The 10 Plants That Will Be Happiest in Your Bathroom

Begonias

• Botanical Name: Semperflorens Cultorum
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting soil
• Soil pH: 5.2 to 6.0

This easy-growing houseplant can add a pop of vibrant color to your bathroom to brighten up the backdrop of your other green houseplants. Begonias are moisture-loving plants native to a subtropical climate—so your bathroom is the perfect place to display them to replicate their natural habitat.

Plenty of steam from the shower and a window with bright, indirect light allows your begonias the humid conditions they need to grow healthy. If your begonias are potted outside during the summer, your bathroom is also a great place to bring them in for the winter.

Begonias come in several varieties, so find the style that best fits your space. Polka dot begonias, an angel-wing shaped variant, present deep-green colors and attractive white spots on their long, pointed leaves. Escargot begonias, or rex begonias, are shaped by spiral white- and green-striped leaves. This swirling and contrasting pattern often has pink edges, thanks to the red tones on the undersides of rex begonia leaves.

Peace Lily

• Botanical Name: Spathiphyllum
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting soil
• Soil pH: 5.0 to 6.5

These graceful rainforest plants with shiny green leaves and white flowers will grow lush even in low light, or in purely fluorescent light with the right humidity. Thanks to their spreading growth habit, they make a great floor plant: Just take care to display them on a high shelf or another inaccessible surface, as peace lilies are toxic to dogs and cats. 

Growing to about three feet tall indoors with simple care steps, it's clear why peace lillies are a favorite of many first-time gardeners and interior designers.

Orchids

• Botanical Name: Orchidaceae
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting soil
• Soil pH: 5.5 to 6.5

If you've ever seen a beautifully-styled bathroom with a colorful, blooming orchid at its focal point, it won't be a surprise that these plants are a common interior designer pick for the room. With beautiful tropical flowers, orchids have a reputation for being finicky, but the steam and warmth from the shower in your bathroom will go a long way to keep them happy.

Be sure to determine which type of orchid you have, as some variants have different soil needs than others. Unlike many other plants that prefer indirect light, orchids can actually tolerate brighter conditions—so if you have a south-facing bathroom, this species will thrive on a windowsill where others can't.

If your orchid is showing signs of sunburn, move it a bit further from the window to allow it more shade. As long as its leaves are green, this plant is receiving a healthy amount of nutrients.

The Sill Purple Orchid $98.00

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Monstera

• Botanical Name: Monstera deliciosa
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting soil
• Soil pH: 5.5 to 7.0

Looking for an excuse to bring this trendy beauty into your life? Monstera deliciosa, sometimes called the Swiss cheese plant, is an excellent choice to grow in your bathroom.

Even under low-light conditions, this plant can thrive in the bathroom thanks to the added humidity. Bright, indirect light is ideal, but your monstera can still be healthy in the shade: It just may grow a little more slowly, and develop less of the characteristic slits and perforations in its leaves.

The Sill Monstera Deliciosa $67.00

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Bromeliads

• Botanical Name: Bromeliaceae
• Sun Exposure: Indirect light or dappled shade
• Soil Type: Epiphytic
• Soil pH: 4.0 to 7.0

To add lush greenery and vivid color to your bathroom, find a spot on a windowsill for your bromeliad: A flower-shaped plant that grows on trees and other plants in tropical rainforests.

Bromeliads feature leaves in shades from solid green to variegated pink, and these plants bloom in bright, tropical hues. The humidity in your bathroom simulates its natural habitat—and rays of indirect light paired with a bit of water are all this plant needs to flourish. Simply water your bromeliad to fill its central, rosette-shaped cup of leaves, and use standard potting soil or a soilless cactus mix as its planting medium.

In addition to their colorful appearance, bromeliads clean the air in your home. This plant is also popular among designers for its ability to grow on pieces of bark without soil (as it does in rainforest environments).

