Flf!

Maidenhair fern?

maidenhair would look really good! agree! or maybe fittonia

Zamioculcas zamiifolia 'Raven' - supposed to be widely available in the US this spring.

Or any plant that trails!

Love all these ideas - thank you! Would you suggest planting the same plant in all 3 planters or use 3 different plants?

Personally, I think using different plants/leaf shapes looks more interesting...

Fittonia is a lower light plant, humidity loving to the point of usually needing a terrarium to survive. I would not place it anywhere that gets direct sun OR strong light, or it'll get fried.

What climate do you live in?

How far will the planters be from the sink?

Have you thought about succulents? Their striking shapes really suit modern and contemporary furnishings and architecture.

Although the area in which you plan to place the planters will receive indirect light from the sun, it will receive light from your light fixtures, which counts, too.

I do agree with the earlier comment about different plants in the pots, and putting adequate drainage material in the bottom.

Here are some interesting succulents to think about, and of course, you can put more than one type of plant in a pot

Zebra Cactus (Haworthia fasciata)

String of Bananas

Christmas Cactus (Schlumbergera x buckleyi)

Ponytail palm (Beaucarnea recurvata)

Snake Plant (Mother-in Law's Tongue)

String of Pearls

And then, there are my favorites for less than bright light, coleus.

They come in shades of green, red, yellow, orange, purple, upright, bunches, trailing, hanging, what ever you like.

https://www.whiteflowerfarm.com/annuals-coleus.html

Unless you are lighting your home with high intensity discharge lights, I strongly disagree that typical home lighting (likely near the ceiling) is going to provide a meaningful addition to the light most plants need to grow, when those plants are only 2-3.5 feet off the ground.

Yes, every little bit helps, but you're talking drops in a pond in terms of scale.

The notion of putting stones etc in pots to 'aid drainage' has been debunked. It doesn't help.

How much room is there before the plants will be touching a wall? Do you want something that gets wide? Upright? Something that trails out of the pot and hangs down?

Any plants you strongly dislike?

What level of care are you comfortable with? Meaning are there plants in your home you already care for and excel with?

https://www.todayshomeowner.com/how-to-grow-houseplants-in-artificial-light/ 

How to Grow Houseplants in Artificial Light

If you’re trying to grow houseplants indoors, you’ll find that some rooms of your house are low in natural light. Sunlight is the perfect balance of wavelengths necessary for plant growth and blooming, but you can also use artificial light to help your plants along. In fact, low-light foliage plants (such as pothos and peace lily) can grow quite nicely in windowless offices with enough artificial light.

In order to grow, plants need:

• Blue wavelength light for foliage growth.
• Red wavelength light for flowering and fruiting.
• Plants have little use for green wavelengths and reflect them back, which is why leaves appear green.

Types of Artificial Lights

For serious indoor growing and starting plants from seeds, you’ll need hanging tube fixtures placed right over your plants. You can buy special grow light kits that include fixtures and reflectors, but for regular houseplants you can really use any lamp or light fixture as long as you choose the bulbs carefully and place the lamps where your plants can benefit most.

Artificial lighting:

• Fluorescent lights are by far the most economical and easy choice for houseplants. They come in tubes or compact bulbs (CFL) that screw into regular lamp sockets, and they’re cool enough to put close to plant foliage. Generic fluorescent tubes and bulbs are higher in blue wavelengths, so look for “full-spectrum” or include a mix of “cool” and “warm” bulbs. When in doubt, buy “cool white” products, since white light contains the full spectrum of wavelengths. For maximum effect, position fluorescents about a foot away from plant foliage.
• Incandescent lights give off a lot of heat and should be placed farther away from plant foliage. Incandescent bulbs give off more red wavelengths, so they can be used to supplement fluorescent light and balance out the spectrum, especially if you’re trying to encourage plants to bloom. If you want to mix the two, try using a ratio of about one-third incandescent and two-thirds fluorescent by wattage.

• LED lights are also a low heat, energy-efficient artificial light source. Because LED technology is so customizable, every bulb is different, so make sure your bulbs produce the blues and reds necessary for plants. Horticultural LED grow-lights produce only the wavelengths most utilized by plants, so you may want to look for these bulbs rather than buying ones for general use.
• Halogen lights can also provide full-spectrum light, but like incandescents they put off a lot of heat and are less energy-efficient than fluorescents.
• Horticultural grow lights are generally packaged in tubes for fluorescent fixtures. They contain the full spectrum of wavelengths needed for blooming plants such as African violets. Some gardeners find them useful when starting seeds or propagating hybrids, but others find that simple full-spectrum fluorescents work just as well.

Lighting Tip

Beware of light bulbs simply labeled as “plant” bulbs, such as these “Spot-Gro” bulbs. They’re designed to make your plants LOOK better by making them appear more green, but they’re really just tinted incandescent bulbs.

Easy plant lighting for room with low natural light:

• Find a standing lamp with three bulbs, ideally one with moveable or gooseneck fixtures.
• Use one incandescent bulb and two compact fluorescent bulbs of the highest wattage you can, within the safe wattage rating for the fixture.
• Aim the lights toward your plant table. If each fixture is separately movable, then put the fluorescent bulbs closer than the incandescent, to avoid heat damage.
• Place a mirror or other reflective surface underneath your plants, to reflect light back up onto the foliage.
• Attach a timer set to 16 hours per day.

Further Information

• Lighting Indoor Houseplants (University of Missouri)
• How to Grow Houseplants in Low Light Conditions
• Beginner’s Guide to Caring for Houseplants

Your suggestions are very helpful. I think I've narrowed it down to the maidenhair fern and the fiddle leaf fig and wondering what to use in the 3rd planter - snake plant/MIL tongue or ZZ plant?

