Plant shelfie: varius green plants on a white shelf
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Plant Tour: 70 plants in a 678 square foot apartment

*or 63 square meters, if the metric system is your jam.

When I was a kid I had three dream professions: fireman, because of my inexplicable crush on fireman Sam. Chef, because food. And lastly: gardener. I liked plants and I liked greenhouses and garden centers so it made perfect sense. Then I grew up and developed violent pollen allergies, and all dreams of professional gardening went out the window. I’ve tried to keep plants as an adult, but my attempts were always half-hearted and the plants always ended up dying. For years I had none at all. Then a few years ago I bought a few plants as an experiment and realized that I could figure out all their needs from a simple Google search… Fast forward to today.

Welcome to the jungle

I am now one of those people. I watch plant videos on YouTube and I follow plant people on Instagram and suddenly I found myself keeping 70 plants alive at once. What can I say – it snowballed. I started out with a few succulents, the easiest ones I knew. Then I graduated to an ivy and a few pileas. Now I buy plants that threaten to die unless I give them water-filled pebble trays and a morning spritz of water on their foliage. If I keep this up I can no longer go on holidays in fear of returning home to dead plants.

This vertical shelf is next to a north-east-facing window. This is the goldilocks zone for those plants that like good lighting, but who don’t want it to be too intense.

This shelf is a few feet away from an south-east-facing window. On top there I’ve clustered together all my most sensitive and humidity-demanding plants so that I can try to keep them under the right conditions.

This is my desk, next to that same south-east-facing window. I don’t usually have my iMac here, but The Boyfriend has taken over the office with one of his projects so this is where I am for the time being. I don’t hate it. This area houses all my most light-hungry plants.

A better view of the windowsill.

Bedroom plants: Sansevierias only. This room has good lighting but can get very cold, so only the hardiest of plants get to stay here.

Another north-east-facing window. This is where the succulent crew hangs out. And also my dog.

Next to the TV I keep a few plants that don’t mind poorer lighting conditions. A ZZ plant, a satin pothos, and an aloe.

On top of the fridge the lighting is even worse. These two guys, a golden pothos and an ivy, seem to be doing fine.

Non-plant-nerds can stop here

If you only wanted to see my general abundance of plants you can stop here. I won’t be mad at you, I promise. You can scroll down to the comments and leave a few words, perhaps, but I’m not going to force you to read beyond this point. You see, I’m about to show you each and every plant in detail and tell you all their names. I get that this might not be your thing. You’re off the hook. The rest of you: buckle up.

Disclaimer: I might be wrong about the names of some of these. Please let me know if I am.

Vertical plant shelf details

Shelf from Jysk, tiny thrifted stool.
In the back: Peperomia Polybortya, also known as a Coin Leaf Peperomia. In front: Monstera Adansonii, also known as Swiss Cheese Plant.
On the stool: Pilea Peperomioides. On the floor: some kind of Clausia.
Two Aloe vera, also known as Aloe Barbadensis.
A Hoya Carnosa Compacta, also known as a Hindu Rope Plant.
Peperomia Angulata.
Pilea Depressa.
Top left: Hedera Helix, also known as Ideal Ivy. Top right: Cissus Striata, also known as Miniature Grape Ivy. Below: Pilea Depressa. Drawing by ingusplingus.com.

The green and maroon crew

I almost called them “The Maroon Five” but they are only four so now I guess I need to buy another one.

They live on our TV stand, on the side closest to the window.
Crassula Ovata “bluebird”.
Crassula Ovata “Money tree”, also known as a Jade Plant.
Tradescantia Pallid, also known as a Wandering Jew.
Begonia Maculata, also known as a Polka Dot Begonia. She was in a sorry state when we got her from the garden center, but she’s perking up.

All lined up

These guys are all lined up by height. This has the added benefit of hiding me from my neighbors when I watch TV.
Left: Echeveria “Perle Von Nürnberg”. Right: Peperomia Argyreia, also known as a Watermelon Peperomia.
Left: Crassula Ovata “Gollum”. Right: Crassula arborescens ssp. undulatifolia, also known as a Ripple Jade Plant.
Gasteria “Little Warty”.
Peperomia Polybortya, also known as a Coin Leaf Peperomia.
Some kind of Clausia.

The dark side of the TV stand

There are also plants on the left side of our TV stand. This side doesn’t get much light so I had to be careful about which plants I placed here.
Zamioculcas Zamiifolia, also known as a ZZ Plant.
Epipremnum Pictum Argyraeus, also known as a Satin Pothos.
Haworthia Fasciata, also known as a Zebra Plant.

