Need Some Some Ideas For Indoor Plants With Color. -Help-

Hola everyone, I'm new to the "Garden" and am excited to meet everyone. I just started to grow indoor plants (ivy & fern) and would like some ideas on how to get some plants that have some color. I live in Houston,Texas and the weather is crazy and I would like to be able to have some plants outside on my patio. Please Help.

Hi smoothjazz and welcome to DG. Is your patio shaded by a roof or is it exposed to full sun? That will make a very big difference in the type of plants you could put out on it. I put lots of plants on my front porch (southern exposure) for the summer but it has a roof to protect the plants from the blistering heat we get in the summertime. I have an azalea in a large clay pot on my porch that I leave year-round and it does great. It's been out there for 3 years now. I have lot's of others but, as I said, my porch has a roof.

Hey Thanks NatureLover. And yes my patio is covered by a roof facing east where the sun is torture. Huh. Wow an azalea would be pretty. So any ideas on any indoor plants. Again thank you NatureLover for responding to my question. Hope to hear from you. :-]

Well, if you're interested in foliage plants, there's crotons(orange, red, yellow), bromeliads, oyster plants(moses in the cradle/basket...pink and grayish green foliage), caladiums, rex begonias(I think....lol), peperomias....there's red ripple, metallic ripple, and green ripple....then there's some variegated ones(baby rubber plant) with white, lime green and dark green marbled together. Anthuriums look like peace lilies(I think) but have pink blooms. There may be other colors as well. Wandering Jews can come with a reddish purple foliage and are good for hanging baskets. These are just ideas....these all make as houseplants in my area...I believe some of them can be grown as perennials outside in your area, so I'm guessing they'd do well as houseplants there too. Hope this helps....

Actually, that east sun probably won't be as brutal as you think. I have several plants on the east end of my porch that just love it there. I always put whatever color geranium suits my mood each year (and there are such pretty ones to choose from!). This year I put a small trellis in a large fake stone pot with a pink jasmine in it (looks and smells wonderful). I have a sago palm that stays on the east end year round and always looks good. Sitting up against the wall out of the sun I have a split leaf philodendron that also stays outside year round (it loses a few leaves during the winter here but I'll bet it wouldn't miss a beat down where you are!). I always put a big pot of two of begonias. I like to hang wave petunias from the eaves and they look sooo good. I have wandering jew sitting out on the west end where it gets lots of sun so it will stay that pretty deep purple. Then I have various ferns--one of my favorites. In fact, I have an "asparagus fern" that sits just barely in the sun on the west end and it looks gorgeous every year (I also leave it outside year round--dies almost completely back in the winter but comes back every spring). I have an iron baker's rack on the wall out of the sun that I put various small house plants on for the summer--ivy, jade, ferns, etc. With that east exposure, your options are almost limitless. You can have a beautiful green oasis every summer!

African violets bloom constantly if taken care of properly and provide nice little spots of colour throughout my house. I also like to use plants with variegrated leaves and one of my favourites is the fittonia. The have beautiful green leaves with either white or pink veins and do very well indoors. I also have a neon pothos plant that is very interesting and my kids adore it!