Conservatory Plants: Ultimate Guide

There’s something about first setting foot in a new conservatory that connects us that little bit more with nature. We step into our own personalised viewing hub and witness first hand nature in all its beautiful glory. We also created a full review of Sunflower Hearts Bird Food and Niger Seeds should you be lover of birds in your garden too.

Quick Navigation

• Best Conservatory Plants for Low Light
• Best Conservatory Plants for Clean Air
• Plants for a Hot Conservatory
• Final Thoughts

For many of us (well, for us at least), a conservatory provides us with a space that presents harmony and tranquility. It doesn’t matter if we’re in the bitter depths of a white winter, or watching the heat rise on the horizon, our conservatory gives us a constant space that allows us to escape the realities of life when it is needed.

There’s little that does better to compliment this harmonious space than selecting the right indoor conservatory plant or plants. Just like a comfy set of gilda conservatory cushions, or swinging in your hammock stand, a plant can bring warmth and colour to your space, as well as being a highly functional air filter.

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We’ve often found that selecting the right plant is just as important as selecting the right conservatory roof, conservatory floor and conservatory chairs. It’s also important to consider what colour paint the conservatory walls are, as this can either bring a room together or make it feel like the ugly stepsister. Either way, it’s important to select plants based on the environment that they’d be living in and how much care you’re willing to give them.

Let’s run through a select few in our buying guide below:

Best Conservatory Plants for Low Light

Just like your friend with the fair skin, there are flowers that also don’t mind avoiding direct sunlight as well. These naturally make them great flowers for conservatories that don’t naturally attract a great deal of sunlight all year round. They also work perfectly for that ‘busy-body’ that would typically forget their own head if it wasn’t attached to their body.

A plant that could reach up to 40 to 50ft in their natural jungle environment, the Golden Pothos (also known as “Devils ivy”) favours a shaded yet bright environments with indirect light.

These plants are easy to keep, with your biggest concern the volume of vines being kept under control. If left to grow out, then they are usually best found alongside window ledges and frames but make great desk plants.

They grow best when watered only when their soil has gone dry as this prevents the plant roots from going rotten, meaning that they don’t require a great deal of attention.

Gerber Daisy

 

You’ll notice just how colourful the Gerber Daisy is, despite little need for constant natural sunlight. These do require more light than the Pothos, just an hour or two a day, so ensure that it would be in a position that light can be reached. They come in a variety of different colours from yellow to red, orange and pink.

Not only are these plants aesthetically great plants to add colour to your conservatory, but they also filter benzene (a cancer causing carcinogen) out of the air. This is partly why they have proven to be popular office parts.

One slight downside is that Gerber Daisy’s can attract caterpillars and leaf eaters, but these can be dealt with using an organic spray such as neem oil.

Also known as the “Arrowhead Plant”, the Exotic Allusion can grow up to 6ft and work well in areas of low natural light. Their South American roots have blessed the plants to be both great climbers and lovely looking table top plants for a windowsill or desk. As the leaves mature over time, they merge into an arrow shape, giving them their common name.

Typically low maintenance, the Arrowhead Plant only requires damp moisture in the soil to grow. This means that it requires marginally more water during the summer months and less during the cooler seasons. Just ensure that the soil never goes completely dry.

There’s no real downside to the Arrowhead as the plants don’t carry any known pest or disease risks, if cared for properly. This means that ensuring that they stay in shaded areas with a moist soil base will allow them to flourish into a beautiful accessory to a white/green or pink decor.

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Best Conservatory Plants for Clean Air

A plant isn’t just for brightening up a dull corner, or a tool used to fill that awkward bit of empty space in the corner of a room, it should also bring a sense of tranquility and peace to a person. It’s certainly one of the overriding reasons as to determining which plant we go for. Sure, it needs to be practical given the confines of our conservatory, but it also needs to add something as well.

Our picks below are based on plants that actively clean the air, improve health and give us a sense of cleanliness whenever we put our feet up with a cuppa.

You didn’t think we were going to write a whole guide about plants and not include the Aloe Vera did you? The leaves themselves are the original source for all your healing gels and the plant typically grows in drier and more tropical parts of the globe such as Africa and Asia, although it can be found in both Europe and the United States of America.

Due to their traditionally tropical roots, the plants themselves don’t require much watering but they do flourish best in direct light. Alongside their obvious benefits to human skin, Aloe Vera plants have also been known to clear the air of pollutants that can be found in your day to day cleaning equipment. This improves the air quality of your room and permits a more peaceful setting.

