Houseplants can improve indoor air quality and can bring some of the serenity of nature indoors. From ferns to flowers, there are some California native plants that look great in the house. If you want to try some interesting and unique houseplants, here are a few California native plants for your indoor garden.
With its bright green leaves and contrasting black stems, California Maiden-Hair fern ((Adiantum jordanii)) can add beauty and elegance to your indoor landscape. This lacy California native fern can survive long hot summers in California's dry hills where it usually can be found on shady north slopes peaking out from between rocks. Its ability to survive the dry summer makes it a great choice for those of us who chronically kill house plants by neglecting to water them. Grow Maiden-Hair fern in indirect natural light. Plant it in a fast-draining potting mix for succulents, such as Miracle-Gro® Cactus, Palm and Citrus Soil.
Inside-Out Flower (Vancouveria hexandra) is a small perennial with lacy delicate leaves and dainty little white flowers. The flowers, at a glance, look like they are attached upside down. It grows wild in the moist forests of northern California under maples and fir. To grow it successfully indoors, it needs indirect natural light and regular water. Plant it in a moisture-retaining potting mix, such as Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control Potting Mix.
California Dog-wood (Cornus californica) makes a stunning house plant. Its large bright green leaves add greenery, but its bright red stems make it unique. It can grow to be quite a large shrub so if you have the space you can manicure it into a nice specimen tree. If not, it can easily be kept much smaller by keeping it in a small pot and keeping watering to a minimum. This plant does go dormant in the winter, but have no fear, it is just as attractive if not more so with its bright red stems bare of leaves. Plant this dogwood in a sunny room for best results.
The Wild Ginger (Asarum caudatum) that can be found growing along the forest floor under towering redwoods looks very different from the cultivated ginger used in cooking. It only resembles the latter in smell. Wild ginger has dark green heart shaped leaves and unique, even strange, flowers. The flowers are usually hidden under the leaves, but pull the leaves back and you will find strange three-petaled maroon flowers with long spurs and white throats. Its ability to grow in very low light levels makes it work well as a houseplant. Wild ginger needs regular water and indirect natural light. Miracle-Gro® Moisture Control Potting Mix would work well with this plant.
