Warm weather and the first buds of spring have been slow to arrive in much of the country. But even if your garden has yet to grow, you can add beauty, fragrance and a sense of springtime to your home by decorating with lush plants and potted trees.

Decorating with plants “kind of fell out of vogue” for a time, says California-based interior designer Molly Luetkemeyer. “It was such a ’70s thing, or I think people associated it with the ’70s,” but it’s become popular again.

Today, “designer spaces pretty much always include some element of life,” says interior designer Brian Patrick Flynn, founder of decordemon.com. “While that can be anything from coral to tortoise shells, pressed leaves or even a tiny bowl with a goldfish, the most common way to add life is with potted plants and trees.”

We asked Flynn, Luetkemeyer and Betsy Burnham of Burnham Design in Los Angeles for advice on choosing the right plants, potting them and keeping them blooming with minimal effort.

Where To Start?

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