by Megan Hughes, Better Homes & Gardens – February 9, 2022
Photo: Courtesy of Bloomscape
Following the latest color trend couldn’t be easier for houseplant aficionados and newbies to the indoor garden scene alike. Sage green is popping up as a featured color from several paint companies in 2022. The gray-green hue is loved for its connection to the earth, and creating a sense of calm for all in its presence. Aside from painting your walls, plenty of houseplants provide a natural source of this mind-quieting color. Place varieties with sage green leaves wherever you’d like to enjoy their fresh, calming effect. Just make sure to pair the light conditions of your space with the plant that thrives there.
1. Air Plant
Growing in unique, whimsical shapes and rich in texture, air plants add instant interest to a room. Perch a trio of them on a tabletop as a centerpiece or place them in clear glass globes that are suspended from a window frame. Air plants don’t require soil, but bright, indirect light is essential.
2. Arrowhead Vine
Grow this lush houseplant on a tabletop or let it ramble up a trellis. Look for variegated selections of arrowhead vine in shades of white, cream, and silver to get the just-right shade of sage green you want. This plant thrives in low light and is perfect for infusing a bedroom or office with a little life.
3. Bromeliad ‘Aechmea Pink
‘Bold and stylish, ‘Aechmea Pink’ bromeliad has strappy silver-green leaves. Once this statement-making plant produces its showy pink blooms, the foliage will slowly decline. Grow bromeliads as short-lived houseplants.
4. Chinese Evergreen
Tough yet beautiful Chinese evergreen tolerates low light and long periods of drought. Young plants are slow-growing and well-suited for growing on a tabletop, while older, larger potted plants thrive as accent pieces in a room. ‘Cecilia,’ ‘Golden Bay,’ and ‘Silver Bay’ all have gorgeous sage green foliage.
5. Echeveria
A popular and easy-to-grow succulent, echeveria forms a rosette of tidy leaves that come in a range of colors and shapes. ‘Deranosa’ has exceptional sage green foliage. ‘Compton Carousel’ shown here, also has sage green leaves set off by white edges. Because these plants are low-growing, they work well as tabletop centerpieces or on a windowsill.
6. Inch Plant
The fast-growing, trailing stems of inch plant make it a perfect houseplant for hanging baskets. Allow it to cascade down a shelf for a living curtain effect. ‘Nanouk’ has gorgeous leaves streaked with sage green and white, with stunning magenta undersides.
7. English Ivy
Though it’s a classic houseplant, English ivy is far from mundane. Varieties come in a range of hues and fascinating shapes. For that trendy sage green tone, try ‘Silver Bells’ or ‘Silver Dollar’. Let the vigorous vines scramble across a tabletop, or suspend your plant in a hanging basket for a curtain of foliage.
8. Rex Begonia
Spruce up a drab tabletop or desk with a rex begonia. Its variegated leaves give this short-lived houseplant an exotic flair. ‘Flamenco,’ ‘Ballet,’ and ‘Salsa’ varieties all sport trendy sage green tones.
9. Sage
Add culinary sage to your kitchen and enjoy the color it infuses into the space, along with the flavor of freshly-harvested leaves. A bright, sunny window and grow lights are often needed for sage to flourish indoors. Snip leaves as needed, and the plant will unfurl fresh foliage.
10. Scindapsus
An elegant tropical plant native to Southeast Asia, scindapsus is closely-related to pothos and philodendron. Scindapsus, also known as silver pothos, has heart-shape green leaves with silvery, sage green variegation. Like its relatives, scindapsus can be grown as a climbing vine or treated as a trailing houseplant.
11. Snake Plant
The stiff, upright, sword-like leaves of snake plant give it an architectural appearance, which perfectly complements modern, contemporary spaces. Grow it as a tabletop plant, or purchase a large snake plant to anchor the corner of a room. ‘Whitney’ is a dwarf variety with sage green leaves.