LITMIR.BIZ

      The vertical sansevieria breaks up the strong horizontal lines of the window and container.

      Yet a contrast of dissimilar forms can be equally pleasing, such as a columnar cactus against the horizontal lines of walls and furnishings. You need to decide where and when you want such accents. Tall, columnar houseplants can serve as bold sculptures—aralias (Polyscias) are among the best plants for this effect. Other good vertical plants include palms, dieffenbachias, tall dracaenas, weeping fig, and columnar cacti.

      The characteristic growth pattern of a plant is called its habit. Houseplant habits are generally classified as shrublike, treelike, fountain-shaped, canopy-like, rosette-shaped, or cascading. For the best visual effect in a room, try to select plants with lines that will contrast with the dominant lines of the room. Thus, to soften the hard lines of a room, use fountain-shaped or canopy-like plants. Or if you prefer, exaggerate the linear space of such a room using large, vertical, treelike plants. Of course, always keep in mind your home’s space restrictions. Avoid overwhelming a room with too many plants or with specimens that are too large for it. Otherwise, the space will feel crowded, even junglelike.

      Sizes, shapes, and textures are carefully blended here, creating a pleasing harmony of green.

Upgrade Form into Mass

      A group of forms or shapes creates mass, another important aspect of design. Masses of low, bushy plants look best softening the hard edges of furniture. For this, ferns are ideal low-growing plants, as are calatheas, orchids, and Chinese evergreens (Aglaonema species), especially when set off by beautiful plant stands or pedestals, as shown on here.

      Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) brings the jungle indoors

Leaf Shape and Size

      Smooth, pointed leaves can make a plant look majestic and elegant. Plants with this type of leaf are ti plant (Cordyline terminalis), yuccas, and dragon tree (Dracaena concinna). The large agaves and Trichocereus, or Echinopsis, cacti are dramatic living sculptures. Swiss cheese plant (Monstera deliciosa) brings the jungle indoors, and Chinese fan palm (Licuala grandis) is formal.

      A plant with large leaves can look bold and make a dramatic statement. For example, rubber tree (Ficus elastica) and fiddle-leaf fig (F. lyrata) need to be displayed in a large room. In a smaller room, a plant that has more slender leaves, such as butterfly palm (Chrysalidocarpus lutescens), with its airy, fountainlike fronds, is more appropriate. Palms, which are so often associated with tropical designs, are versatile, blending beautifully with both contemporary and traditional settings. Plants with scalloped leaves, such as some philodendrons, are often more decorative than plants with straightedged leaves because scalloped leaves tend to look more graceful.

      Leaf textures of various houseplants include (left to right) begonia, pilea, and plectranthus.

Texture

      Texture describes the surface quality and visual weight of a plant. Plants considered to be coarse-textured have bolder leaves and more dramatic proportions. Fine-textured plants have small, delicate leaves and slender stems. You can use texture to change the perception of space in a room. For example, a fine-textured plant such as a small-leaved creeping fig (Ficus pumila) positioned at the far end of a room will fool the eye as you enter, creating the illusion that the plant is farther away, making the room seem larger. On the other hand, placing a bold, large-leaved plant at the far end of the room can help make the space look smaller, more intimate, and more inviting.

      Here the plants are in scale with their settings, from the tall tree in the corner to the short, bushy plants near the chairs. Note the trailers atop the cupboards.

Scale

      Scale is the relationship of one object to another. The scale of plants in relation to one another and to the room must be appropriate. Visualize an overgrown palm stooped against an 8-foot-high (244 cm) ceiling. The bent plant, searching for light, would look restricted and awkward and make the whole room feel uncomfortable. Similarly, a small African violet on a grand piano would become lost in the piano’s mass.

      Colorful indoor flowering bulb gardens create an early spring. Narcissus, crocus, tulips, and muscari bloom here.

Color

      Houseplant colors can affect a room’s personality. Color perception is determined by the light that strikes and reflects from surfaces or is absorbed by them. Each color has value, that is, lightness or darkness. Also, a color can be warm, such as red, or cool, such as blue.

      When plant color contrasts with wall color, the plant draws the eye, often making a large room feel smaller and more intimate. Consider the drama created by a cascading, brightly colored gesneriad, such as Episcia ‘Flame’, against an off-white wall. If there is no nearby window light, install a spotlight or track lighting.

      Conversely, for a small living room, select plants with leaves similar in value and color to the walls; plants that echo room colors make a room seem larger. Another way to create the illusion of greater space is to group plants toward the center of the room. Avoid blocking the traffic flow.

      The airy, yellow flowers of this orchid stand out against the deep red wall, providing subtle pyrotechnics and lightening the weight of the heavy furniture.

       Color and Light

      Houseplants are seen in either natural daylight or in artificial light. The type and quality of that light affect how colors are perceived.

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