10 underrated houseplants, according to professional green thumbs | House & Garden

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No matter the time of year, freshly cut flowers will always bring a sense of joy and natural beauty into any room. Fresh bouquets in water — whether grown ourselves or gifted — are normally at their best for a couple of weeks, but blooms will be fleeting and are usually thrown away once they start to lose their colour and wilt. So, a question that I’m asked a lot is simply — ‘How can I make my flowers last longer?’ The answer lies in the art of drying flowers — a craft that I’ve been immersed in for the past seven years. Dried floral arrangements will bring a different aesthetic to interiors compared to fresh — they are not for everyone — but if you like the look, you can very easily prolong the beauty of your flowers by months — even years — by creating striking arrangements that celebrate floral structures and will add interest to mantelpieces, dining tables, sideboards — you name it — throughout the seasons.

Deservedly one of the most popular houseplants in the UK, the peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii) is relatively easy to grow and, in good condition, always looks elegant. Above a mass of large, glossy evergreen leaves that stand tall and proud, the plant intermittently sends up white arrow-shaped spathes. These petal-like bracts, which can be 15-centimetres long and resemble the sails of a ship, are not flowers, but encase the flowers proper, which are held on a spike known as a spadix. In bloom, the peace lily is reminiscent of the arum lily and our native lords-and-ladies (sometimes known as lily grass or jack-in-the-pulpit), which also belong to the arum family (Araceae); none are true lilies (Lilium).

Iris ‘Benton Olive’ in Sarah Price's garden

Plants have as much power as a piece of art, beautiful fabric, or favourite antique to make a room sing, but decorating with them requires just as much consideration as anything else. We chatted with an interior designer, landscape architect, floral designer, and well-known tastemaker about design strategies to implement when bringing plants into the home. Plus, our experts have shared a few favourite houseplants to help you get started—as well as their top sources for impeccable faux options if you’re wary of the added responsibility.

10 stems of foliage cut from your garden, foraged or purchased from your local florist

Air plants (Tillandsia) earn their name by being capable of growing without soil. In their native habitat of Central and South America, they cling to trees, cliffs, roofs, and telephone wires with their roots and absorb nutrients from the air. Their grey-green foliage is coated in a silvery frosting of water-absorbing hairs called trichomes; these are capable of taking moisture from the atmosphere, especially in rainy or misty conditions.

I've had no end of people asking me if I’ve seen the natural pool episode of Grand Designs — where a couple in Chichester build a daring new house with a kitchen that sits overlooking a beautiful big swimming pond. The lucky owners can walk straight off their decking into clean, chemical-free water and swim completely immersed in nature. It seems it’s really caught people’s imaginations.

Harry's Chelsea garden, The School Food Matters Garden

A garden with a restrained planting palette can be so exciting and atmospheric. Nowhere is this more true than in the case of the white garden. The limitations of choosing plants of a single colour means you can focus your attention; in fact there are so many plants out there that if you don’t have some sort of guiding principles when you set about designing your garden, you will soon be lost and overwhelmed with options.

Ina Garten at her East Hampton home.

The gardens at Great Dixter.