Pick of the pots: the most stylish house plants

Cristina Celestino on Caffè Concerto Cucchi, Milan
“I love the exaggerated size of the palm tree and also the surreal effect of the tropical tree in a bourgeois, old-style Milan room, such as the tearoom of the Pasticceria Cucchi. I chose it because it reminds me of a desert oasis.”

Ludovica+Roberto Palomba on Sogliano Cavour holiday home, Lecce
“For this renovation we tried to source everything locally, so even the cactus – one of our favourite plants – was from the area around the house to keep the structure’s charm intact. To us, greenery embedded in architecture is like a sculpture. If, in the past, people used statues as decorations, today house plants are what brings us back to natural beauty.”

Romain Michel Meniere on Berber Lodge holiday home, Marrakech
“I always liked the Ficus lyrata. I saw it many times as a child during travels with my family. I think that potted greenery can really add a tropical feeling that we miss in a Berber village. My landscape designer, Arnaud Casaus, doesn’t want to see tropical foliage in a garden, but he says it’s OK to add it to a courtyard.”

Cristina Celestino on the Happy Room lounge, Design Miami
“I chose the banana tree for its distinctive tropical feel along with other more common plants for interior use, such as the calathea, to create a sophisticated atmosphere – perfect for Fendi’s Happy Room collection and the home planters designed for the project.”

Joseph Dirand on Le Jardinier restaurant, New York
“Here we used many Swiss cheese plants that seem to be growing between the architectural elements, giving a sense of charm to the dining room. What you have on your plate and what you feel while you are in the space work closely together. I wanted guests to feel as if they were dining on a terrace surrounded by a garden.”

Emma Shone-Sanders on a private home in Westminster, London 
“I’ve always loved Musa banana plants with their huge leaves – they’re so reminiscent of holidays and they always transport me back to a hike up to a banana plantation in Hampi, India, one of my favourite places in the world. They worked really well in this project because the space receives direct sunlight, so it has perfect conditions for the Musa to thrive.”

Ludovica+Roberto Palomba on a private home in Milan
“Fascinating all year round, Monstera is an evergreen plant that always brings a touch of elegance to the space where it is housed. There is no joy in a house without a plant or a green element, something alive that surprises us every day with its changes, like a silent companion to our daily lives.” 

Cristina Celestino on Back Home, an exhibition set‑up for Fendi & Fendi Casa
“Citrus, lemon and tangerine are my favourite plants – they remind me of the streets of Rome, where orange plants are always flowering. For this project I wanted to recreate the atmosphere of a bourgeois Roman terrace, so the choice of those plants was an obvious one.” 

Susanna Wåhlin, Note Design Studio, on a private home
“I have a tall Sparrmannia africana myself, and I cherish it! It has big but very light leaves with a fresh, light-green colour, and after a few years it can become almost like a little tree in size. I love that it has that contrast between delicate and strong. If you have one bigger one indoors, it might be the only plant you need.”