“Roots need oxygen to breathe, just like we need oxygen to breathe.” These words of wisdom from Neil Mattson, an associate professor in the department of horticulture. He recently shared some pointers with Good Housekeeping Magazine, for a feature "The 11 Houseplants You Can’t KIll.” He recommends setting plants in gravel-filled saucers so they’re not sitting in extra drainage water and built-up salt. And the king of indestructible plants? The ZZ plant (pictured, bottom right); named not because it shares a human appreciation for sleep, but rather an abbreviation for its official moniker, zamioculcas zamiifolia. It’s native to East Africa but thrives anywhere, and is appealing because it tolerates the dangerous trifecta of plant-killers: drought, low light, and really low humidity. Other winners include the flowering jade plant (pictured above) and the calathea “prayer plant” (pictured, top right).
