I’m on a "Top 5" kick today, I don’t know why. I already posted a list of 5 non-power tools you absolutely need over at Shakhammer and now a list of 5 houseplants you cannot kill. This post comes to you courtesy of my dad, who was laughing at my absolute inability to keep houseplants alive. I am a notorious houseplant murderer, but Dad tells me even I can keep these 5 plants alive. We shall see, I’m going to buy some this weekend. Without further ado, my dad’s list of 5 houseplants even I can keep alive:

Spider Plant (chlorophytum comosum)- This was the first one my dad suggested. When I reminded him of the spider plant I kept for him while he was moving, he informed me he was able to nurse it back to heath when he got it back from me. They do well even in lower-light conditions and don’t mind being potbound. In fact, they like being potbound, according to my dad. This is a good thing, since one of my plant-murdering ways is to not realize they are potbound and let them suffer in a too-small pot.

Mother-In-Law’s Tongue (Sansevieria)- Also known as snake plant, but I like the name mother-in-law’s tongue, since it looks just like my mother-in-law’s tongue. Well, if her tongue was 24 inches long and was green. This one also likes to be potbound, and according to my dad, this is one of the hardest plants to kill ever. He doesn’t even have one because he says eventually, you get tired of looking at them, and there’s no challenge whatsoever in this plant. Of course, with me, it might be a major challenge. This will be the first plant I look for this weekend.

Corn Plant (Dracaena Fragrans)- According to my dad, he once had this in his office and forgot about it for over 2 months. It lived anyway. Now, I would normally take this with a grain of salt, because I think plants like to stay alive just to be close to my dad, when they would have keeled over weeks ago if it had been me. However, I had a corn plant that I managed to keep alive for over 2 years, through drought (me forgetting to water it) and major disaster (the cats deciding the corn plant must die and kicking the pot and all its contents over). Interestingly, I don’t remember what happened to that plant. I believe I took it outside to see the rain and it died. So don’t take your corn plant outside, whatever you do.

Philodendron (multiple varieties)- That’s what I just killed, a philodendron. My dad absolutely loves the philodendron and he told me where I went wrong with it. Apparently philodendrons need a medium light situation, instead of a low-light situation. I just had my philodendron hanging out on my kitchen counter. Apparently this was a mistake. So make sure your philodendron has enough light.

Lucky Bamboo (Dracaena sanderana)- Nothing could be easier to keep alive than lucky bamboo. It’s not actually bamboo at all, but comes from the dracaena, like the corn plant. You just keep it in water, like a cut flower, but it will last for years and will grow beautifully. [Photo credit: Richard- on Flickr]