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and died of a spider-mite infestation after 3 weeks? Put a pothos there and you are guaranteed success. Number one offense towards the pothos would be treating it too nicelychop it back, deny it water, flood it and knock it off the deskif you forget to pick it up, it will probably take root in your carpet.

Another great candidate for the hard-to-kill list would have to be the members of the Dracaena family. These plants include the infamous Dracaena fragrans (corn plant), Dracaena marginata (sometimes known as Dragon tree, or simply Marginata), and Dracaena deremensis (Janet Craig). These are the stuff many older interiorscapes are made of, and can live with virtually no care for weeks at a time. They all have elegant strapped leaves which radiate off a cane stem and come to a point. The corn plant resembles what else? Corn, with its long yellow striped leaves and thick exposed canes. Marginatas are especially lovely for their exotic color combinations including pink margined, red margined and tri-color types, and narrow leaves. Older specimens of Marginatas are often contorted and have several mop-like heads creating a very dramatic floor plant. Janet Craig's are especially valued for their dark green and glossy foliage and extraordinary longevity. Again, with all of these plants, overcare is probably the worst enemy.

Digressing a little bit from the common outstanding hard-to-kill candidates would be any selection of Peperomia. These are small succulent plants with interesting foliage, funky flowers on occasion, and a zest for life that would make an elephant proud. If you need to select a small plant with a lot of character, look no further than Peperomia caperata 'Metallic' with its silvery rippled leaves and perfectly domed habit. How about Peperomia obtusifolia 'Variegata' also known as the Baby Rubber tree, for its tricolor leaves and erect shape. As with all the other plants mentioned, peperomias prefer their own spacenot too much of any one thing, and please, no fussing. Like the aforementioned pothos, they delight in making offspring, so cut awayshare with friends! More indoor plants means fewer toxins in the air, and more positive, healthy greenery.

All plants benefit from an occasional foliage shower to remove dust and other particles. If you have any plants in your kitchen, they likely have a greasy film on them after only a few months of being in close proximity to your fry pana soapy spray made up from castile soap and warm water will loosen the grease and dust and a warm shower to rinse soap residue away will give your plants a fresh start in the springtime as day length triggers new growth. A shower in the autumn as day length shortens will bring the most available light to the leaf surface. Carefully and sparingly fertilize your houseplants with an organic fertilizer a few times a year. Forcing growth in low light will lead to weak and lanky plants susceptible to disease and insects. Lastly, add new compost to both the top and bottom of the soil/root ball once a year, and only repot when roots are escaping the pot and twining around the bottom of the saucer. In general, these low light plants will not require frequent repotting. Too much soil equals too much water equals problems. Remember, these are plants that are hard to kill! Paying too much attention to them will certainly create problems!

To see some wonderful photo's and find out more ideas and cultural information visit the Texas A & M Horticulture extension website at http://aggie-horticulture.tamu .edu/interiorscape/index.html .

Learn more about this author, Lauren Vickerman.
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