apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

You could try mother in law's tongue. Mine has lasted for years in varying degrees of light and minimal watering. Not only is this plant hearty, it's substantial in size with cool variegated foliage. It definitely makes a visual impact

Make a little cactus garden!

It looks like the soil you have in the pot could be the kind they use in hanging planters that dries out very quickly (seems to have little pieces of styrofoam in it). Try switching to something more organic that will hold the water a bit more.
Succulents really should do well in the sun and without a lot of water....

are you changing out the soil every time you change out the plants? The soil might be the problem.

Otherwise go for something no one can kill--spider plants. Those suckers never die!

Snake plant or Mother in law tongue - you could grow that stuff in an ashtray on top of a TV. I water mine maybe once a month.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sansevieria_trifasciata

may I suggest a golden pothos? It's a vine, but they're pretty hard to kill. I have one that lives above my closet in front of some storage so it gets low light and since its high up I forget to water it frequently and its been doing great!!

Does that planter has a hole or two on the bottom? It doesn't really look that way from the picture. That could be a major problem and the reason why the plants keep on dying

Maybe the beautiful heavy planter doesn't have any drainage. If the plant is being overwatered and there isn't any drainage the roots will drown and the plant will die.

How about rocks and some lucky bamboo? Keep the water level just below the rock level.

the pot doesn't look like it has any drain holes. I wouldn't direct plant in it or the roots of your chosen victims will be sitting in water and this is bad unless you are an aquatic plant suited for that. i would find a container that slips into that container and plant in that one, leaving a space between the two.

take the planter and dump out the existing soil and what not and wash the planter out (need to wash it in case there's a fungus amongus).

purchase a new 10" hanging plant such as a pothos or philodendron or some other hardy low light plant. pop off the hangers.

cut to size and insert a foam circle, (the same kind of foam that comes in sheets in any fabric store) put that on the bottom of the planter.

put your new plant (still in the basket it came in sans hangers) on top of the foam circle.

fill the empty space between the planter and the new plant with cut strips of the foam - this will secure the plant from being tippy.

take some floral tape and tape across the top of the plant with 2 strips of tape to keep it in there.

cover the top with decorative moss or mulch of some sort - this will hide the space between the pots.

with correct watering the foam saucer on the bottom will keep the roots in contact with moisture without having them sit in water. no too much water and not too little. have a watering schedule like every tuesday and friday....and just a cupfull will do! (most plants die of overwatering)

i hope this makes sense. i worked for an interior plantscaping company for years and this is how we installed plants. using this techinque also makes it easy to do plant change outs in case you have an accidental death.

good luck!

Plants are 'hardy,' not 'hearty.'

Besides that -- I could never kill my pothos or philodendron! And I do not have green thumbs.

I have killed just about every houseplant you can buy except for the coffee plant! This magical leafy little plant is almost impossible to kill... though none of mine have ever produced any beans.

Stick a potato in it.

I'm not kidding! They are the hardiest plant, and can survive changes in temperature and odd watering schedules. If kids in grade school can do it for a science experiment, you can do it too.

Plus the leaves are quite pretty. And if you dig it up 2 months later, you might even get little potatoes!

I'm a landscape designer (without green thumbs, alas)- I can't help correcting this when I see it; plants are 'hardy,' not 'hearty.' I'm sorry, it's just the way it is :)

I like pothos, mother-law's-tongue, and philodendrons.

Also, "hardy" generally means the plant can withstand cold temperatures, like what you get outside in winter.

That said, some non-hardy houseplants are plenty tough. The snake plant that a bunch of people recommended is really hard to kill. But whatever you grow, it will require drainage.

Oops - sorry for the almost double-post. I thought my browser was having trouble and tried again.

Totally agree that a lack of drainage is likely the cause of all those deaths. larchgirl's idea sounds like a good one - that really is a decorative rather than functional planter, so it should be the outer visible planter, with functional pots hidden inside.

As mentioned above- changing soil, ensuring the planter is drainging is important as well. Succulents really are hard to kill- as long as you basically ignore them, being careful not to over water. I know lavendar is typically an outdoor plant, but that is also very resilient and I don't see why you can't bring it in! It smells amazing!

A lining of rocks at the bottom of a planter with no drainage can work in a pinch. The soil will work its way into the rocks eventually, so it's not a long-term solution. There is a product called "Better Than Rocks" that does the same thing, but I don't have personal experience with it.

@Retrogrouch

Treat correcting someone's errors in usage, grammar, etc., as the Victorians treated farts: They politely ignored them as if they did not exist.

Also, don't plant indoor plants with small root systems in large containers, or they will "drown". (It looks like that's what happened in the picture). They like to be planted in pots only one size larger than the one they came in with the roots an inch at most from the edge of the container. You can sink a pot in a larger container, however. But remember the roots need air to breathe as much as they need water to drink.

