Keeping pets & plants in harmony can be a challenging undertaking. If you are looking into bringing house plants into your home and don't know where to start, here are a few tips!
1) Inspiration
Hit up your local greenhouse or your favorite Instagram account for inspiration of the types of plants you like! Leafy, tall, short, trailing, or flowering; take notes on which plants strike you. Here in Minneapolis, we love Tangletown Gardens, Sunnyside Gardens, and Tonkadale to name a few!
2) Safety
Once you find some plants you like, use the ASPCA website to look up the toxicity of the plants on your list. When you are starting out, we recommend avoiding all toxic plants. Once you get to know your pet's interest level in your plants, you can make the decision whether or not you could keep a toxic plant safely out of their reach. Keeping toxic plants is particularly tricky with curious cats. It is usually better to play it safe and avoid all toxic plants. A few non-toxic plants we love are spider plants (Chlorophytum Comosum), prayer plants (Calathea), and bamboo (Phyllostachys Aurea).
**Safety alert! Avoid lilies of all varieties! These beauties are often included in cut flower bouquets. EVERY PART of these flowers are toxic and DEADLY to pets that ingest even the tiniest amount. Check every bouquet that makes it into your home and remove & discard any lilies**
3) Placement
Choose a location that is up & out of the way of curious critters and vigorous tail waggers. Look up the specific care needs for the plants you are interested in before you bring them home. Placement is everything for a happy plant. Specifically pay attention to the watering needs and lighting requirements for your new plant(s).
4) Enjoy
