Houseplants can survive watering errors, low light

Hints of spring might stir a desire to grow plants — even in people not usually drawn in that direction.

If you are one of them, yet your thumbs lack the slightest hint of green, take heart: There are houseplants even you can grow.

You'll have to forgo color if you require a truly tough houseplant. Flowering takes too much of a plant's energy, which comes from good growing conditions, including abundant light.

Don't look for color in leaves, either, because plants with colorful leaves have them only when there's plenty of light so that they can do more with less green.

Poor light is not the only abuse you might suffer upon a houseplant. Many people forget to water them, or water them too much.

Also, as plants grow, they need to be divided and repotted, or shifted to larger pots. A houseplant for the horticulturally impaired should not grow so fast that frequent repotting is necessary.

There are plants that can survive, and even look perky, with little light, neglectful or excessive watering, and little other care.

Take dumbcane and spider plant, for instance. Both are hard to kill, yet keep up appearances with little attention. Spider plant can fill its pot rapidly and send out new "babies" all over the place, but that's only with good growing conditions.

For best results, grow an all-green variety of spider plant, rather than one with white stripes in its leaves. All-green spider plants, which have more chlorophyll, tolerate low light better.

Geraniums also tolerate an amazing amount of abuse. They won't flower under these conditions, so in that case, why not grow scented geraniums? Many have frilly foliage, and, depending on the variety, their leaves carry aromas such as chocolate, rose or lemon.

Cyperus is a houseplant whose graceful appearance belies its tough-as-nails constitution. This is a water plant, closely related to papyrus, so it cannot tolerate drying out. But watering cyperus is a no-brainer; just set the pot in a deep saucer that you always keep filled with water.