Here's a blog that has a list of plants with the author's own difficulty ratings. They're a little ways down on the right. As for my own pick, I'm having trouble with a Calathea 'Medallion' right now. It's a beautiful low light plant that seems to need a lot of humidity. It's leaves keep curling and I may just have to give up on it if I can't provide the humidity it needs. So I'm not sure that I'd recommend it, but it has been difficult for me. The blog author rates Calathea a 7.8 which is pretty difficult.

Here is a link that might be useful: Plants are the Strangest People

I'm veeeeery familiar with the writings of mr sub. I positively insist on reading that blog everyday :) I've got a couple of his more difficult rated plants and they've done pretty well.

I like the suggestion of Calathea. I've seen a couple here and there lately that have really caught my eye. I reaaaaaly like the ornata too!

Hi All! I am going to read that blog that you all talk about, but wouldn't a challenging plant be a challenge because of the environment you introduce it to rather than because it is fussy or sensitive. The reason I say this is because I grow orchids very easily (opined to be difficult-right?) and yet I can not grow a begonia to save my life. I think I've killed 5 so far to date and working on my 6th. (I really love them but come summer they just hate my house-air conditioner or not). So in my opinion what is difficult is relative. And I have always bought what I thought to be beautiful and gave me a feeling of serenity. Thank you for this forum. I really like it and have learned so much from all of you! (I have more spare time than usual as I am convalescing from elective surgery-hip replacement) Otherwise I'd be working and cleaning and well what everyone else normally does without question. So it is getting me through the hours that I am not exercising! Thanks See ya! Lori

i'm the same way. i've got a ton of the easy plants growing in my office (pothos, anthurium, spider plant, schefflera, jade, and sansevieria) and wanted something either challenging or odd.

so i picked up a bowiea volubilis :)

The stuff that's both above 5.0 on the rating and not on the list yet (because I haven't done a profile for them):

8.8 Ravenea rivularis (majesty palm)
8.3 Alocasia 'Polly' (African mask plant)
8.0 Musa spp. (banana)
7.6 Rhododendron spp. (azalea)
7.5 Fittonia vershaffeltii (nerve plant)
7.4 Hibiscus rosa-sinensis (hibiscus)
7.3 Polyscias fruticosa (aralia)
7.1 Begonia rex (rex begonia)
7.1 Adiantum spp. (maidenhair fern)
7.0 Cyclamen persicum (cyclamen)
6.9 Caladium bicolor (caladium, angel wing)
6.7 Stromanthe spp.
6.7 Chamaedorea elegans (parlor palm; people will disagree with me on this, but parlor palms haaaaaaaaaate me)
6.5 Cordyline terminalis (ti plant)
6.2 Saintpaulia spp. (African violet)
6.1 Hedera helix (English ivy)
6.1 Dracaena reflexa (Song of India)
5.9 Schefflera actinophylla
5.8 Cordyline glauca
5.8 Davallia trichomanoides (rabbits-foot fern)
5.5 Radermachera sinica (china doll)
5.0 Araucaria heterophylla (Norfolk Island pine)
5.0 Caryota mitis (fishtail palm)

Please be advised that the numbers are a lot less precise than they look. Some of the rating, for example, is for how much bright light is required. If you've got a lot of bright light, that part becomes irrelevant. Similarly, some of the rating is about susceptibility to pests, which is something that won't be relevant unless you get some pests in your home.

I personally don't go any higher than 7.8 (Coffea arabica and Dizygotheca elegantissima) right now. Not actually having any problems with either of those at the moment, but I'd be fine to stay below 7.0, I think, really.

Also: thanks for the link (jefe12234) and praise (arjadiejai). I appreciate it. It's nice to get feedback.

lal58: I agree with you to a point. How hard can any plant be since it grows *somewhere* naturally. I know I could have looked up difficult houseplants somewhere, but I really wanted to see people's opinions.

greenjulia: Where in the world did you run across that odd looking onion type thing-a-ma-bobber? It's bizarre and awesome at the same time. The kind of odd looking plant I love right now is the ledebouria socialis. Everyone looks at it a little oddly except my plant obsessed friend, she wanted some of it :)

mr sub: You rock because you gave me ideas for a bunch of new plants to buy. And you suck because you gave me a bunch of new plants I want to buy :)

Well, just remember to pace yourself.

Polyscias fruticosa seems to be pretty easy as long as you completely ignore it. At least, that's the case with mine. It doesn't seem to care much about humidity or light and does okay as long as it's never, ever, *ever* overwatered.

Could you be tempted toward an Aechmea at all?

Difficult is a relative & very subjective thing.

AMCcour: as to Polyscias fruticosa, many folks have trouble w/ this plant & they have a reputation of not liking to be moved. I DO find they have humidity issues (tho' I've handled them well w/ humidity trays).

Difficulty is very relative: I do well w/ Polyscias fruticosa, yet badly w/ AVs. I can propagate AVs like crazy & share them w/ folks who later go on to bloom them beautifully, but I myself can't get them to bloom & lately even to survive for any length of time.

I find Fittonias one of the easiest of all plants to grow. The tricks for them are (1) lower light levels & (2) high humidity like in Terrariums or humid bathrooms. I've even given terrariums of them as housewarming gifts to people who've managed to keep them going in same terrariums for several years now. Without proper humidity levels they're very hard to keep alive.

I think it all depends on household climates also. When I lived in Tennessee I had a beautiful bridal veil WJ. Both pothos, and monstera would grow lovely in my fish tank. Here I couldn't grow any one of them if my life depended upon it. But Epiphyllum I tend to have some luck with. There I couldn't grow opuntias, here they grow fine.

Deamia testudo, it's said if you can kill one you probably have a brown thumb, I've killed three of them. While my mother can grow a fern beautifully, I struggle with them, and she has little plant knowledge at all. SHe has a nice cool house though with picture windows, I don't.

Well, I walked into Lowe's the other and lookie what they had for about three dollars!

{{gwi:94712}}

I figure even if I kill it, I can afford a $3 loss. First 24 hours are looking good :)

vetivert8: Another store I was in had Aechmea and I wanted one soooo bad. They are absolutely beautiful. Sadly with the ones they had, I just plain don't have room for a plant that big. Some day I hope...

I wish I knew what caused the leaves to turn orange and die on my alocasia. Now that it's leafing again, I'd rather it stay not-dead.

As for bananas, it sounds like they're pretty easy to grow outside but a pain indoors. They either hate it and die, and you need to treat them as an annual and just collect pups every year, or end up doing much better than they should and destroying your ceiling.

Then again the ones I got amounted to something like 5 plants for ten dollars (with a bunch of tiny pups that I'm not counting) so if they all die (which isn't that likely) I'm not out that much.