As beautiful as Palm Beach County is, being trapped in the home because of Covid-19 can feel wearied and stifling. Filling your home with plants has many benefits. They can enhance mood and lower anxiety, improve air quality, and increase productivity, among other things. Plants add a certain amount of life to a room you might otherwise feel pretty stale about.

“It’s true that NASA had a very controlled and confined area for that space station experiment, but did you know they also did a similar experiment with a BioHome that was 45 feet by 16 feet."  Quoting the BioHome study, Before the houseplants were added... anyone entering the newly constructed facility would experience burning eyes and respiratory difficulties, two of the most common symptoms of Sick Building Syndrome. Once the plants were introduced to the environment, analysis of the air quality indicated that most of the VOCs had been removed, and the symptoms disappeared.”

With that said, visiting your local nursery can be an overwhelming experience. Many of the nurseries in the area have an abundance of varieties to choose from.  Seems like a botany degree is required for selection of plants. To improve the interior air quality of your home, regardless of if you are a houseplant beginner, hobby gardener or just want some suggestions for new options, read on.

Recent discoveries suggest that you would have to shelter many plants to equal the air purifying efficiency of modern-day biofilters and other technologies. If you do decide to purchase houseplants to freshen the air naturally, these are several of the species found to be most effective:

-        Areca, Lady, Dwarf Date, and Bamboo Palms

-        Snake Plant

-        Peace Lily

-        Boston Fern

-        Rubber Tree

-        Spider Plant

-        Ficus Tree

 -       Cornstalk Plant