know them, my interest grew even more. 

Why I Started this Website

As I discovered early on, I had to get to know the plants -- and find out what they want -- to keep them alive thriving indoors.

Unfortunately, finding care information on houseplants was limited to coffee table books (you know, pretty pictures and not much help)... or botany texts telling way too much about plant parts and nothing about how to grow them indoors. Online references were disappointing, too. Facts were limited to telling me whether a plant flowers or not, that it likes "moderate" humidity, "average" water, and "medium" light. Huh? 

Well, I rolled up my sleeves, dug in, and got to work, researching hundreds of plants from hundreds (okay, maybe just dozens) of books -- and talked to the growers, botanists, and other pros who guided me (a big "Thank you!") along my exhilarating gardening path. 

I'm sharing my many-decades experience and findings here online to help others who may struggle to help their houseplants thrive. 

Still Growing

Guide-to-Houseplants.com got its start in 2008, and was among the first websites devoted to growing plants indoors. Back then, I thought I was one of the few who "still" had a passion for houseplants. Boy, has its popularity grown! Today, the site reaches MORE THAN A MILLION houseplant enthusiasts every year.

And it has captured attention from the media as well.

 I was thrilled to be selected to receive this award from Feedspot a few years ago:

About Guide-to-Houseplants.com

Guide-to-Houseplants.com is all about getting to know your house plants so you can bring out their best. My hope is that it will give you an easy-to-use resource -- a place to turn when you need quick solutions, helpful how-tos, and maybe some inspiration to grow something new. 

New pages and tips are added all the time. Follow my blog page and you'll always be the first to know about updates.

Enjoy your visit!