Wine rack.

I agree with Sherry....a pothos will do well there....Just trim it when it starts to vine and it will get bushy...turn the plant now and then because it will face the light. I am a plantaholic also and think a green growing plant makes a room homey and bright. My problem is that when I trim my pothos, I hate to throw the cuttings away and always put them in a vase with water and soon have another plant to be potted.

Speaking of pothos... do all versions grow equally well and fast?

Looking at pictures, I think "marble queen" or "n'joy" would work best for me. (I haven't seen either in shops around here... )

Something like this round sanseveria in a rectangular pot could meet your requirements. Any pot can be secured to the refrigerator with tacky stuff

Try to put there a Blue Star Fern, it has white/silver leaves, plus interesting looking paws, might survive, just don't overwater it.

https://houseplantcentral.com/phlebodium-aureum-blue-star-fern-care/

I am noticing my velvet plant is happier out of bright light, it is currently on my bathroom sink near a small N facing window. Chinese evergreen seems to like low or bright diffuse light, and I've heard ZZ plant tolerates lower light as well. I used to use the heat from the fridge to germinate things but I think fridges are better insulated or something now.

That’s the best naturalluly lit refrigerator top I have ever seen. Or your camera light/ angle is creating a great illusion....

as a plantaholic, I have to applaud your need to grow a plant at that spot. Sans - the plain green flat ones or with yellow or white edge will survive in that spot.

the good old rubber plant is a candidate, might get a bit yellowish but I have seen one at work that’s growing all twisty turny on top of a cabinet and is oddly eye catching.

And then there’s lucky bamboo. So overused . But it Seems to do ok in my local Chinese restaurant where the curtains are always kept closed.

HTH

Heat from the refrigerator could dry out a plant quickly; however, a plant that needs little little, if any, direct sunlight could survive a while if kept watered.

Some pots let you water from the bottom and you could keep the drip tray filled to ensure the plant has plenty of water but is not over watered.

Whatever plant(s) you choose, suggest you get two -- one for elsewhere, too -- and swap them out weekly ... let one get some sun a while and then let the other one get some sun a while.

Snake plants require very little care. A heart leaf philodendron or English Ivy might be worth trying.

If you find real plants don't survive well atop the refrigerator, consider glass flowers.

https://www.google.com/search?q=long+stem+glass+flowers&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjP_dXG3ebcAhWCiOAKHT_4BvkQ_AUICygC&biw=1366&bih=650

You could grow microgreens. I've successfully sprouted seeds on my fridge or freezer many times. If you remember to keep them properly hydrated it will be a great way to add life that you can actually use!

https://medium.com/@CoffeeGeek/microgreens-at-home-468279f033fe

Blue Star Fern looks like a great candidate! Very cool! It's airy and "fluffy", and should look good from any angle. Thank you for the unusual suggestion, Yessen.

If it doesn't spread too wide and if I can find it.. and then keep it alive (worried about its moisture requirements - our air is very dry, especially in winter.. maybe with a bunch of new plants it will be better this year).

@CurryUp - the light is pretty good up there. No direct sun, but it's very bright (enough light to read). The joys of small apartment living - everything is compact and things are rarely very far from a window or two...

After looking at the fern and the "temporary" spider plant I put there for the pictures, I've just realized what is bugging me about most other options.

If I place a plant so high up in all white environment, I want it to be "LIGHT" visually. So it has to be something feathery, airy, and "see through". Or have prominent white variegation to lighten it up..

To keep variegation you need quite hi-light conditions, but you can try Fatsia, it has tropical look and it doesn't trail (https://www.logees.com/indoor/tropicals/fatsia-spider-s-web-fatsia-hybrid.html?).

I really like Persian shield plant (Strobilanthes dyerianus) for an outside "shade", but it has to much colour and metallic shine in it's leaves.

Or, as lyndsey suggested you can install there a system similar to AeroGarden (https://www.aerogarden.com/aerogardens/bounty-aerogardens.html) to grow bigger herbs or even plants.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kIa375w8Go

Fatsia is another good shape, but it's much too large. I've been eyeing them in a local store, but decided that I don't have enough room for something that big. Even young plants really like to spread their wings. In a two feet cube it would be "boxed" in no time.

I'm not interested in microgreens or herbs in this space - my edibles all live on the balcony where they have almost greenhouse conditions. I use tons of herbs in cooking. The aerogarden thing looks like a super expensive toy :)

I'll second the vote for a blue star fern as a "feathery and airy" contestant that may survive that environment.

