Do away with the fuss of shifting your garden in the summer days with these tough indoor plants that are like direct sunlight!
Houseplants are a fantastic way to beautify your space, but they often come with a long list of specific needs for light and water, which can be daunting, especially for beginners. Imagine, though, a collection of plants that simply thrive in direct sunlight and require minimal fuss. Sounds perfect, right? Well, here’s a list of the best indoor plants that like direct sunlight!
Indoor Plants That Like Direct Sunlight
Hot Tip: While these plants love direct sunlight, excessive exposure might scorch the leaves, especially in Summer. It’s wise to drape a sheer curtain in the afternoon to protect your green buddies from getting sunburnt.
1. Aloe Vera
Botanical Name: Aloe barbadensis
Starting off with this uber-cool houseplant—the Aloe Vera, that’s not just highly low-maintenance, but would even fit your first aid arsenal. Besides, its adaptable nature doesn’t mind full sun exposure, and would, in fact, set out pups under stress that can be further multiplied to expand your collection.
2. Jade Plant
Botanical Name: Crassula argentea
If you heart houseplants but your love seems to succumb to busy schedules, Jade plants can feed your appetite. With fleshy oval-shaped leaves that can store water for weeks, Jade plants can perfectly sit in a sunny window, especially in the winter months.
While in summer, the morning sunlight would fulfill its light requirements pretty well!
3. Sago Palm
Botanical Name: Cycas revoluta
Want to give your home an elite makeover without engaging in frequent plant repositioning? The sago palm could offer that lush foliage tailor-made for modern decorating schemes.
Plus, it loves the sun, so you can put it slightly away from a south-facing window of the bedroom or living room without worrying about leaf scorching!
4. African Milk Tree
Botanical Name: Euphorbia trigona
The African Milk Tree might not seem visually impressive at first glance, but this succulent brings a unique charm when coupled with other succulents. With its sharp spines and a pretty sturdy structure, it needs plenty of bright direct sunlight to reveal its best side.
5. Papyrus
Botanical Name: Cyperus papyrus
It’s no wonder it’s a favorite among busy gardeners, as it basks beautifully in sunny spots without demanding much attention. If you’re nurturing one of these sun-soaked beauties, remember they have a penchant for moist soil. To keep them content, don’t let the medium dry away completely even for short spans.
6. Tradescantia
Botanical Name: Tradescantia spp.
Popular as the spiderwort, this vining plant flaunts its vibrant purple foliage only when exposed to a few hours of bright sunlight. In fact, insufficient lighting can lead to spindly plants with a leggy appearance and faded variegation.
7. Areca Palm
Botanical Name: Dypsis lutescens
A perfect plant for the entryways and any living area with vaulted ceilings, the areca palm is truly a grand specimen. These beauties can grow up to six or even eight feet indoors when provided with a bright sunny spot where they can get a minimum of 4-5 hours of direct sunlight daily.
8. Snake Plant
Botanical Name: Sansevieria trifasciata
Dubbed as an “impossible-to-kill” houseplant, Sanseverias truly stand by their popularity unless you don’t ignore the extremities. Though it can do just fine without direct sunlight, a few hours of sun can be a game-changer with improved photosynthesis, beautiful variegation and sturdy growth.
9. Gardenia
Botanical Name: Gardenia jasminoides
Hands down a favorite of outdoor gardeners, the Gardenia also makes for a pretty houseplant that mists the indoor air with a sweet fragrance. The only caveat is—it requires 3-4 hours of bright sunlight to produce those sweet-smelling blooms. However, keep an eye on its foliage during the peak summer months.
10. Basil
Botanical Name: Ocimum basilicum
How about a day in the kitchen when you can just extend a hand to pluck fresh herbs from that sunny windowsill? Well, basil could be one such contender that requires 6-8 hours of direct sunlight for that strong flavor you’d love to savor in your soup bowl!
11. Dragon Tree
Botanical Name: Dracaena marginata
This perennial evergreen can easily touch the ceiling of your home when fully mature as long as you provide it a specious spot to grow that receives 3-4 hours of bright sunlight with filtered light all day long!
12. Ti Plant
Botanical Name: Cordyline minalis
Looking for a colorful potted specimen that can reflect your vibrant personality just well? This tropical woody could be the perfect candidate, thanks to its palm-like leaves, flaunting a beautiful blend of red, purple, and green that requires plenty of sunlight to retain its colors.
