Inside An Indoor Plant Oasis

I have over 200 plants living in my house in the English countryside and today I'm showing you every single one of them, warts and all. Think of this as a guided tour through my indoor plant oasis. I'll show you what's thriving, what's struggling, the lessons I have learned and some of the mistakes I've made along the way. One thing you might notice is that there are actually fewer plants than there used to be. When we first moved in I crammed them absolutely everywhere but over the last couple of years I've realised that sometimes less really is more. So let's start in the living room. We start in the hub of the whole house, the living room and one of my statement plants, the Monstera Thai Constellation. She used to live in my conservatory but after being knocked onto the floor for what felt like the hundredth time I decided enough was enough and moved her here where there's a lot less foot traffic. She's living on a moss pole and has become quite the beast. Above her is one of my favourite features in the whole house, the plant shelf. I wanted something that would make this end of the room feel more alive because before it was basically just a TV stuck in the middle of a blank wall. The shelf completely transforms the space. If you're thinking of creating something similar my biggest piece of advice is to be patient. Choose plants that naturally trail and then give them time to actually do it. It'll look a bit sparse at first but once the vines start growing and overlapping everything fills in surprisingly quickly. I've got a mixture of Pothos and Philodendrons weaving around each other, spilling off the shelf and even climbing up the wall. The Sansi grow lights on either end are absolutely essential because the nearest window is a long way away and there simply isn't enough natural light otherwise. Underneath the shelf is this bench with a few of my favourite plants including this gorgeous Allocasia Platinum. I'm also a big believer in investing in nice pots. Unusual shapes, different colours and different textures stop a collection from feeling repetitive and make the plant stand out even more. This Rex Begonia is a perfect example. It really pops against the pot. I've also tried to vary the heights across the bench with the taller Ficus Elastica Tineci surrounded by smaller trailing plants to create a bit more depth while another grow light above makes sure they're all getting the light they need. This area used to be absolutely packed with plants. I had four sitting on the floor in front of the double doors and another three crammed onto each windowsill. Back then I thought the answer was always more plants. Eventually I realised it was just too much. I've stripped it back to two statement plants in front of the doors and a couple of simpler plants either side. The whole space feels much calmer and as an added bonus, far more natural light now makes its way into the living room. I almost never keep plants on the floor but these two are the exception. If they're on stands they'd be at constant risk of being knocked over every time someone opens or closes the curtains. One plant I do have to show you is this Pothos climbing a mosspole. The variegation is absolutely gorgeous and as it's climbed higher the leaves have become noticeably bigger. It's one of my favourite plants in the house. Next to her is my oldest plant, the rubber tree. I'll admit the pot setup isn't ideal but I just can't get enough of those huge glossy leaves. This corner gets some of the brightest light in the house so it's home to a few proper sun lovers. The aloe is big and beefy. This jade plant started life as a tiny cutting and has grown into a great specimen. This snake plant has only just finished flowering and tucked in on the end is my fiddle leaf fig. One of my favourite places to sit is in this chair where I can look across the living room and admire all the plants. To be honest I normally just end up staring at empty spaces and trying to work out where I can squeeze in a few more. Next to the sofa is one of my console tables. You'll notice this whole area is lit up with grow lights. If you want plants spread throughout your home rather than just crammed onto the windowsills, grow lights really are a game changer. This alocasia is one I always seem to struggle with. He just refuses to get any bigger. A new leaf appears and an old one dies off and I never seem to make any progress. I do like the dracaena next to the console table but I'm not really sure about the ficus elastica. I keep looking at it and thinking that spot would probably work much better with something trailing instead. What do you think? This plant stand is one of my favourite finds from a local antique shop and this aglaonema sits on it perfectly. Above that I have a hoia waiatea trailing down and over to the side one of several bamboo shelving units dotted around the house. They're not perfect admittedly but they let me stack plants vertically and make much better use of the space. One of the highlights on here has to be this nepenthes, also known as a tropical pitcher plant. Those strange looking pitchers are actually traps that lure insects in for the plant to digest. Lovely and just a little bit gruesome. Across the other side of the room I just have to show you this pothos that started embedding itself into the built in cabinet. The moment a pothos sees a surface it can climb it does so completely uninvited. I'm not sure the walls are going to thank me in a few years time. The jade next to him has developed those lovely purple edges on the leaves which is usually a good sign that it's getting plenty of light. Working our way towards the doorway we come to another console table. As soon as I moved into this house I knew I wanted to make use of this doorway so I put a pothos on one side and a hoia on the other with the hope that one day the two would meet overhead. It's definitely a work in progress but it is starting to take shape and this monstera adansonio will be joining the party soon. Speaking of which this guy is growing semi-hydroponically. He's sitting in pond which is stones with a reservoir of water underneath so there's no soil involved at all. It works brilliantly for certain plants and he seems to be absolutely loving it. The monstera next to him is making his way up a trellis which I personally prefer over traditional moss bowls. And grow lights don't have to look ugly either. This is just an ordinary lamp fitted with a sansi grow bulb and I think it adds loads of character to a corner of living room that would