Pros:

Epiphytic, grows on trees (shaded by the canopy), in low light conditions like the space on top of your fridge. A bonus, you can plant them in orchid bark, which is light, so it will be a breeze to take down for watering. It also fits your aesthetic description of a likely candidate.

Cons:

Not being a wine rack. The combination of the angle and quantity of the light that area gets will make any plant get leggy and etoliated. It will bend over and reach downward over the side if the refrigerator toward the nearest window. Fortunately though, each frond can only get so long. The plant can grow laterally only.

The best plant to put there would be a silk one. Between the heat and it being a pain in the behind to water way up there, a silk plant would thrive best.

Have you considered using that space to store a large slow cooker with a floral design on it?

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Pioneer-Woman-6-Quart-Portable-Slow-Cooker-Flea-Market-Model-33363-By-Hamilton-Beach/815735002?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227107572757&wmlspartner=wmtlabs&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=222656648101&wl4=pla-361567253166&wl5=1015295&wl6=&wl7=9011029&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=815735002&wl13=&veh=sem

You could add a horizontal shelf about 4" above the refrigerator and add a box or basket atop it with any floral design on it you like.

A small BLUE STAR is already up there :) Brought one home earlier today. There were also large plants for sale but they looked very sad. I'm happy I was forced to choose a baby star! All things look smaller in big shops.. The small plant is almost the right size with room to expand, and it was just 2.5 eur :)

I have to say this fern looks very contemporary and artistic. Very unconventional plant. Love it :)

Pics later.

THANK YOU ALL for this interesting and multifaceted discussion! :)

A practical amount of wine for this household still fits comfortably behind the plant :) I can lay 4 bottles up there, but we never have that many.

I wonder why is the "hot" refrigerator myth still so strong in 2018? I'm genuinely surprised to see so many comments mention it...

I too was curious about the ''hot'' refrigerator. I think the last one we had was old in 1997. We bought a new one in 2001 and it has no measurable difference in the air temperature above it and the surrounding cabinetry.

Glad you solved the puzzle. Ditto here on the heat issue, no difference in temperature at all, even wafting up from behind the fridge. Let's all appreciate technology for a minute!

Looking forward to a picture. If it what I googled, I may get one. It says it is ok for cats. My fridge blows the hot air out the bottom front (what little there is).

Pothos or aloe...

One thing I've read several times in this thread is that pruning a Pothos will make it bushy. This is not so. Pothos only has one growth point. Pruning it will not make it bush out.

Well, if you root the clippings in the same pot it will get thicker, although that does not really count as "bushy".

I take exception with the naysayers here. I have planted in far more challenging spaces. I don’t see this one as particularly troublesome. Some easy choices are the ubiquitous spider plant (you may need to raise the plant a bit as fronds grow, to keep them out of the way of the fridge). Pothos is also a possibility. Arrowhead vine (the vines don’t grow that rapidly and are easily trimmed back and kept out of your way). Pepperomania and prayer plant also come to mind as good choices, although they are a bit more stout, so examine closely and be satisfied that you’ll like their view from the angle you’ll be at.

Some Bromeliads seem happy in fairly low light. I have Bilbergia nutans on a shelf in my basement kitchen and had an Aechmea fasciata in the bathroom about 10 feet from the window for several years.

The OP wants a living plant. The alternative suggestions are imaginative and well meaning but to me they are like suggesting to someone who wants a cat that they get a picture of one instead.

One more thing I like with the BLUE STAR FERN is that the color of the leaves is the same on both sides and there's no obvious "top".

= it does not feel like peeking under a skirt when you look up :)

With many other plants, when you place them above your head, you are very obviously looking at the wrong side to even understand why you bought it in the first place.

It's a small plant with a bunch of straight leaves and just a few paws. Hopefully it's mature enough to start producing more adult leaves next :)

It's a little bit chaotic, and looks a little bit fake. The leaves are very papery. The blueish color comes from a powdery coating, so it's best to keep it out of reach of everyone who wants to touch it (on the fridge! :)).

Now I need a humidity meter..

Well I'll qualify that a bit Manuel, pinching it back & putting those cuttings back into same plant, will make it appear more full. I DO think Pothos will do well there, tho' don't know why you won't allow trailing.

Floral_UK, If I could like your second paragraph a zillion times I would.

Dialt, Love it! That is what I googled. I now have to find one for me.

KarenS., I have a golden pothos on top of my frig and I like it. I do have to keep it trimmed, because it gets caught in the door when it is opened. I froze part of it one time, LOL.

I was all set to recommend a pink syngonium variety, before reading about your new Blue Star fern. It does seem to fit the space. Enjoy!

