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The Dirt

Anne Gregory chose her Fort Wayne home in large part because it overlooks a swath of green boulevard and has a lot and a half to putter in. Not a fan of mowing, she's gradually adding more perennial beds and bird-friendly plantings. The Dirt, which publishes every other Sunday, is an extension of her chats with fellow amateur gardeners.
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Last updated: November 1, 2009 7:48 a.m.

Plants clean air indoors

Anne Gregory
The Journal Gazette
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As we mourn the hostas and other perennials that turned yellow after the hard frost, it’s time to focus inward.

Maybe because The Journal Gazette has launched a new Living Green online page for people who want to live a more environmentally conscious lifestyle – with healthier, greener and affordable ways to live – it got me thinking about what plants I have at home and at work.

A few years ago, the people who took us to the moon and beyond did a study to find out which houseplants naturally clean the air around us. The NASA study said the following common plants absorb benzene, formaldehyde and trichloroethylene, as well as produce oxygen:

•English ivy (Hedera helix)

•Spider plant (Chlorophytum comosum)

•Golden pothos (Scindapsus aures or Epipremnum aureum)

•Peace lily (Spathiphyllum “Mauna Loa”)

•Chinese evergreen (Aglaonema modestum)

•Bamboo palm or reed palm (Chamaedorea sefritzii)

•Snake plant, also known as mother-in-law’s tongue (Sansevieria trifasciata “Laurentii”)

•Heartleaf philodendron (Philodendron oxycardium, syn. Philodendron cordatum)

•Selloum philodendron (Philodendron bipinnatifidum, syn. Philodendron selloum)

•Elephant ear philodendron (Philodendron domesticum)

•Red-edged dracaena (Dracaena marginata)

•Cornstalk dracaena (Dracaena fragans “Massangeana”)

•Janet Craig dracaena (Dracaena deremensis “Janet Craig”)

•Warneck dracaena (Dracaena deremensis “Warneckii”)

•Weeping Fig (Ficus benjamina)

•Gerbera Daisy or Barberton daisy (Gerbera jamesonii)

•Pot Mum or florist’s chrysanthemum (Chrysantheium morifolium)

•Rubber plant (Ficus elastica)

Indoor plants help filter icky smells in the air, which is much nicer than a chemical spray (at least in my book).

Our newsroom has a couple of peace lilies and a reed palm that spend each summer outside at Dirt Cottage. I have plenty of plants at home, including more peace lilies, a rubber plant that is older than some of my co-workers, a heartleaf philodendron and a mother-in-law’s tongue. The way English ivy grows outside, I’m a little afraid to bring it inside.

Lucky bamboo is also known as dracaena sanderiana and is easy to grow with a little water and no other care.

If you’d like to share a photo of your favorite houseplant, you can send it to garden@jg.net as a JPEG attachment. We’ll post photos on We’re Digging It, our gardening blog. Just include your name, the name of the plant and where you live.

To check out Living Green, go to www.journalgazette.net/livinggreen.

Anne Gregory is a garden putterer, not a gardening expert, and JournalGazette.net writer and editor. Garden photos (JPEGs, please) and tips may be sent to garden@jg.net (please put “The Dirt” in the subject line) or 600 W. Main St., Fort Wayne, IN 46802.