7 Amazingly Pretty Indoor Flowering Plants (Growing tips)

7 Amazingly Pretty Indoor Flowering Plants

Whether you're still beating the winter blues or ready to welcome spring with open arms, any season of the year is a perfect time to add some blooming colours into a corner of your home. We've picked 7 amazingly pretty flowering plants that will enhance the décor of your home and make your rooms come alive with colours. We have also tried to help you with tips on how to grow each of these seven indoor beauties.

1. African violets

The African violet, known botanically as Saintpaulia, is one of the most popular flowering houseplants. African violets are easy to grow for the beginning gardener, yet offer a wide range of cultivars to satisfy the serious grower.

Temperature:  The ideal temperature to grow African Violets is 18⁰C to 25 ⁰C. However, with proper watering and air circulation, they will do well even upto 32⁰C.

Light: Moderate to bright, indirect, indoor light.

Watering:  Water using normal drinking water without the addition of softeners. The water should be allowed to run through the pot and drain off. The plant must not be permitted to sit in water residue. It will not be able to survive in wet and saturated soil. Avoid spraying water on the leaves as it will cause spot damage.

Potting: African violets grow and bloom better in small pots. Small plantlets should be planted first into 3” pots. When the plant measures atleast 9” in diameter, they should be transplanted into 4” pots.

Tips: Pinch off spent blossoms to encourage development of newer ones. Place the plant away from vents, fans or doors to avoid air drafts or air bursts of cold or hot air. Want to keep the African violets in constant bloom?? Here’s a youtube video for you.

2. Hibiscus

Hibiscus are large shrubs or small trees that produce huge, colorful, trumpet-shaped flowers over a long season. 

Temperature:  Like humans, this plant also like the temperature range of 16⁰C to 32⁰C. In winters, you may keep it outside, in your balcony or terrace but during the scorching summers, make sure to protect it indoors.

Light: It requires bright light. It will grow well indoor if kept near a window.

Watering: Hibiscus is a thirsty plant and will only thrive and produce blossoms if it is given enough water. When hibiscus is in its blooming stage, it requires large amounts of water. Your hibiscus will need daily watering in warm weather. But once the weather cools, it will need far less water, and too much water can kill it. In the winter, water only when the soil is dry to the touch.

Potting: If you plant it in too deep a container, although the plant will be healthy but it will spend more energy producing roots than flowers. The width of pot must be more than its height. When it grows large, it will stay happy in a pot of 10” to 12” diameter.

Tips: Shop for specialized hibiscus pots where tropical hibiscus are sold. Nurseries or home centers that sell tropical hibiscus may also carry pots. Compact hybrid hibiscus have been bred to grow in pots. Some grow quite tall and make lovely, long-lived shrubs.

3. Oxalis/Love Plant

It has three purple, heart shaped leaves, which each have three sides, that sit symmetrically to one another at the end of every petiole.

Temperature: As a house plant you don't need to worry about temperature very often. Although sitting in a very warm room, above 27°C will quickly "age" the plant and make it look raggy and unattractive.

Light: Oxalis is not overly fussy with its light requirements. The species with purple leaves will take less bright areas than its all green leaf cousins. However for a good looking plant you're going to need an area which receives bright light for a few hours a day. They show a nastic movement when exposed to blue, white light.

Watering: Irregular and random watering is not a problem with this plant. It can often go months without adverse effects especially when it's cooler. However if it's very warm or it sits in a very bright spot you will need to make an effort to water regularly, because if things get too dry the plant will die.

Potting: For a happy plant, you must repot it every second year.  A 4” to 6” pot will be enough for a large oxalis plant.

4. Maracas Brazilian fireworks:

Maracas Brazilian Fireworks grows as an evergreen and is a flowering ornamental. Be aware that Maracas Brazilian Fireworks typically needs a fair amount of maintenance and care in order to grow successfully

Temperature:  Like any other indoor plant, this Brazilian beauty likes the temperature range of 16°C to 27°C.

Light: Maracas Brazilian Fireworks is a shade crop that can easily tolerate low light levels. High light can cause leaf puckering.

Watering: Mist the Brazilian fireworks plant daily during the drier winter months to keep the air humid around the plant. You can also set the pot on top of a dish filled with gravel and water.

Potting: A 6” to 8” pot is sufficient for growing a full sized plant.

5. Gloxinia:

Gloxinias produce an outstanding display of flowers for about two months, but once the flowers fade, the plant rarely comes back because it invests all its energy into flowers rather than sturdy roots. Therefore, these plants are best grown as annuals, and since they are discarded after the bloom cycle, gloxinia flower care focuses on keeping the plant looking fresh while it is in bloom.

Temperature: Average temperature for growing a healthy gloxinia is 16°C to 25°C. The plant will not be able to survive over 30°C.

Light: Gloxinia requires very bright, indirect light in order to bloom and do not like intense, direct sunlight.

Watering: Water gloxinias often enough to keep the soil moist. The leaves develop brown spots if they get wet, so apply the water directly to the soil under the leaves. If allowed to dry out, gloxinias go dormant.

Potting: Gloxinia roots are tender and the plant is not easy to transplant to a larger container when it is young, so start the seeds in a 4” to 6” pot where it can grow to full size.

Tips: Gloxinia is a close relative to African violets but they prefer higher humidity and many growers find that they must supplement the humidity in their grow rooms with pebble trays or a humidifier in order to grow Gloxinia successfully year-round.

6. Silver vase plant/Urn plant

While the Urn plant does look unusual at first glance, when viewed closely it looks quite unique and beautiful.

Temperature: Less than 27°C.

Light: Avoid exposure to direct sunlight or you risk scorching the leaves and permanently ruining the plant's appearance.

Watering: Be careful not to over water an Urn Plant at any time. Keep the central vase filled with water, emptying and refill every couple of months. The vase is the central container from which the flower bract emerges. If the vase is filled then you only need to water the compost when it dries out.

Potting: If you buy a plant already in flower there will be no need to repot at all. If you are growing a young sapling, you will need to repot and upsize the pot each spring.

Tips: Before you rush out to buy your own Urn Plant, we're going to be party poopers and tell you the draw backs of this plant. Firstly it takes around five years before it starts to flower and therefore they can be expensive to buy. Secondly after flowering has finished the plant will start to lose vigour and will eventually die.

7. Streptocarpus:

One of the toughest and prettiest flowering houseplants is the fibrous rooted streptocarpus.

Temperature: They are a bit too sensitive to temperature changes. They like it between18°C to 25°C. They can be taken down to 10°C or less in winter for a rest.

Light:  Medium to bright indirect light is the best for growing streptocarpus. Even in dimmer light, they will flower - but less extravagantly.

Watering: Water only once the soil is almost dry. Some growers prefer to water only when the leaves have just started to wilt (or just before). They recover very well from dehydration, and this is one of the traits of the species. Make sure the pot has holes in the bottom to drain water, and never leave the pots sitting in a saucer of water.

Potting: Streptocarpus have fairly shallow root systems and seem to prefer and grow much better in the "pan" or "azalea" style pots. To succeed with streptocarpus you should repot them often, while still keeping them somewhat pot bound. Repotting every three to six months will help keep your plants in active growth and prevent them from becoming woody. As a rule of thumb, the pot should be no more than 1/3rd of the plant’s leaf span.

This concludes the list of our favorite indoor flowering plants. We would love to hear about your favorites!

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