By Betsy McBride On Behalf Of The Pennsauken Environmental Commission

We all know how long the short month of February can be. It is dark, cold, and unpredictable. We spend many days and nights indoors. We get grouchy, sick, or depressed. These are the “winter doldrums:” periods of low spirits caused by lack of sunlight and fresh air. How can we simply improve our spirits?

Sometimes the simplest things offer the best remedies. Green your indoor space in February. Get a new house plant. Bringing a new, small house plant indoors among our surroundings can help us feel better – really! It will help clear the air of toxins and provide a visual simplicity that comforts us.

I know some of you may be saying, “I can’t grow anything. I have a brown thumb.” I want to suggest a beautiful, simple plant that costs very little, can grow just in water, and likes to travel: the philodendron (pronounced fil oh den dron); it’s Greek for “Love Tree.” “Philo” means love and “Dendron,” tree.

There are over 800 species of this plant, but I am suggesting a simple small one that you can purchase for under $5.

It is amazing how fast these plants will grow with just a once a week watering. Clearer air, visual simplicity, ease of care, what’s not to like? It even loves florescent light, so you can bring one to work. Bringing it into your office will green your space and likely improve the emotions of you and your work mates; and that’s certainly not a bad thing.

If you already have some philodendron house plants around your home or office and they’re not looking so hot, February is a good time to spruce them up a bit. Trim dead leaves and shoots, and give them a good thorough watering and a little fertilizer. Your plant will perk up – and so will you. Let them dry out before next watering. If you have really long shoots, take cuttings and put them in water to create more philodendron plants. And, if the plant is past help, toss the dirt where you can use it again, and get a new one.

What did I mean when I said the plant likes to travel? Philodendron is a vine and can wrap around a stick or go up a rope. You can have fun directing the shoots when they grow that big, or just let them hang over the edge of your desk.

One big drawback of philodendron: they are not pet friendly. If you have pets that like plants, skip this one at home for sure.

Plants are very personal and a philodendron is an easy plant to grow. They are even fun to select. So let’s do a little greening in February. We’ll feel better for it.

I’m getting off the couch and heading to my favorite nursery and buying a plant for my office. Maybe I’ll get a couple for home too. But I think I need to wait until the ice melts off my car.