When considering the plant pot, ensure that you leave enough room for the roots of the plant to grow. Consider that the plant grows best in direct sunlight so ensure that the pot is shallow and doesn’t overshadow the plant itself.

Rated as one of the best indoor plants by NASA, Peace Lillies are a low maintenance yet hard working plant that comprise both functional and beauty. Their distinctly noticeable white flowers operate best in areas of low light with limited access to sunlight making them the ideal plant for a conservatory that’s more accustom to shade.

 

Peace Lillies come in 40 different types and have been known to clear the air of numerous toxins including benzene, formaldehyde, trichloroethylene, xylene, and ammonia. They generally don’t require an immense amount of care, meaning that a moist soil is best to ensure they grow to their full potential.

Ensure that your plants aren’t exposed to direct sunlight. Yellow leaves indicate that too much sunlight is hitting the plant, the brown spots are burnt areas. Pests aren’t a huge problem with Peace Lillies, but keeping the leaves clean ensures that you reduce the risk of pests infiltrating your plant.

It’s safe to say that a Jasmine plant wouldn’t look out of place anywhere in the home, especially in the conservatory. The beautifully moulded white plants give off a pungent scent and blossom best when left to devour natural sunlight.

It is actually this scent that one study has shown the human body reacts to positively to, leading to a person to have reduced anxiety, improvement in their mood and a feeling of being more relaxed. This is why Jasmine plants have become popular plants to keep in the bedroom as well, allowing the recipient to soak in these scents. Recipients were also shown to have an improvement in sleep quality when they were in close proximity to the plant.

It does come at a cost though, and the Jasmine plant is one of your more high maintenance plant unsurprisingly. The soil needs to constantly be moist, especially whilst it is flowering, otherwise the soon-to-be flowers will remain as miserable looking buds.

Plants for a Hot Conservatory

Typically we will find that our conservatory gets a little too hot in the peak of summer and a little too cold in the peak of winter (although you can partly fix this problem with a conservatory roof replacement).

If you fall into this bracket and find that your conservatory is like a greenhouse for most of the year, then you may want to find a plant that flourishes in this environment. If you have a south facing conservatory, then these plants may be just perfect to fill it with:

Originating in a range of forms such as shrubs and herbs, the Euphorbia plants originated all over the world including Africa, South America, Europe and Asia. With over 2,000 species it’s likely that you’d have come into contact with one at some point especially given that they are a popular interior plant.

Euphorbia plants are typically very unfussy but favour sitting facing the sun. They can deal with indirect sunlight but thrive when facing it directly, suiting a south facing conservatory. Euphorbia plants can last without too much care or attention given to their soil meaning that they are resilient to a drought.

Euphorbia plants require little attention and love to revel in warmer environments. Their unique cactus-like shape brings not only an imposing yet calming presence, but also a sense of the Sahara into your conservatory. Such a plant can really shape the design of your conservatory and looks great with shabby chic

There’s a reason that you’re likely to have seen a moth orchid out and about, as it’s no secret that this is one of the most popular indoor house plants available. Their range of blossoming colours and relatively low maintenance make them an easy pick for many plant lovers.

The orchid doesn’t actually favour being exposed to direct sunlight. Just like my late uncle used to, they have a tendency to burn exceptionally quick and so much prefer indirect sunlight. Bare in mind that if your conservatory roof is glass, then it may offer some protection to the plant from the direct sun rays.

The Orchid’s favour hot and humid temperatures during the day but enjoy a cool evening, making them an ideal conservatory plant. They thrive in a humid environment but made need additional care if the air is very dry in your conservatory. One thing to note, always ensure that the water is drained from the soil out before watering again and that the roots aren’t sitting directly in water.

The Moth orchid is a no brainer and the plant works with many different interior colours and designs. Their low maintenance, love for a greenhouse-style environment and ability to bring life into any room makes them a popular choice as a conservatory plant.

Final Thoughts

 

Selecting a plant or plants for your conservatory can often bring a room together and give it an additional a sense of purpose not appreciated at the time.

Ensure that your plant not only fits the functional profile of ensuring it has enough heat and light, but also fits in with your vision of the room.

The plants should add vibrancy and colour to a space that would otherwise look a little lifeless, so pick carefully.