13. Fiddle-Leaf Fig
Botanical Name: Ficus lyrata
This plant has been named so because of the interesting lyre-shaped large leaves that emerge from a slender trunk. This houseplant has two major requirements—a lot of space where it can attain a glorious height of 6-8 feet and a location with bright, direct sunlight for at least a couple of hours a day.
14. Golden Barrel Cactus
Botanical Name: Echinocactus grusonii
It’s a no-brainer that desert cacti thrive abundantly under full sun, and a shining example of such resilience is the Golden Barrel cactus. It boasts a vibrant green body adorned with golden spines, growing to an impressive two feet in height and spreading out to a formidable three feet wide once fully matured.
15. Burro’s Tail
Botanical Name: Sedum morganianum
Sometimes interchangeably called the “Donkey’s tail,” this slow-growing, trailing succulent could be the perfect hanging vine for that sunny window that’s been empty for a while! Plus, a few hours of direct sun exposure would lead those greenish-blue leaves to develop pretty red tips, enhancing their overall appearance.
16. Coral Cactus
Botanical Name: Euphorbia lactea ‘Cristata’
Another sun-loving succulent, this unique cactus grows in the shape of a shrub or small tree, boasting thick stems and wide, flat, fleshy leaves with tiny thorny tips. To grow it indoors, ensure it receives enough sunlight and minimum water to keep it happy and healthy.
17. Echeveria
Botanical Name: Echeveria spp.
With diverse shapes and sizes, this genus can beautifully sit in your indoor desert garden with fleshy leaves arranged in a clustered rosette pattern. Plus, they absolutely love basking in the summer sun, so feel free to move them outdoors onto a patio or deck to let them soak in all that warmth.
18. Ponytail Palm
Botanical Name: Beaucarnea recurvata
This type of palm is quite similar to caring for a succulent, needing only weekly watering and a mixture of coarse soil and sand. It grows slowly and loves plenty of sunlight, making it a perfect addition to brighten up your sunny living room or patio with its distinctive swollen trunk and frizzy leaves.
19. Tree Aeonium
Botanical Name: Aeonium arboreum
One of the popular choices for Aeonium species is the arboreum, which showcases dense rosette clusters of leaves that sit atop fleshy stalks. With a mature height of about 2-3 feet indoors, these succulents require 3-4 hours of direct sunlight to thrive!
20. Hens and Chicks
Botanical Name: Sempervivum tectorum
Similar to the Echeveria, the sturdy Hens and chicks also showcase fleshy leaves forming dense rosettes and thrive in average room temperatures ranging between 65 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit. With a shallow root system, it looks beautiful in dish gardens and develops red edges when exposed to direct sunlight.
21. Yucca Plant
Botanical Name: Yucca gigantea
While Yuccas are most preferably grown outdoors, this particular variety can very well thrive in your balcony or a south-facing window, where it can receive a minimum of 6-8 hours of sunlight exposure. Plus, their spine-less sword-like foliage and decent height make them a favored choice for those with spacious rooms.
22. Zebra Haworthia
Botanical Name: Haworthiopsis fasciata
Often referred to as the ‘Little Zebra Plant’, this succulent is celebrated for its robust green leaves accented with zebra-like white stripes. Ideal for basking in 4-6 hours of direct sunlight, particularly in the morning, the Zebra Haworthia can show signs of stress, like color changes in the leaves, if exposed to excessive sunlight.
23. Norfolk Island Pine
Botanical Name: Araucaria heterophylla
Despite its misleading name, the Norfolk Island Pine is not a true pine. This elegant plant prefers a few hours of direct sunlight daily but will also prosper in bright, indirect light. Indoors, it maintains a modest height of three to eight feet, featuring symmetrical branches with soft, needle-like leaves, perfect for a bright corner of any room.
24. Meyer Lemon
Botanical Name: Citrus × meyeri
This delightful hybrid, between a lemon and a tangerine can successfully grow indoors under 6-8 hours of direct sunlight during winter months. However, in summer, it can flourish under 4-5 hours of direct sunlight.
25. Croton
Botanical Name: Codiaeum variegatum var. pictum
If you usually gravitate towards flowering houseplants, consider giving Crotons a try. They’ll show you just how stunning foliage can be! Just remember, without enough light and in temperatures below 50 degrees Fahrenheit, your Croton might start to wither.
