Hard-to-Kill Plants for the Graduate Home

Sorry. No pets allowed in your current apartment. And even if there were, with your hectic schedule of class, internships you aren’t getting paid for and menial paid labor, poor Tin-tin would probably waste away from lack of care. But if you absolutely, positively have to have something living in your living space, we suggest one of those spindly green things that sit in that brown stuff.

Plants are considerably easier to take care of than animals (sorry Tin), often needing no more than a splash of water and a ray of sun to keep on trucking. However, as a self-admitted plant killer, I am more than aware that this easy scenario could go horribly wrong. Here are some low-maintenance, hip plants that might work for you.

Indirect Sun and Minimal Water Plants   

Blooming Jade Plant

Jade This dark green, juicy-leafed succulent does well in small pots and stores water much like cactus plants. 

Aloe Vera

  
Aloe Beautify your home and your body with this multifaceted succulent. Unlucky cookers and sunbathers can also use it for nasty burns. What a gem.



 

Christmas Cactus

Cactus You don’t have to go for the three-pronged stereotype from the westerns. The Christmas Cactus, also known as the Orchid Cactus, is a sprawling beauty with gorgeous pink and white flowers. 




 

Sun and Water Loving Plants

Bamboo

 
Bamboo The tall, elegant bamboo is not only chic, but a tough to kill. Place these plants in a water-filled glass bowl or vase with colored stones at the bottom to hold down the roots. Voila, instant decoration/centerpiece/room accent.

 

Silver Vase Urn Plant

Urn Plant Bring the Amazon to you with this pink flowered, spike-leafed bromeliad. Or if you don’t care much for flowers, check out the silvery octopus-like Tillandsia Xerographica.


 

Tillandsia Xerograhpica

Plant Care Resources

The National Gardening Association
The Flower Expert
Plant Care.com
Bromeliad.com
The Bromeliad Society International


Image Credits: Anika Malone. “Jade Plant is Blooming.” Flickr, 11.26.07; Biology Big Brother. “Aloe Vera.” Flickr, 2.11.07; Spablab.“Full Bloom” (Christmas Cactus).  Flickr, 1.20.2009; Dizfunkshinal “Plant Love” (Bamboo). Flickr, 8.20.2005; Cliff1066. “Silver Vase, Urn Plant (Aechmea fasciata).”  Flickr, 9.14.2008; I-saint. “Tillandsia Xerographica.” Flickr, 6.6.08