In my previous kitchen I had a pothos on top of the refrigerator for years. I solved the dangling vine issue by placing the pot in a beautiful basket with a handle and simply twined the growing stems around the handle.

I'm surprised no one suggested that you need a taller refrigerator. lol

Thank you, mama goose! I'm still collecting ideas in case this fern doesn't like it up there :)

Sorry, if I may?

Your plant looks lovely there. Do you think a blue or green ceramic pot would add more impact, since the whole area is quite white? From below there's just a tiny "hovering in mid-air" effect.

Of course if you're going for a minimalist style, you nailed it :-)

Thanks for the suggestion lindsey! I am indeed going for a minimalist style AND I want to keep all my pots white to be able to move them around without creating a color chaos. At least for now. It just makes life easier :)

I also love neutral pots because they don't distract from the plant or compete for attention. And it's much much easier to have a nice looking group arrangement of plants when you only have to think about the tops.

It does have a minimalist feeling to it, and I dig it.

Ok I’m chiming in ...I vote for anything but a tall spiky plant which just looks awkward and temporarily placed. You want something that will cascade down the side of the planter and create a mass of greenery. Pothos fits the bill for this. Pothos will happily grow in a closet.

But pothos will happily cascade down the side of your planter, cascade down the side of your refrigerator, across the room and up the wall to the window... The fern will stay put.

I can’t believe I’m arguing for pothos - a closet plant :). But a fern that high up will make the fridge look like a cartoon character. You can trim and arrange pothos - it will be happy to get the attention it never gets :).

You could also do some degree of what I'm doing with philodendron when I wanted it up high. Mine looks old fashioned (which I like); yours would be more modern on the white, especially if kept to a single vine. Clear Command hooks do the job well.

She can't do pothos in that way because her cabinet doors go all the way to the ceiling. Nowhere to drape them. Its just setting up a bigger maintenance load when it is unnecessary. Why keep trimming ends, trying to find a place to stick them in the pot so they root, some of the cuttings die and look crappy, then you start rooting them in water and they take over your countertop, ruining your minimalist thing... sounds like a pita, and I don't mean bread! ;)

I stand corrected, and should have gone back and looked at the photo again. There I go, popping off an idea too quick....but it would look good on white, lol!

Pothos is on standby in case nothing else works :) I already have 4 color variations in the room will less light..

You see, one of the goals is to grow a number of different plants throughout the apartment and so I'm trying to discover something new and maybe try a path less traveled :) Something beyond the typical "top 10"...

The blue star fern is too asymmetrical and messy to make allusions to a cartoon character :) It doesn't even look like a stereotypical "fern". But I do worry that once it spreads out a few more of the adult leaves, it will be touching the sides and look trapped up there..

How about a dwarf Cyprus umbrella plant pictured above . Logees is a great online shop if you don’t already know.

or a dwarf papyrus ?

These are easy care plants and low maintenance if they like the spot.

Plus they like boggy conditions so you could set them in a pot without drainage and overwater without any worries. Dry soil is a death sentence for the cyperus.

No experience with the dwarf kind but many years ago I had the regular Cyperus and it was an eye catcher. Managed to kill it after I forgot to water over the holidays.

HTH

I do believe that blue star ferns have existed for a bit longer than cartoon characters, so technically wouldn't a cartoon character bear a faint resemblance to a large white rectangular object with a blue star fern on top of it? Its a bogus comparison anyway! ;)

The fern looks great, and probably will not bush much to the sides because the plant will be reaching forwards in search of light. And dont worry, the vast majority, nearly all in fact, of cartoon characters dont have hair that looks anything like it.

Why not go for a god old classic peace lily or boston fern? They'll be lush and green and easy care.

Cyperus umbrella / papyrus looks fluffy enough to go up, but they might be too tall with a pot.. And it might be too dark for them.

Peace lily has an obvious "underside" to its foliage - not ideal when placed above your head.. And there's the same height problem - they grow tall. I already have a "small" one in my workroom, it's just under 2 feet high with a pot (with a lone flower sticking up to 78cm which looks like a white flag)

Boston fern.. I'm sorry, I just don't like it as a potted plant. It must be personal :) In my head that shape is a stereotypical fern that belongs in a forest.

I was never a fan of boston fern either. My mom had that when I was a kid, and i remember it decorating the whole patio with thousands of tiny brown impossible-to-sweep leaflets when branches outlived their use. Have you ever noticed that certain house plants just go out of vogue? Either no stores are carrying it, or I completely miss it when I scan the garden section due to my being programmed to not be interested.

I notice that particularly with perennials, I guess stores can only stock so much. I still see B fern being sold as a patio staple.