Almost impossible to kill, safe around pets, and it dangles baby plants on long stems for you to pot up.
The spider plant is one of the most forgiving houseplants there is: a fountain of narrow, arching leaves, often striped cream and green, that tolerates low light, erratic watering and general neglect. It earned its name from the plantlets — "spiderettes" — it sends out on long, wiry stems, each a ready-made new plant.
Grow it in ordinary compost in bright, indirect light, though it copes with shade. Water when the top of the compost dries; it stores reserves in thick white roots and shrugs off the odd missed week. Brown leaf tips usually mean dry air, fluoride in tap water, or a build-up of feed rather than anything serious.
Propagating it is almost too easy: peg a plantlet onto a pot of compost while it is still attached to the parent, or stand it in water until roots form, then cut it free. It is also non-toxic to cats and dogs, which is part of why it is so widely kept.
A succulent that stores its own water and asks for almost nothing in return — the classic starter plant for anyone who has killed everything else.
A clump-forming grass with a sharp citrus scent, grown for the tender stems at the heart of Southeast Asian cooking.
The knobbly rhizome behind so much cooking will sprout on a warm windowsill from a piece bought to eat.