Plants for Your Dorm

A great way to add some color and energy to any space

By Vanessa Kloepfer

Even with cold temperatures and snow on the ground, spring is just around the corner. For people who own plants, whether they are outdoors or indoors, it means another season of intensive care to get them ready for the growing season. Flowering plants start to bloom and some are ready to reproduce new sprouts. For houseplants, it can mean refreshing their soil and repotting the plant to give the roots room to grow.

There are many different benefits to keeping a plant. Besides the obvious benefit of the oxygen that it produces, plants can add color to a space without much fuss. Plants have been shown to be stress reducers, which can be helpful when it comes to late nights of studying. They can also boost your mood, productivity, and can help to heal from illness faster. Overall, they have a ton of benefits that can aid you in your day-to-day life.

Though it can be difficult finding the right plant for you, here are some easy-to-care for plants that can be kept in a dorm throughout the school year and be transported home when the need arises.

A close-up of a blooming peace lily.

Peace Lily

An easy to care for plant, peace lilies are very easy to read. It flowers during the spring with white, sometimes yellow, flowers. They can be kept in a variety of different places in a dorm, so long as the temperature is somewhat consistent and doesn’t sit in direct sunlight. They are easy to care for, and can be ‘dramatic’, with its leaves drooping to clearly show when they need watering. Peace lilies are hearty plants and can withstand a bit of overwatering, a common blunder of first time plant parents.

Ferns

There are a variety of different ferns on the market, from upright and bright green to more droopy and darker in color. Care varies from fern to fern, but they can be low maintenance. Ferns require a bit more water, but to an ever-fretting plant mom such as myself, they make easy keepers. Their varieties can be an interesting mystery of what comes out of the dirt.

Snake Plants

These plants are called nearly indestructible for a reason. They can survive in different types of light and are drought resistant in case watering is forgotten. Though it can be easy to over water and hurt the plant, snake plants recover from that overwatering quickly. 

A wide variety of succulent plants in one area.

Succulents
Another broad category of plants are succulents. They come in a lot of different types, flowering and non-flowering, traditional green cacti to quirky little sprouts. They are typically low-maintenance plants that don’t need to be watered often, and can be in a variety of different light amounts depending on the type.

If any of these have piqued your interest, you can find many of them at small local plant nurseries and garden shops. Some around the cities include Mother Earth Gardens, Highland Nursary and Lilydale Garden Center. If pressed, you can also find them at a variety of big box stores, such as Home Depot, Menards, and even Target. 

If, after all of this, you’re certain that you’d kill one, you can find fake plants to try and give some of the same perks with less of the care. Whatever you might choose, make sure to do your research about the various plants that are out there and find the one that is right for you.