I have both ZZ plant and MIL tongue in my house. I don't get a lot of direct natural light and they both are doing fine.

Chinese evergreen is another good low light option. If you can find it, cylindrical snake plants are pretty neat looking.

Are you going to be providing supplemental humidity for that fern, carladr?

And have you taken care of houseplants before successfully? Another poster asked this, for good reason, and you chose not to respond. Some plants have a steeper learning curve than others, if you have no previous experience with indoor plants.

Snake plant and ZZ plant are both good choices even if you don't have much or any previous experience caring for plants - and they both tolerate the low humidity common inside homes.

I agree with illsstep that unless you have a fair amount of experience with indoor plants, start with plants that are easy for a beginner and will tolerate low light and low humidity. The fern may be fine with low light, but is unlikely to be happy with the low humidity present in most homes. Plants are different than other decor in than you need to meet their needs, not just your aesthetic preferences. Besides the ferns, another plant with specific needs that wouldn’t be met in your setting is the Christmas cactus shown above. In order for it to bloom, it needs specific lighting requirements as far as the timing of when it gets light, something that it is unlikely to receive in a front entry.

IMO, having all three pots planted the same will have more of an effect and will give a more modern or contemporary vibe than planting 3 different kinds of plants. Modern plant style is typically very streamlined and simple.

- choose one kind of plant that is easy care for your setting of low light and low humidity

- use the pots as cache pots, don’t plant directly in them.

- For watering, remove the inner pot and take it to a sink to water, and allow it to fully drain before returning it to the cache pot. Be sure than water is actually soaking into the potting medium, and if it isn’t submerge the whole inner pot in slightly warm water for a bit to allow it to soak in before allowing drainage. Sometimes water runs around the outside of the rootball and doesn’t soak in, and you want to avoid this situation.

@Treegeek, the planters are in a corner between the front door and the stairs with about 10 inches from the wall and the stairs. For that reason, I think more upright plants may be the best. I have a few orchids which are doing well in other areas of our house.

@loobob, I love coleus as well but these planters are beside an area rug which has a very strong pattern and colors so I think I need to stick with solid green plants.

@illsstep, yes, I have taken care of houseplants (and also raised 3 children LOL), just looking for ideas.

Thank you to everyone for your creative ideas. I hope to get to the nursery this week and see what is available. I'm still open to other ideas as well.

Aglaia odorata might work there.

Dracaena marginata would work

Maranta would work

Any type of Sansevieria would work

Another question -- which ties in somewhat with how much care are you willing to give -- is how do you view plants? Will they be something you plan on keeping for the long haul, or will they be more "disposable" -- kept while they look good then pitched and replaced as they start going downhill (rather like one would do with cut flowers)?

As mentioned, your indoor humidity is a factor that must be considered. Maidenhairs do NOT like dry air. IME, all of them are high humidity plants. Most other ferns will also need fairly high humidity to do well.

Most cacti and succs will NOT be good options as the light will be insufficient for their needs.

I would have to disagree with Maranta if your humidity is low.

Btw, regarding the Beaucarnea recurvata in one of the above photos, it is a very safe bet that they were just placed in that spot for the photo shoot. They desire VERY bright light to full sun to keep tight, strong growth. In that window with the shade drawn, they would not fair well long term.

Sanseveria and Zamifolia, as have been mentioned, will tolerate lower light and low humidity. Pothos, should you desire something of a vining habit, can also tolerate such conditions. You might also give Alocasia Poly a whirl. Mine has endured my abysmally low winter humidity for a number of years now. To be frank, I have had occasional minor spidermite issues but nothing major. Do be aware, however, that Poly is unlikely to keep as many leaves in your home as it does in a greenhouse.

I would advise you to avoid all ivies. IME, ivy is a spidermite magnet.

NHBabs,

Very well stated, nice to see such thorough, well explained post (don't recall seeing your handle before).

Another suggestion: Aspidistra, Cast Iron plant. I've never grown one, but it's said to do well in lower light, be easy care & largely indestructible, hence the name 'Cast Iron' plant. Can be nicely sculptural in appearance as I recall, has the upright growth habit you mentioned liking up thread, might be just the thing.

Even a large Spathiphyllum (Peace Lily) if you understand its watering needs.

@Paul MI - I am considering these plants as something to grow and keep for the long term. I am reconsidering the maidenhair based on the comments about humidity. Our house has humidity levels in the 30s which will not give them the humidity they need to thrive.

@Karen S. - I will check out the Cast Iron plant - thank you! I've had Peace Lilies in the past and while they grow fine, they inevitably get brown tips on their leaves so I guess I don't understand their watering needs :)

I tried a Maidenhair fern in one of the planters and it looked very pretty but we don't have ideal humidity in that area of the home so it's been relocated to a bathroom. Also, I realized that it has a very "busy" appearance - like a very patterned dress. Next to our patterned area rug, I think it will look too busy. So now I am looking at plants with broader and simpler leaves. I'd love to do succulents but they won't get any direct sunlight. The entry area has natural light but it is due to indirect lighting from floor to ceiling windows across the room.

@carladr

Most plants have the same watering needs, most! All the plants mentioned here do, and many many more "houseplants".

Take the plant and water it over a sink, and make sure to get as much of the perched water table out as you can. Tilt the pot, bring it to chest height and quickly down to belly button height a few times, etc. After that, make sure it is up off the bottom of the saucer so it is not sitting in its own wastewater that will leak out.

if youre interested in learning more on keeping plants happy in containers, here are a couple of good links. They are deep dives and kind of text book'ish, but will help you immensely!

Container Soils XXII

Good Growing Practices - An Overview