9 Best Desk Plants To Bring Your Office to Life

One of the easiest plants to grow and maintain is the snake plant. Formally called the Sansevieria, these plants only need watering every few weeks and can handle nearly any level of light so low light offices can use them to breathe life into the room. It comes in multiple styles and colors to fit your office vibes.

African violets are another sturdy plant option when you're limited on space and want a pop of color. This vibrant violet is actually watered from the bottom to keep the leaves from rotting and you should only use enough to keep the soil moist. As for light, they'll take what they can get and even thrive in artificial light.

Similar to snake plants, ZZ plants are near impossible to kill. Even when it looks like all of its leaves are falling off, a quick watering will have it springing back in no time. Low light is perfect for a ZZ plant and watering is only needed about once a month—more if your office is dry. Do be careful not to let office pets snack on the leaves as they are toxic to our furry friends.

Often seen as hanging plants, Boston ferns are perfect for the corner of your desk as they drape along the side. They help add humidity to your office air and enjoy bright but indirect sunlight so keep them out of west-facing windows. Mist the leaves, keep the soil consistently moist, and trim off scraggly pieces to keep your fern in top shape.

Here's one with a use outside of being a natural air purifier and humidity regulator. When the leaves get large enough, you can snap a piece off and use the aloe vera inside to help with sunburns or to kill bacteria. To produce this amazing substance, aloe vera plants need heavy amounts of light but do a good job retaining water so make sure the soil is completely dry before giving it more.

Easily one of the most beautiful plants you can have in your office, a peace lily can be a focal point or supporting character in your office's production. The buds will bloom with bright light but medium light will still give you that lush green foliage. These lilies are a bit more fragile when it comes to water so make sure you hydrate the soil about once a week.

If you thought snake plants were easy, wait until you try a spider plant. Even the lowest light offices with little or no airflow can be a happy home for a spider plant. This natural air purifier can even use your desk lamp for light and only asks that you water it once every few days so make a routine out of it as part of your workflow.

The philodendron genus of plants covers a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and colors but they all share the same lack of need for regular watering making maintenance a breeze—simply let the top layer of soil dry between watering sessions. Lighting will depend on the color you get with solid green leaves needing less light compared to their white or pink mixed counterparts.

Boasting the widest variety of size, shape, patterns, and even impersonators is the world of cacti and succulents. Thousands of species are out there from traditional looking cacti from the desert to succulents that look like small rocks until you give them a touch. Because they thrive in arid climates, they prefer direct sunlight whenever possible with as little water as possible. We're talking drops of water needed each week!