10 Pet-Friendly Plants to Add to Your Home

Orchids have a reputation for being tough to grow because they need a special potting mix, a precise amount of water and even a special pot. Don’t worry, you can grow these pet-friendly plants. Choose an easy-to-grow variety like a moth orchid.

Give it low light, weekly watering, monthly feeding, and provide humidity. You can do this by giving the leaves and roots a daily mist of water or by placing the orchid pot in a saucer full of moist gravel to create the humidity it needs.

Air plants are ideal for people who don’t want fussy indoor plants. These pet-safe houseplants are super low-maintenance and bring dramatic, sculptural form to a room. They don’t even need a pot of dirt in which to grow. Just put them in a pot or display them in a terrarium and they’ll get nutrients through their leaves.

Keep air plants moist by spraying their leaves with a plant mister or by soaking the entire plant in water mixed with a bit of liquid plant fertilizer. They thrive in low light and do well in a humid bathroom.

Spider plants, also called airplane plants, are one of the most popular houseplants around. They take their name from the wands of baby plants they grow that look like little hovering spiders. They’re great because not only are they pet-safe plants, but they’re also simple to grow. Spider plants need little attention from you and can thrive in low light with a moderate amount of water. So, if you're looking for plants that are pet safe and easy to care for, this is a great choice.

Ponytail palms aren’t true palms. They’re a member of the agave family, which means they need even less water than a real palm. A ponytail palm can handle a little neglect, good news for those of us who forget to water our plants. Kept indoors, ponytail palms only grow 4 feet tall. They’re simple to grow if you don’t overwater them and give them lots of bright, indirect light.

African violets are one of the few houseplants that bloom in low light, so they’ll bring pet-safe flowers into your house. They’re native to jungle floors where light and water are filtered by a tree canopy. To give yours what it needs, put your African violet on the sill of a bright east- or north-facing window where it won’t get direct afternoon sun.

These unusual plants have leathery, gray-green leaves shaped like the forked antlers of a deer, hence the name. Staghorn ferns, also called elkhorn ferns, look exotic but are easy to grow if you give them low light and moderate humidity. A bathroom with a big window and steamy showers is a good spot for a staghorn.

Staghorn ferns aren’t true ferns. They’re air plants that take in nutrients through their leaves, not their roots. They’re having a moment as a plant cult favorite because they add organic structure and exotic biophilic style to a room.

Boston ferns have feathery leaves and look great in hanging baskets and in containers as indoor houseplants. They like moist soil and indirect light, so Boston ferns are a good pick for a low-light, high-humidity indoor spot like a bathroom. All true ferns are pet-safe plants, so button ferns, bird’s nest ferns or Kimberly Queen ferns are good indoor plants for a house with dogs and cats, too.

Prayer plants take their name from their striking striped leaves’ habit of curling up at night when sunlight fades and air temperature cools. The plant is essentially sleeping. Biologists believe prayer plants curl their leaves to retain moisture or keep insects away.

Prayer plant grows best in low light, so it will be happy inside by a bright window. Let its soil dry out between waterings. This houseplant is grown for its striking foliage. It only gets 6 to 8 inches tall, so a prayer plant fits in small indoor spaces like on a wall shelf or end table.

This aptly named plant is not poisonous to cats or dogs. Cat palms are native to Mexico and can grow up to 6 feet tall, bringing tropical drama to a room. Cat palms like humid conditions and indirect, bright sunlight.

They’re a good pick for a sunroom or any indoor space that has room for a giant plant and gets a lot of natural light. Majesty palms are another good pet-friendly plant pick, as are areca palms. You can have your palms and your pets, too.

These exotic tropical houseplants bring rich color and architectural shape to your house and are as easy to care for as a fern. Give a bromeliad indirect sunlight, lots of humidity and ample airflow, and it’ll be one of the most striking pet-safe plants in your house.

Spritz your moisture-loving bromeliad with water every couple of days, or put it in your bathroom where the steam from the shower will mist it for you. Many bromeliads are in the air plant family which means they don’t need soil to grow. Place these non-poisonous house plants in moss baskets or attach them to pieces of wood and they’ll get nutrients from the air.