You don’t have to be a millennial plant lady to appreciate luscious leaves at home. Naturally they are decorative (when thriving) but when it comes to plants, I prefer functionality. How soothing is it for my pragmatic mind to know that plants can do so much more for my health than I imagined. Improving the air quality for example. Not only is green soothing for the eyes (lucky if you have a garden) but we also learned in school that they give off precious oxygen. And some are better at it than others. Some plants can even help with lowering blood pressure, are calming and help you fall asleep. Others are potent natural air purifiers. Let’s take a look at five plants that are especially beneficial if you keep them in the bedroom.
- Snake plant: My personal No 1. It grows slowly but steadily and it does not need a lot of water. It is a wonderful air purifier, giving off oxygen at night and even removes some harmful toxins, such as formaldehyde which can be found in hairspray.
- Valerian: A pretty plant with small pink and white flowers, Valerian root is commonly known in the form of tablets or tea to help to calm stressed nerves. In the bedroom, the sweet scent can be sleep inducing and help with insomnia. You can even use its petals and put them in a hot bath before bedtime. This plant will need a lot of sun so be sure to keep it near the window.
- Lavender: Lavender is super versatile, its scent is relaxing (especially for babies), keeps moths away, lowers the heart rate and blood pressure and is probably the most known plant to help you sleep. Besides, its lush purple bouquet is pretty to look at. It needs warmth and sunlight combined with little water. No wonder it is abundant in the Provence.
- Aloe Vera: Another multi tasking plant that does more than just one job. Like the snake plant, it purifies the air, whilst needing little water and a fair bit of sunlight to grow. Aloe Vera is also a medicinal plant and it is safe to use on your skin. Whenever there’s a little emergency coming from kitchen such as burns or cuts, you can cut a small piece off the leaf and use its gel to put on the wound. It’s got healing properties, is cooling, disinfecting and non greasy.
- Devil’s Ivy: Ignore the name, this plant has actually heart shaped leaves. It acts equally as an air purifier and is great if you have no space by the window to put it. You can either hang it from the ceiling or put it on top of a high shelf, it will spiral down beautifully and can make for a stunning feature. It also only needs little sunlight and watering once a week.