Also, don't rely on your eyes alone, always check with your finger to see if the soil is getting dry before watering. Once a week may be enough, but if it's hot or the plant is in a very small container in bright sun you may need to water every day or so. So, don't overwater, but when you do water, make sure the whole plant is wet all the way through and it runs out the bottom into the saucer underneath the pot. You are aiming (except with succulents and drought loving plants) for a steady state that is continuously somewhat moist, but not wet.

To ensure this, don't water on only one side (so that the other side remains dry). If the soil does get bone dry, it will tend to repel water and never get wet again -- don't let this happen, but if it does, by immersing the the whole pot in quite warm water, which tends to be more readily absorbed, you might be able to save the plant.

Take your plants to the shower and wash them off every so often (unless the are African violets which hate wetness on their furry leaves).

Make sure your plants get as much light as possible -- light is their food. It's intensity drops off logarithmically with every inch they are away from the window. So keep them on the window sill or provide supplementary light. They also appreciate a movement of air.

Lavender indoors won't survive unless you can provide really cool conditions, especially at night, and bright sunlight.

In my experience growing spider plants indoors in Florida, they are OK in a pot with no drainage as long as you water only every 10 days or so. Plus, they supposedly clean the air of 85% of toxins in 24 hours! I love them for both reasons.

Peace lily (or Spathiphyllum).

It's the only houseplant I haven't killed. If it looks like it's going to faint, give it water and it springs back. And the foliage is deep and lovely.

@muirwoods08:

Nicely correcting a grammatical or spelling error can be very helpful to the person making the mistake. Every time I write "definitely" I remember a high school friend teaching me the correct spelling. I'm sure it has saved me looking like an idiot many times.

The key is to do it NICELY, which Retrogrouch did.

Mother in law's toungue. i have one I've had since my first bit of grad school and I haven't killed it yet, despite neglect, transplant, 6 moves, and cats snacking on it. Everything else has given up, including Peace Lily, but it lives on. I secretly wonder if it has sold itself to the Nefarious One...

@HeatherAB

Not this time.

@muirwoods08

Sorry to butt in, but, go buy yoself some bizness!

As long as the planter is not receiving full, direct sun on it, tillandsias, aka "air plants," would be a great choice. Fill the planter with a few interesting looking stones of different sizes. Select a large specimen tillandsia and some other, smaller sizes to fill in. All you will have to do is mist them on dry days and take them to the sink for a 5 minute soak once every 1-2 weeks. No moving the planter or worrying about drainage! Plus they're available in the coolest shapes and colors and are super design-y looking.

Oh dear--I had to laugh, that is one saaaad looking photo. It looks like you're sacrificing greenery to a malevolent god, poor things. :)

Mother in Law's Tongue (Snake Plant) needs a deeper pot, so that won't work. I would recommend a succulent mix with new dirt.
Good luck!

First off, that looks like a BOWL to me, not a planter. But if it is a planter, you need to prepare it correctly.

I'd empty it, scrub it thoroughly (in case of pathogens killing the plants), and do the following. Put a thin layer of acquarium carbon or pure charcoal (nothing with chemicals in it) on the bottom. (Half inch, maybe?) Over that, put some gravel. (Another inch or so.) These will help keep the plants from drowning if there is no drainage.

Over that I would put good quality potting soil with (if you can locate them) some hydrogel crystals. (Some places sell them to put in clear vases with food coloring -- they swell up with water and look like ice chips. But their real purpose is to even out watering -- they soak and hold the water and release it to plant roots slowly.) Soak them FIRST so you know how much space they take up fully loaded. (I'd guess a teaspoon or less would be more than enough for this planter.)

Then pick some healthy plants suited for the light level, and that the nursery or florist think are low maintenance. That window ledge looks like the worst possible setting. Variable light, extremely hot and drying in the sun, chilled by the AC the rest of the time, no plant's natural setting... With the SHAPE of the pot, I'd look for something mounding or maybe something from a hanging planter. Water just enough as needed -- feel the soil. Might be once a week, might be daily.

OR... Scrub the pot and fill with beautiful river rocks or nice chunks of quartz or other crystals from a rock shop...

Good luck.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/greenscaper/sets/72057594128052747/
None of these plants are top watered. All of them are sub-irrigated. All of them grow in planters like the one shown above. It's easy once you understand the major benefits of watering by capillary action.

rabbits foot fern would be attractive in that bowl with drainage fixed.

it's our office go-to plant

I'm going to assume that the plants get a few hours of direct light per day, and that the blinds aren't drawn all weekend or something. An off-the-wall suggestion would be venus flytraps. Just keep the potting mixture moist, and you should be good to go. I had a couple flytraps that were sitting in a window with a northern exposure, and they did fairly well for almost a year before I moved them outside. They're fairly tolerant of neglect, as long as they stay damp.

Actually venus flytraps is a very good suggestion, if the planter is a dish and doesn't have any drainage, they would do well in a sunny window like that and wouldn't mind cold temperatures.
Pitcher plants, sundews, and bladderworts would also be a nice addition to the venus flytraps and would grow well in that window.
The dish should be cleaned out and scrubbed and the soil replaced with a mix of 1/3 sand, 2/3 peatmoss.
It should be kept moist at all times.