9 Best Plants to Infuse Lushness and Flavor to Your Kitchen

The kitchen is that place in our home that has all the ingredients to tickle your taste buds and satiate your appetite. This factory of our gastronomic delights, makes our in-house chefs (read moms) spend considerable time holed up in its flavors, warmth and smells. Wouldn’t it be great if we could deck it up with greenery to gift her a generous dose of oxygen amidst the fumes and the flames as she whips up a delicious meal? That is not to mention the lush beauty they infuse into the cooking area.

Things in Your Kitchen That Aid Plant Growth

Kitchens are usually the well-lit and well-ventilated areas of your den making them ideal for plant growth. However, ample heat, grease and fluctuating temperatures can be a deterrent. So it is best to choose plants that can survive in these conditions. If you have a large window that gets the sun during some part of the day, then nothing like it. If you have a small window, then you should probably go with low light plants.

Plants for a Fresh Looking Kitchen

The house plants in this list are easy to care ones that don’t require you to take time off your cooking and spend extra hours in the kitchen.

Kitchen Window Plants

1. White Jasmine

The fragrance of the blooms of this vine keeps strong odors of the kitchen at bay. The white blossoms are aesthetically pleasing too. That makes up for the wee little bit of more care and attention it needs. You should place it in an east or west-facing kitchen window during fall and winter and keep them outdoors in filtered light for a few hours during the warmer months. A good decor idea would be to place them in a hanging clay pot or basket.

Basic Care Requirement: It can withstand low light during the winters but needs full sun to partial shade in summer. The well-drained soil should be kept moist but not soggy. However, in winter, you should keep the soil slightly dry by reducing watering.

2. Herbs

Herbs on your kitchen windowsill enhance your interior décor and provide fresh and tasty ingredients for your food. You can easily pluck the leaves and add them to the meal that you are cooking. They can be grown even in small kitchens. Add to that, being considered a good Feng Shui element of your cooking hole.

Basic Care Requirement: Choose basil, thyme, rosemary, cilantro, oregano and sage if your kitchen window gets at least 5 hours of direct sunlight. If it gets anything less than that, you can grow lemon, balm, parsley, fennel and mint. You should keep the well-drained soil evenly moist but not soggy. Water the plants frequently during summer and less in fall and winter. Note that mint, basil, thyme, oregano and sage can be grown in water.

Hanging Plants in Kitchen

3. English Ivy

This hardy plant looks beautiful, hanging over your sink or by a window. You can place it on a high shelf or a hanging basket. This frees your countertop and doesn’t allow it to come in your way as you cook. Its pointy leaves come in varied shades of green with bits of whites, blacks and yellows thrown in here and there. Its air purifying properties help to reduce indoor air pollutants.

Basic Care Requirement: The decorative plant prefers bright indirect light and well-drained soil. However, you can grow it in extremely low light conditions, as well. The soil surface needs to dry completely before you water it again.

4. Heartleaf Philodendron

This elegant vine can survive the toughest of conditions without much ado. You can have it as a hanging plant or a table centerpiece. Take your pick from the variegated or plain varieties of its heart-shaped leaves.

Basic Care Requirement: It loves medium light but can grow in low light too. Water it lightly only after the top half of the soil has dried out completely.

Plants to Keep On Top Of Kitchen Cabinets

5. African Spear

Also known as sansevieria cylindrica, it can tolerate extreme weather conditions like droughts and cold spells. This makes it ideal for hot kitchens. The pointy leaves make it stand out among the cabinets in a modern kitchen. You can put it on the windowsill over your sink or anywhere close to your sink.

Basic Care Requirement: Though it prefers bright filtered light, it can tolerate low light conditions as well. The succulent plant needs you to water it only once every 2-3 weeks. Water the soil and not the leaves, so that it is all moist but drains completely before you water it again. Overwatering makes it rot. You know you have overwatered if the base of the stalks become swollen or yellow.

Plants to Keep Near the Kitchen Stove

6. Aloe Vera

This medicinal plant is tough to kill, making it ideal for the kitchen. Place it close to the stove so that you can use its gel to get relief from accidental burns and cuts. After dishwashing, you can also moisturize your dry hands with its gel. The stocky frame of the plant creates lush interest indoors. If you have a small kitchen, this is a compact plant that you can go for.

Basic Care Requirement: Bright, indirect light is required for growth. But, avoid too much light or the plant may dry up. Being a succulent plant, its water need is minimal. Water it deeply when the top two inches of the soil is dry and not otherwise. Winters call for even less watering. Note that overwatering can kill it.

Plants to Keep On the Kitchen Floor

7. Snake Plant

The no-fuss snake plant could be your best bet if you want a plant that creates a great visual interest with its long, broad and sturdy leaves. Being upright, they never get in your way. Its air-purifying properties come as a plus.

Basic Care Requirement: Place it in a corner of the kitchen that gets bright indirect sunlight for some hours. It survives in low light too. You have to wait for the soil to dry in between waterings and not overwater.

Plants for Kitchen Countertop

8. Spider Plant

This hardy plant can brave unfavorable conditions unflinchingly and is low maintenance. Being a natural air purifier, it removes odors, pollutants and fumes from the cooking space efficiently. You can keep it anywhere in the kitchen, be it by a window in the sun or on the countertop below overhead cabinets. Precious countertop space can be saved by planting them in hanging baskets.

Basic Care Requirement: It loves bright indirect light but can grow in shady or sunny places as well. Allow the top 1-inch of the well-drained soil to dry before evenly watering it, preventing any sogginess.

9. Venus Flytrap

The kitchen is a place where there is food, crumbs, aromas and garbage that can allure annoying bugs. You can get rid of them by keeping a carnivorous plant, like Venus flytrap on the counter that boasts of fly trapping abilities keeping the surroundings clean.

Basic Care Requirement: The plant needs to be kept in direct sunlight for a minimum of four hours a day. For the remaining time, you can place it in partial shade or a sunny East, West or South facing window. Water it with distilled or rainwater to keep the soil damp at all times. Poor, acidic soil should be used while potting it.

You must be glad that we introduced to tasty, pest-killing, odor-absorbing, air-purifying and aesthetically pleasing varieties of indoor plants in this article. You can thank us later. For now, take your pick from the list and transform your meal-preparing space. Cooking would cease to be a drab and routine task in the company of soul-touching greenery. Add to that, the satisfaction you get by doing your bit for the environment.