Pothos

• Botanical Name: Epipremnum aureum
• Sun Exposure: Moderate, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting mix
• Soil pH: 6.1 to 6.5

In most bathrooms, extra space on vanities, shelves, and windowsills can be limited—but there's a solution. Trailing plants like pothos can add greenery to your room in hanging planters without taking up any valuable storage space.

To hang your pothos, simply anchor a plant hook in the ceiling near an east, north, or south-facing window. Hang this philodendron in a coconut coir basket or macrame hanger for an attractive display and space-saver in your bathroom.

The Sill Marble Pothos $32.00

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Prayer Plants

• Botanical Name: Maranta leuconeura
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting mix
• Soil pH: 5.5 to 6.0

Prayer plant is the common name for a large family of humidity-loving, low-light plants with patterned leaves. Variants like marantas and calatheas are named for for their leaves' tendency to fold upward toward the sun like praying hands at night.

You'll find several leaf designs and growth habits in different types of prayer plants, but the maranta varieties are great for new gardeners. Zebra plant, a calathea species, has a contrasting leaf pattern similar to the animal's markings.

Since too much direct sun can cause the markings on your prayer plant's leaves to fade, choose a place to display it that receives plenty of indirect light. These humidity-loving plants can bring beautiful colors and patterns to your bathroom, only needing weekly mistings in the winter and whenever their leaves' edges feel brittle.

Air Plants

• Botanical Name: Tillandsia
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Epiphytic
• Soil pH: 5.5 to 6.0 (Water pH)

With minimal care needs and dozens of varieties with their own unique looks, air plants—also by their botanical name, tillandsia—are some of the most attractive, foolproof bathroom plants available.

Since they absorb moisture and nutrients from the air around them, a spot next to your steamy shower is the perfect place to display your air plant. These species don't require any soil to grow, so you can display them in plenty of creative ways: Group them in a frame on the wall, hang them from the ceiling in glass globes, or arrange them on the windowsill with seashells or driftwood for a beachy design vibe.

To care for your air plants, simply spritz them with water once a week or when the leaves start to feel too dry. During the spring and summer growing seasons when the air has more natural humidity, your plants will likely require less water than in winter (just be sure to monitor their moisture during the dry months of the year).

The Sill Six Assorted Air Plants $30.00

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Parlor Palm

• Botanical Name: Chamaedorea elegans
• Sun Exposure: Medium indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting soil
• Soil pH: 5.1 to 7.5

This moisture-loving, adaptable plant can add a tropical feel to your bathroom with minimal care. Parlor palms are some of the most versatile tropical plants in terms of light: They can adapt to grow well in low-light conditions in addition to bright, indirect light.

While your palm tree can still be healthy with less humidity, it's ideal to place this plant in areas like your bathroom to give it enough moisture to thrive. Like peace lillies, this species will tell you when it's time for more water—its leaves will start to brown or dry out at the tips.

Parlor palms will flourish in most bathrooms better than other areas of the house because of the added moisture in the air. Your palm may require a few more mistings in the winter than during the growing season, so keep an eye on its leaves to know when it's time for more water. With minimal care needs, parlor palms are very easy houseplants to keep your space feeling tropical and green.

Ferns

• Botanical Name: Polypodiophyta
• Sun Exposure: Bright, indirect light
• Soil Type: Well-draining potting soil
• Soil pH: 4.0 to 7.0

There are thousands of fern species falling into the Tracheophyta family (vascular plants), but most variants prefer humid conditions: Making them great candidates for trailing on a corner bathroom stand or as hanging plants near a sunny window.

Elegant ferns, from the classic Boston fern to the sleek bird’s nest fern, enjoy humid environments with medium light. A northern or eastern window exposure is an ideal place for your fern to grow healthy, but it can also thrive in south- or west-facing bathrooms if it's placed a bit further from the window. Choose an area with bright, indirect or filtered light, and ensure it's watered regularly.

Keeping ferns in your bathroom will likely alleviate the need to mist their leaves or create a humidifying tray. These beautiful plants bring a vibrant pop of green to any room, and are easy to grow with simple care steps.