Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care - I Grew 40 New Plants in 2024: Ranked from Favorites to Flops

I Grew 40 New Plants in 2024: Ranked from Favorites to Flops

01/07/25 • 47 min

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Growing Joy with Plants - Wellness Rooted in Nature, Houseplants, Gardening and Plant Care

I can't believe we're already in 2025, but I am SO excited to spill all the tea about my wild plant experiment from last year. In 2024, I totally went for it and added over 40 new plant species to my collection—and it was quite the adventure! Some of these plants thrived, some flopped, and yes, some didn’t make it. So in this episode, I’m sharing it all—from my favorites to my fails—and what I learned along the way.

In this episode, we learn:

[01:51] Reflecting on 2024
[04:31] What’s your plant parent personality?
[06:38] Why I now consider myself a low maintenance plant parent
[09:08] How I fell in love with Ficus (and fell out of love with Calathea)
[11:52] My success with Anthuriums and Alocasia
[13:37] Why my most repurchased plants are philodendrons (+ pothos)
[15:19] Start 2025 with soothing premium chimes with Wind River!
[17:00] Grow your best garden yet with the AHS Essential Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening!
[19:39] Why there is less light in your house than you believe
[20:50] My top favorite plants in 2024
[33:44] My least favorite plants in 2024
[37:56] Plants that didn’t make it in 2024 :(
[42:53] What's in store for my 2025 houseplant collection?

Mentioned in our conversation:

For a complete list of my 2024 plant collection ranked,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Wind River Chimes

Visit windriverchimes.com and use code GROWINGJOY to receive free engraving on your chosen wind chimes.

Quarto: American Horticultural Society Essential Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening

Grab a copy of the Essential Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening at your favorite local bookstore, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, quarto.com or amazon.com to start growing organically.

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect plants, projects and educational resources for YOUR Lifestyle)

Support Bloom and Grow Radio by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon!

Instagram: @growingjoywithmaria

Tiktok: @growingjoywithmaria

Subscribe to the Growing Joy Youtube channel! /growingjoywit...

In this episode, we learn:

[01:51] Reflecting on 2024
[04:31] What’s your plant parent personality?
[06:38] Why I now consider myself a low maintenance plant parent
[09:08] How I fell in love with Ficus (and fell out of love with Calathea)
[11:52] My success with Anthuriums and Alocasia
[13:37] Why my most repurchased plants are philodendrons (+ pothos)
[15:19] Start 2025 with soothing premium chimes with Wind River!
[17:00] Grow your best garden yet with the AHS Essential Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening!
[19:39] Why there is less light in your house than you believe
[20:50] My top favorite plants in 2024
[33:44] My least favorite plants in 2024
[37:56] Plants that didn’t make it in 2024 :(
[42:53] What's in store for my 2025 houseplant collection?

Mentioned in our conversation:

For a complete list of my 2024 plant collection ranked,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Wind River Chimes

Visit windriverchimes.com and use code GROWINGJOY to receive free engraving on your chosen wind chimes.

Quarto: American Horticultural Society Essential Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening

Grab a copy of the Essential Guide to Organic Vegetable Gardening at your favorite local bookstore, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, quarto.com or amazon.com to start growing organically.

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect plants, projects and educational resources for YOUR Lifestyle)

Support Bloom and Grow Radio by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon!

Instagram: @growingjoywithmaria

Tiktok: @growingjoywithmaria

Subscribe to the Growing Joy Youtube channel! /growingjoywit...

Previous Episode

The Role of Nature in Personal Growth

What role do you think nature plays in your life? For me, it has always been a deeper way to improve my mental, physical, and emotional health. In fact, it’s not just me who thinks this way. The minute I hopped into the digital recording studio, I knew that my guest was someone very similar to me! I’ve been following Marcus Bridgewater, better known as Garden Marcus, for years, and I’m so happy to say that he surpassed my dreams of what this conversation on plants and wellness could have been.