otherwise feel a little empty. Now we come to the main plant room, the conservatory. This used to be absolutely packed with plants on bamboo shelving. I had seven units in here at one point but I've scaled that back to four because it was starting to feel a bit overcrowded. It's funny because I used to think squeezing in more plants automatically made the room look better. These days I think giving each plant space to shine actually creates a much nicer display. In reality this room is mostly just for me to potter around with my plants apart from when the family takes it over at Christmas and Easter. I use this kentia palm to soften the archway into the space with a couple more plants on stands sitting alongside her. This califare orbifolia is also worth pointing out because despite califares having a reputation for being divas she's actually one of the easiest plants I've grown. One of the things I love most about this side of the conservatory is how the shelving naturally divides the room from my office without blocking too much of the light. Everything has gone a bit berserk thanks to the incredible growing conditions in here. There are pothos vines and tradescantia stems wandering off in every direction. In fact all of those pothos vines trace back to this mixed planter that I put together years ago. It's still one of my favourite creations. Of course not everything is thriving. I can't seem to get a chew out of this anthurium no matter what I do and the fetonias are having a bit of a rough time as well. Pretty much everything else though absolutely loves it in here. Closer to the window I've created a little succulent and cactus corner where they can soak up as much sunshine as possible. The oversized dining table sits in the middle of the room and more often than not has a couple of plant projects spread across it much to Mrs Sheffield's delight. This is also where another four bamboo shelving units used to live but I've gradually removed most of them. Now it's much simpler with just these two statement plants sitting alongside a single shelving unit. My current mission is to get this bird of paradise to flower. That is a pretty ambitious goal indoors but I'm hoping the conservatory provides enough light. Whether the British climate will cooperate is another matter Next to her is probably my most frustrating plant the philodendron melanocrysum or as I like to call her the philodendron melanocrysis because one way or another she's always in crisis. At the moment it's spider mites that I just can't seem to get rid of. From a distance the leaves look absolutely spectacular don't they? Up close though it's a very different story. I also have to give a mention to my colea sitting proudly on top of the bamboo shelf. It's easily in my top three favourite plants. The colours are just incredible. I pinch and prune her every week through spring and then into early summer to encourage a nice bushy shape so she's actually not looking her best at the moment even though I know she'll be much fuller before long. And then sitting on the floor simply because I've run out of places to put him is a great example of a moss bowl doing exactly what it's supposed to do. The leaves on this monstera alba are getting bigger and grander with every new one that unfurls. He's looking absolutely epic. So the living room and the conservatory are definitely the main plant spaces in the house but they're not the only ones. I've got a few more dotted around elsewhere so let's go and take a look. This is the boot room or the foyer if you want to get fancy and this whole fireplace alcove was crying out for a bit of life. So I've got a I always find it amusing how the umbrella plant is leaning towards the grow light. He's practically chasing it across the room. In the middle is what I think is a thanksgiving cactus that's somehow been flowering continuously since November. Over on the other side this area often doubles as my plant hospital. Any poorly plants get banished here until they're back on their feet. This alocasia for example are spider mites so I chopped her right back and moved her away from the rest of my collection while she recovers. And then there's this caliphate zebrina, one of my oldest plants. She must be getting on for about 13 years old now. This room will get decorated at some point maybe when the kids have moved out and stopped causing carnage. Into the kitchen now and we have something you don't often see, a flowering croton. The blooms have nearly finished now but they did look lovely when they were fresh. What I really like about this plant is how much it's branched out over the years. He's clearly very happy in this spot which surprises me because this window faces north. You'd expect a croton to want far more light than that. Across the room I should also show you my Chinese money plant. These are normally my kryptonite but somehow she's looking nice and full at the moment. I genuinely think the secret has been to leave her alone and stop fussing over her. And then there's this, a perfect illustration of what low light can do to a plant. Funny but not exactly what nature intended. Above him on yet another bamboo shelving unit is my peace lily that's been treating me to flowers for the last few weeks. A couple of them have now turned green for some reason which always looks a bit odd but the plant itself seems perfectly happy. This is where the video making magic happens in my office. I've got an orchid on my desk that's been holding on to these flowers for months. In my experience the white varieties always seem to bloom for the longest. Let me know if you've found that. On top of the cabinet on the other side of the room I've got a collection of other orchids most of which are taking a well-earned rest and recharging their batteries before the next flowering cycle. This shelving unit is tucked away out of sight and is mainly reserved for propagation projects and experiments. In other words it's where all the ugly stuff lives that Mrs S doesn't want on display. At the moment I'm trying to root some golem jade cuttings from both stem and individual leaves to see which method works best. And I have to say I'm very lucky to have this office space overlooking the garden. It's a lovely peaceful place to spend the day. And that's the tour. Over 200 plants spread throughout the house and believe it or not I'm still trying to find space for more. If you'd like me to do an updated tour in a year or two and see how much everything has changed let me know in the comments. Thanks for watching and I'll see you again in the next one.