Greening home: caring for plants indoors

Abstract

Plants are widely advocated as beneficial for indoor, urban environments; however, research into how people live with indoor plants in their homes remains limited. This article begins to investigate indoor plant keeping and how it is experienced and valued. Empirically, the article draws on exploratory qualitative research undertaken with houseplant keepers within the inner suburbs of Melbourne (Australia). The research shows that indoor plants are valued in diverse ways that orient around instrumental contributions of plants, caring practices within people’s homes, and extended sensibilities relating to wider social and ecological dynamics. By attending to plants as part of indoor home plac..