In this episode, we learn:

[02:12] Who is Marcus from Garden Marcus?
[04:49] Something we have in common!
[09:03] How did Garden Marcus get started?
[12:50] How did Marcus first start gardening?
[17:01] Our crazy plant parent stories
[18:56] Community and isolation
[20:37] Why we need more green spaces
[27:41] How to be a more “grounding” person
[30:08] How disconnected is the world from nature?
[33:08] Exploring plant life parallels
[36:37] How to understand “feelings”
[39:35] How to awaken to nature’s presence
[43:27] How Marcus’s book came to be
[46:11] Mind, body, and spirit
[47:32] What it means to be “community loyal”
[48:23] Garden Marcus vs. Marcus Bridgewater
[51:04] Check out Seasons of Growth: The New Journal
[53:30] Where to follow/find Garden Marcus

Mentioned in this conversation:

How to Grow: Nurture Your Garden, Nurture Yourself by Marcus Bridgewater
Seasons of Growth: A Journal for Well-Being Inspired by Marcus Bridgewater
Choice Forward
Redwood National and State Parks (U.S. National Park Service)

For more plant-life parallels,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect plants, projects and educational resources for YOUR Lifestyle)

Support Bloom and Grow Radio by becoming a Plant Friend on Patreon!

Instagram: @growingjoywithmaria

Tiktok: @growingjoywithmaria

Subscribe to the Growing Joy Youtube channel! /growingjoywithmaria

Website: www.growingjoywithmaria.com

Pinterest: @growingjoywithmaria

Our Sponsors:
* Check out Armoire and use my code BLOOM for a great deal: https://www.armoire.style
* Check out Graza: https://graza.co/MARIA
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* Check out Manukora: https://manukora.com/BLOOM
* Check out Ollie: https://ollie.com/MARIA
Advertising Inquiries: https://redcircle.com/brands

Next Episode

Beneficial Insects For Effortless Houseplant Pest Management

When I visited the Seattle Spheres and saw the famous green wall with its 40,000 plants, I was mesmerized. But what really caught my eye were these strange little plastic baggies hanging off some stems. I wondered if they were hurting the plants at first. But then I looked closer, I realized those bags were filled with insects. Beneficial insects, to be exact. And they were there to manage pests naturally.

So if you’re like me and have struggled with pests like spider mites, thrips, or mealybugs on your plants, this episode with Jamie Stanton from DMV Beneficials should show you how beneficial insects work in deterring pests naturally.

GET THE FREE HOUSEPLANT PEST CONTROL DOWNLOAD HERE

In this episode, we learn:

[02:34] Download my new houseplant pest guide for free!
[03:37] Meet Jamie from DMV Beneficials
[06:59] What is a “beneficial insect” and what makes it beneficial?
[09:59] Why not just use pesticides?
[12:01] How do these beneficial predators work with your houseplants?
[13:42] What are the risks of releasing beneficial insects in your home?
[14:38] Can beneficial insects sting us?
[15:19] Never worry about water restriction ever again by picking up a copy of "The Water Smart Garden" by Noelle Johnson
[16:32] Discover high-quality organic gardening products with Espoma Organic
[18:22] Stay away from these beneficial insects!
[20:42] How to get started
[28:10] Can we see the mites we release?
[29:35] Beneficial insect against scales
[29:46] Effective thrips management
[33:44] Can you use beneficials in tandem with pesticides?
[34:51] Top houseplant pests that give the most headaches
[41:31] How does sustainability play into beneficials?
[48:19] Where to find DMV Beneficials near you

Mentioned in our conversation:

GET THE FREE HOUSEPLANT PEST CONTROL DOWNLOAD HERE

Learn how to use beneficial insects to protect your houseplants,

check out the full show notes and blog here!

Follow Jamie

Instagram

Facebook

Follow DMV Beneficials

Thank you to our episode sponsors:

Espoma Organic

Visit espoma.com to find your local Espoma dealer or check my Amazon storefront.

Quarto: The Water-Smart Garden by Noelle Johnson

Grab a copy of The Water-Smart Garden by Noelle Johnson at your favorite local bookstore, bookshop.org, Barnes & Noble, quarto.com, or amazon.com to get inspired and take action on your garden.

Follow Maria and Growing Joy:

Order my book: Growing Joy: The Plant Lover's Guide to Cultivating Happiness (and Plants) by Maria Failla, Illustrated by Samantha Leung

Join the Bloom and Grow Garden Party Community Platform & App AKA the plantiest and kindest corner of the internet! Get your FREE 2-week trial here!

Take the Plant Parent Personality Quiz (Get the perfect p...