House plants for health

Hi everyone from a rather frosty & cold England - this week the temperatures have dipped in to the minus with severe morning frosts & I am aware that I am spending long evenings in the warm, cosy house with the heating on. Even though I am in & out all day with students, I am still happy to hunker down at night.

One of my first Winter checks is always to make sure the fire & carbon monoxide alarms are in good working order for safety & peace of mind.

My home planted hyacinths are finally - nearly a month after Christmas - blooming & they fill the downstairs with the most divine scent.  I consciously do not use any air fresheners / plug ins at home because of concerns over the chemicals in them, but I am partial to scented flowers.

Our Cyclamens are now blooming & bringing some welcome colour. 

This poinsettia was gifted early in December & is, dare I say it, thriving still

These plants look good but one of the best plants for naturally cleansing the air is peace lilies. My A Wondering Star daughter has a knack of growing these & all of ours are from her plant which she has potted on.

Our carpets, paint, cleaning products & furniture pollute the air in our homes & so I like to open the windows on brighter days & bring in helpful plants, especially in Winter.

Fortunately, peace lilies look lovely with the added benefit of cleaning the air too. We have several dotted around the home.

We also have a peace lily in each bathroom where they enjoy the light from the windows

I have various succulents in pots in our conservatory & they seem to thrive there. I also grow sone Aloe Vera plants. My friend Kathy gifted me one plant & they multiple easily so now we have several that are potted on. 

Aloe Vera is a we'll known health supplement but there are lots of benefits from using the gel in the leaves & they are also easy to grow & they look good too....

I was recently gifted this lovely basket of plants by a visiting cousin. English Ivy is another beneficial plant ... 

English Ivy

(Hedera helix)
This hearty, climbing vine thrives in small spaces. It also fares well in rooms with few windows or little sunlight.

How it Helps: Its dense foliage excels at absorbing formaldehyde—the most prevalent indoor pollutant, says Wolverton—which shows up in wood floorboard resins and synthetic carpet dyes.

Small changes that I feel are helpful to the air quality of your homes particularly in Winter when we ventilate our homes less.  In our quest to keep our homes clean, we have to be aware of the health risks from all the chemicals used in that process ...

It is worth considering the health benefits of plants that you have at home when you buy a new plant so they are pretty as well as healthy.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope your week is going well.
Dee ~♥~