Indoor Plants to Grow in Australia
Indoor plant care starts with available light. A position beside a bright window can support growth while the same room a few metres back may be too dim, even when it looks bright to us.
Succulent
Aloe vera
Aloe vera is a clumping succulent that needs very good drainage and plenty of light. Established plants need little routine care.
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Ornamental
Anthurium
Anthurium andraeanum is a tropical aroid grown for glossy leaves and long-lasting coloured spathes. It likes bright filtered light, warmth, humidity and an airy root zone.
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Vine
Arrowhead plant
Arrowhead plant is a tropical climber grown for its patterned arrow-shaped juvenile leaves. It is especially good in pots, hanging baskets and bright indoor positions where you can let it trail or give it support to climb.
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Ornamental
Baby rubber plant
Baby rubber plant is a compact semi-succulent peperomia with thick glossy leaves and an easy indoor habit. Give it bright filtered light and a free-draining mix, then let the top of the pot dry a little between waterings.
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Ornamental
Black bat plant
Black bat plant is a genuine tropical shade plant with huge whiskered flowers and glossy leaves. It needs shelter, moisture and warmth, not a sunny tropical-garden position.
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Ornamental
Cast iron plant
Cast iron plant tolerates deep shade, dry periods and general neglect better than almost anything. It forms a slow, handsome clump outdoors under trees or indoors where brighter houseplants struggle.
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Ornamental
Chinese evergreen
Chinese evergreen is a compact tropical foliage plant grown for its patterned leaves and ability to handle lower indoor light than many houseplants. Green-leaved forms are the most tolerant of dimmer positions, while strongly variegated and coloured cultivars need brighter filtered light to keep their markings.
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Ornamental
Chinese money plant
Chinese money plant is a compact perennial with round coin-like leaves on long stems. It grows best in bright filtered light and is famous for producing pups around the base that are easy to separate and share.
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Ornamental
Cordyline fruticosa
Cordyline fruticosa is a warm-climate foliage plant with broad leaves in green, burgundy, pink, red and variegated forms. It grows on upright canes and responds well when you cut tall stems back.
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Ornamental
Croton
Croton is a warm-climate evergreen shrub grown for thick, colourful leaves in green, yellow, orange, red, pink and deep burgundy. The species is native to Queensland as part of a wider Malesian–south-west Pacific range, while garden crotons are highly selected cultivars. Outdoors they suit tropical and subtropical gardens; indoors they need strong light to hold their colour.
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Succulent
Crown of thorns
A thorny semi-succulent shrub grown for repeated displays of colourful bracts around its tiny flowers. Crown of thorns suits warm Australian gardens, sunny courtyards and containers where drainage is excellent.
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Ornamental
Dieffenbachia
Dieffenbachia is a tropical foliage plant with broad patterned leaves. It grows well indoors in bright filtered light and outdoors in warm shaded gardens.
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Ornamental
Fiddle-leaf fig
Fiddle-leaf fig is a bold indoor tree with large leathery leaves shaped a little like a violin. It can make an excellent tall houseplant, but it needs substantially more light than a ZZ plant or cast iron plant and grows best when watering and position stay reasonably consistent.
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Ornamental
Happy plant
Happy plant is a tough cane-forming dracaena with broad arching leaves. It is one of those foliage plants that works both indoors and in shaded warm-climate gardens, provided it is protected from harsh sun and soggy soil.
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Vine
Heartleaf philodendron
Heartleaf philodendron is an easy trailing or climbing aroid with glossy heart-shaped leaves. It suits shelves and hanging pots, or it can be trained up a support for larger leaves. It handles moderate indoor light well, although brighter filtered light gives denser growth.
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Ornamental
Hoya australis
Hoya australis is an Australian native climber with thick leaves and fragrant white flowers. An airy mix, bright filtered light and a slightly snug pot suit it better than a big pot of wet soil.
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Ornamental
Hoya carnosa
Hoya carnosa is the classic wax plant, grown for its thick leaves and clusters of fragrant, waxy flowers. It suits a hanging pot or small trellis indoors, on a veranda or outside in a warm sheltered garden.
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Succulent
Jade plant
Jade plant is a long-lived succulent shrub with thick glossy leaves and a trunk-like stem as it ages. It thrives on bright light, excellent drainage and restraint with the watering can, indoors or outside in mild frost-free gardens.
