Make Your Home Healthful and Harmonious— Just Add Plants

Want to clean the air and add pops of color to your home? Just add plants, say area green thumbs and home-décor experts.  

At area Lowe’s stores, you can find a variety of house and patio plants, including gorgeous, multihued orchids.

“Plants can absorb airborne chemicals that are common in most homes,” said Colleen Carbott of Lowe’s Co. “Orchids are a popular option and a quick way to add a pop of color into your home.” 

Carbott also recommends rubber plants and dumb canes as easy-to-grow plants. Tabletop plants, such as the 6-inch anthurium, which requires little care and blooms almost continuously in good conditions, also is an easy to plant to grow.

“The anthurium helps to purify air,” said Carbott. “A ficus curly fig also helps to purify the air and is acclimated for lower light levels.”

Those health benefits are among of the reasons why Mary Rosenbusch of Rochester likes to surround herself with plants.

“I grew up with philodendron,” says Rosenbusch, who volunteers at the . “My grandmother always had one, and I always heard that they help cleanse the air."  

Rosenbusch is from the South and came to Michigan after she married a Michiganian. (“He took me out of the  heat and humidity,” she said with a laugh.) Yet among her many plants, she almost feels like she’s in a tropical paradise.

For Rosenbusch, it’s easy to grow plants indoors. “I bring into my home a lot of what I grow outdoors for the winter, and then take them back out come spring,” she explained.

Her favorite plants include a variety of herbs that she cooks with, several poinsettia (she cuts them down to nothing in the summer and takes them outside, then brings them in when cold weather comes, and they always rebloom). She also has a topiary-style poinsettia that’s bloomed 12 years in a row.

Her Christmas cactus is about 20 years old and started as a cutting from her mother-in-law; it blooms three times during the year — but "never at Christmas," she said, chuckling.

One of her most intriguing plants is what she calls "Mrs. Wilson’s jade tree." It's actually a clipping she received at Meadow Brook Hall (built by Matilda Dodge Wilson).

“Mrs. Wilson’s original jade plant is in the greenhouse at Meadow Brook,” Rosenbusch explained. “My clipping is now about a foot tall and 2 feet wide.”

Rosenbusch credits her indoor green thumb to the light in her condominium and her knack for knowing how and when to water plants.

“The back of my condominium faces southwest, and I have large windows in my kitchen and bedroom.”

As for watering, she’s careful to never give too much. “I stick my finger in the plant's soil down about an inch, and if the tip of my finger feels moist, I don’t water it. I’m not one to water every week precisely.” 

Plant lovers such as Rosenbusch have several container options these days. Lowe's plants come in a variety of pot styles, including red and white ceramic ones. Delightful containers, pots and mixing materials (including Spanish moss, pretty pebbles and glass chips) also await at the .

For those who want to grow and harvest citrus fruits, consider the lemon and lime plants at .

Seeking solace

If you don't have a green thumb and are craving a light-filled, almost tropical experience, there are plenty of places in Metro Detroit that offer conservatory-style havens, including the inviting glass room at the Royal Park Hotel in Rochester, which features a special space that is perfect for hosting friends or family for just about any occasion.

“Ceremonies, dinners, fundraisers, brunches — people use it for all types of events,” said Sue Keels, the hotel’s sales and marketing manager. Here, the hotel can accommodate events from sit-down dinners to strolling suppers.

The story behind the hotel's conservatory is as intriguing as the site itself.

“When building the hotel, we wanted something European, so our architect (Victor Saroki & Associates of Birmingham) actually traveled to Belgium to look at examples of different types of conservatories,” Keels said. “It was all hand-crafted in Europe and is truly a classic garden conservatory.” 

Keels invites visitors to duck in and take a peek at its extraordinary design.

Then there's the Detroit Zoo’s Butterfly Garden in a conservatory-style setting. Here, the temperature is always a comfortable 75 degrees.