Artificial plants were often seen as cheap, tacky things to have around the house because the silk plants were clearly not real and there were very few high street options. While it is preferable to have real plants and foliage around the house, but the upkeep of these plants often proves difficult as people’s busy lives, with work and family take up a lot of time and often provide many distractions which can lead to forgetting to tend to plants.

There is also a large cost attached to buying fresh flowers and other plants to keep around the house, as fresh plants have to be bought almost weekly. Not to say that artificial plants are not expensive as well, but at least you only have to buy them once.

There are ups and downs to having each type of plant in your house. Real plants and flower leave a nice fragrance in the room in which they are placed in, but as they start to die petals and leaves will begin to fall off and leave a mess. Also real plants will help increase the air quality of your home but artificial plants cannot. Whereas artificial flowers do not wilt or die, but they also do not leave the pleasant smell you acquire with a real plant. Having flowers fake or real will help brightens up the room.

Nowadays the technology has come a long way from plants made from fabric. Now they are mostly made from plastic. This makes them look much more realistic. In some cases almost identical to another plant because they can be made from molds of real plants. Sometimes they are filled with foam which makes them look extremely realistic and gives them a nice texture. An added benefit of the flowers being made out of plastic is that many plants used around the home already look and feel quite like plastic.

When buying real plants you need to look out for tropical plants because many of them are suited to growing in shaded areas due to the thick canopy of the rainforests. This makes them suitable for indoors, as the do not need massive amounts of sunlight to grow. Also try to buy plants in person so that you are able to pick them out yourself, in doing this you with be able  check for any damage done to the leaves by insects or any sign of disease.

Remember that not all houseplants are going to be organic, as they are mostly tropical plants and will have to be growing in controlled environments and have pesticides used to prevent the plants being infested with bugs not natural to their ecosystem.  

When buying fake plants you should attempt to buy plants or flowers that already resemble plastic (banana plants, bird of paradise and lotus leaves) so that they appear more realistic. Also try to get preserved plants as preserved plants are no longer alive, or fake plants similar to preserved varieties. Having these will give the impression that you are able to take care of and nurture plants without having to put in the time and effort.

When buying houseplants always make sure that you are buying plants that are suitable for living indoors and that the fit in with the surrounding scenery, be aware of the needs of the plants (how much light and water the do or don’t need). Often people just assume that plants need lots of water and sunlight, but this is not always the case, many houseplants are not found naturally occurring in the country which they are used as houseplants. This is why it is important to know about what type of plants you have and where they’re from. Knowing this information will allow you to give it the best care that is available to you and give it the best chance of life.

One of the reasons for it to be more preferable to buy artificial plants because there is a lot of to be put into maintaining a plant that will ultimately have to be replaced. I think that spending money on good quality artificial plants is much better than constantly buying real ones. It may be a bit pricier may to go with the high street options, but you only have to buy them once and it turns out better in the long run.