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Succulent
Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe is a compact flowering succulent grown for fleshy green leaves and long-lasting clusters of bright flowers. Kalanchoe blossfeldiana is the familiar florist and garden species, performing best with bright light, free-draining soil and a drier interval between waterings.
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Ornamental
Lady palm
Lady palm is a clumping fan palm with slender cane-like stems and dark green leaves. It handles bright shade well and grows indoors or outside in warm sheltered gardens.
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Fruit tree
Malabar chestnut
Malabar chestnut is a tropical tree with large hand-shaped leaves and big woody seed pods. Young plants are also sold indoors as braided money trees.
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Vine
Monstera
Monstera is a tropical climber with large split and perforated leaves. Give it a sturdy support and bright filtered light and the leaves become much larger as the plant matures.
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Ornamental
Orchids
Orchids are a huge plant family with very different growing needs. For common home-grown orchids, light, an airy root zone, careful watering and repotting at the right stage of growth are the main things to get right.
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Ornamental
Parlour palm
Parlour palm is a slow-growing indoor palm with fine arching fronds and a much smaller footprint than most palms. It tolerates moderate indoor light, grows happily for years in a pot and does not need frequent repotting.
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Ornamental
Peace lily
Peace lily is a shade-loving tropical perennial with glossy leaves and white spathes. It handles ordinary indoor light better than many flowering houseplants, but grows best with bright filtered light and evenly moist, well-drained mix.
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Ornamental
Pitcher plant
Nepenthes make their own insect traps, but the roots still need air. Keep the mix consistently moist rather than swampy, give them humidity and choose a hybrid or species that matches your temperatures.
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Ornamental
Poinsettia
Poinsettia is a warm-climate shrub best known for red, pink, cream or variegated winter bracts. A gift-sized pot can become a tall garden shrub in frost-free Australia, so prune after the colour finishes.
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Ornamental
Ponytail palm
Ponytail palm is a slow-growing caudex plant with a swollen water-storing base and long arching leaves. It suits bright indoor positions and dry, free-draining outdoor gardens in warm climates.
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Ornamental
Pothos
Pothos is a tropical climber grown for glossy heart-shaped leaves. It can trail from a shelf or climb a support, where the leaves can become much larger.
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Ornamental
Prayer plant
Prayer plant grows for its patterned leaves and the way they lift at night. Bright indirect light, steady moisture and warm sheltered conditions keep the leaves much cleaner than direct sun or dry potting mix.
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Ornamental
Rubber plant
Rubber plant is a glossy-leaved fig that makes a bold indoor foliage plant and can become a very large tree in warm ground. In a pot, you can keep it compact with good light and regular pruning.
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Ornamental
Snake plant
Snake plant is a tough upright foliage plant that handles dry conditions and lower light better than many indoor plants. Its stiff leaves and compact root system make it especially useful in pots.
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Ornamental
Spider plant
Spider plant is an easy arching foliage plant that produces dangling stems covered in baby plants. It grows very well in pots, hanging baskets and bright shaded positions.
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Ornamental
ZZ plant
ZZ plant is one of the toughest glossy-leaved foliage plants you can grow. Its thick underground rhizomes store water, so it handles dry shade and missed waterings far better than constantly wet soil.
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Choose the Plant for the Room
Check window direction, direct sun and seasonal temperature changes before choosing a plant. Some tropical foliage plants suit bright filtered light, while succulents usually need a much brighter position.
Mature height and width still matter indoors. Leave room around leaves, make sure large pots can be moved safely, and check plant toxicity if pets or young children can reach them.
Water According to the Pot and Position
Feel the potting mix and learn how quickly it dries in that room. Warm bright positions use water faster than cool dim ones, and decorative cover pots must be emptied after watering.
Many indoor plants can grow outside in warm Australian districts, but a sudden move into direct sun can scorch sheltered leaves. Increase outdoor light gradually and bring cold-sensitive plants back before temperatures fall too far.
Common questions
- How much light does an indoor plant need?
- It depends on the species, but most need more natural light than a room's general brightness suggests. Watch how direct sun moves across the position and choose the plant accordingly.
- How often should indoor plants be watered?
- Check the potting mix rather than using a fixed day. Plant type, pot size, light, temperature and season all change how quickly water is used.
- Can indoor plants be moved outside?
- Many can spend time outside in suitable weather, but sheltered leaves need gradual adjustment to stronger light and wind. Check the species' cold tolerance before leaving it outdoors overnight.