By my desk

These guys hang out by my temporary desk space. Most of them like an extra bit of sunshine, which is why they are near this window.
Left: Codiaeum Variegatum Pictum, also known as Croton “Joseph’s Coat”. Right: cutting of a Peperomia Polybortya, also known as a Coin Leaf Peperomia.
A Phalaenopsis orchid and a dark green Haworthia that I’m having trouble identifying.
Echeveria “Perle Von Nürnberg”.
Crassula Perforata, also known as String of Buttons.
Left: a tiny Phalaenopsis orchid. Right: a Jurrasic Chameleon Aloe.
Tray of teeny weeny cuttings in terracotta pots.
Back left: Golden Barrel Cactus. Back right: Echinopsis Domino Cactus. Front left: another Golden Barrel Cactus. Front right: Fairy Castle Cactus.
Guy behind glass: I think this is a Bunny Ear Cactus. I call him Satan because he is covered in tiny needles of pain and suffering.
Cuttings of a Hoya Carnosa, also known as a Porcelain Flower or Wax Plant. The mother plant used to belong to my grandmother and is at least 25 years old.

Square plant shelf details

There are some regular, unfussy plants here, but this is also where I place my divas; the plants that have extra demands regarding humidity and misting and soil moisture. It is easier to keep them alive when I have them all in the same place.
Divas and a pebble tray.
Pilea Peperomioides.
Peperomia Argyreia, also known as a Watermelon Peperomia.
Chlorophytum Comosum, also known as a Spider Plant.
Back left: Hoya Carnosa Krimson Princess. Back right: two birds nest ferns. Front left: Baby spider plants. Front right: unknown succulent.
Calathea Makoyana, also known as a Peacock Plant. One of my pebble tray divas.
Another diva: Calathea Roseopicta, also known as a Calathea Dottie. This one is constantly threatening to curl up and die, yet also sprouts a new leaf. I can’t.
Third little diva: Ctenanthe Burle-marxii, also known as a Fishbone Prayer Plant. I think.
Marble Queen Pothos. I love these so much.
Dracaena Surculosa, also known as a Golddust Dracaena.
Left: Sansevieria Cylindrica. Middle: Chlorophytum Comosum, also known as Spider Plant. Right: Christmas Tree Cactus.
Another diva: Alocasia Amazonica.
And another one: Alocasia Stingray.
Last but not least: Aloe Juvenna, also known as Tiger Tooth Aloe.

The kitchen crew

Left: Epipremnum Aureum, also known as a Golden Pothos. Right: Hedera Helix, also known as an Ideal Ivy.
My kitchen counter growlight stand, also known as my propagation station (TOOT TOOT).
Succulent leaves waiting to become new plants, plus a Peperomia Pixie Lime cutting.

The bedroom snakeplants

(I’m exhausted at this point. Please pardon my innuendo.)

Sansevieria Cylindrica “Starfish”.
Sansevieria Trifasciata Futura Superba, also known as Mother-in-laws Tongue.
Sansevieria Trifasciata Black Coral.

My only outside plant

Some kind of Spruce that I bought as a Christmas tree in December that I refuse to throw out. All my other outside plants are fake, since the temperatures in our sunroom fluctuate so much.

And that was it! If you made it this far please leave a comment saying “meatballs”. It will be like a secret plant nerd code. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go do something completely different, because I spent my entire weekend making this post and it is only two hours left until bedtime. I hope you enjoyed this peek inside my crazy.

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21 thoughts on “Plant Tour: 70 plants in a 678 square foot apartment”

  7. Meatballs! OK, so I admit I didn’t actually READ every single caption, but I did scroll through every single beautiful picture. I am in total awe. Both of the plants and of the quality of the pictures. Maja, you outdid yourself. Well done!

    Reply

    • Thank you so much, Joanna! It was a lot of work – I had to really clean my apartment before I could even start taking the photos, then edit, then find all the plant names.. All before I could even open WordPress! I don’t know how interior bloggers/IGers do it, I suspect they probably deep clean their house once a month and take 500 photos that they portion out over time. I could never do it, way too much work.
      P.S If you want to see the photos in higher resolution you can find them here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/majapiraja/ :)

      Reply

  8. Clueless meatballs here! As in, I read it and looked at all the pictures, but plant language is still mostly greek (latin? Sorry.) to me.

    What I can definitely appreciate, though, is the incredible amount of work this post must have been! It’s really more of a mini-book than a blog post, isn’t it? The interior photos look straight out of a fancy magazine, and getting an entire apartment so shiny and clean is a weekend of work in itself. Not to mention all the research, for the blog post and in general, and KEEPING ALL THOSE BABIES ALIVE. Damn, woman. I’m glad I know you and adore you, or I’d probably be unhealthily (is that a word?) jealous of your blog/plant efforts and skills.

    Thank you for making such a beast of a blog post, it is magnificent.

    Reply

  10. Meatballs! You have a beautiful apartment! Ever since I moved into my own apartment I also started getting more plants and now your plants collections is my goal hahaha I need to get more!

    Reply

  12. Pingback: My 2020 shopping ban + Q&A | Simplicity | Maja Huse

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