Holiday Houseplant Ideas: Grow These Red And Green Plants Indoors

A houseplant is the gift that keeps on giving long after the holidays are over. Cut flowers are great, but they have a finite life. A nicely potted plant is almost like giving a piece of art, even if it doesn't hang on a wall. 

Holiday plant ideas should be a bit more adventurous and/or unusual. A fern or pathos is nice, but how about something with a bit of color such as a red foliage houseplant or even more unique a houseplant with green and red leaves. Here are five festive houseplants that make great gifts. 

Green and Red Foliage Houseplants

Christmas plant gift ideas often include the usual suspects such as amaryllis, paper white, Christmas cactus, cyclamen and the ubiquitous poinsettia to name a few. After giving or receiving these beauties year after year, it might be time to perk things up a bit and go for the more unusual, a houseplant with red and green leaves. 

1. Hippo Red Polka Dot plant (Hypoestes phyllostachya) is an adorable medium sized holiday plant with red splotches decorating dark green leaves. Native to Madagascar, Polka Dot plants thrive in full to partial shade and pair well with other plants in hanging baskets. 
2. For the recipient with plenty of available light, think about giving Ti plant (Cordyline terminalis), a flowering tropical that requires bright light to encourage its colorful foliage of pale pink, green, purple or deep red. Also known as Baby Doll Ti, Good Luck Plant, or Hawaiian Ti plant, this Christmas plant idea will remind your friend of warm sands and blue skies. 
3. Another tropical Christmas plant gift idea is Anthurium or Flamingo Flower or Lily or Tailflower. Anthurium grows up to 3 feet (just under a meter) in height in bright but indirect light. Notable for the long lasting red to pink inflorescence set off by the upright deep green leaves, Anthurium needs moist, well-draining soil, low to medium relative humidity and medium to bright light. 

 Additional Houseplants with Green and Red Leaves

1. Red Ruffles Caladium is another green and red foliage houseplant perfect for gift giving during the holidays. The mounding habit of this Caladium makes it suitable for hanging baskets or mass plantings and can be grown as a perennial outdoors in temperate regions. 
2. Peperomia ‘Eden Rosso’ is another rather unique houseplant with red and green leaves. The upper surfaces of the leaves are a veined dark green while the underside surprises with its splash of red. This houseplant bears both male and female blooms on the same vertical spike. This epiphyte has the thick, fleshy leaves similar to a succulent and a small root system suited to small containers.