Plants that help you sleep better

• Written by Holly Hughes on February 08, 2022

We know that having plants inside our house offers a myriad of physical and mental benefits, as well as just being a delight to behold. However, did you know, on top of their mood-boosting, stress-reducing, happiness-harvesting abilities, plants are scientifically proven to help you sleep better?

Read on to find out how.

How can plants improve your sleep?

We’ve already seen the positive benefits of keeping plants in ouroffice anddining room. However, the effect adding some greenery can have to our bedroom might be the most profound of all.

Many studies have shown that having greenery in the room where we sleep can acutely improve our sleep quality. This is because plants purify the air, removing harmful toxins and making it easier for us to breathe. Access to oxygen is essential to a good night’s sleep and many plants emit large amounts of oxygen throughout the night.

Secondly, being around greenery lowers our blood pressure, reduces stress and anxiety and naturally improves our mood – all of which are essential when preparing for a good night’s slumber.

In fact, just having fifteen minutes of exposure or interaction with plants before bed can decrease sleep latency (how long it takes to fall asleep) and improve sleep integrity (remaining in a deep sleep during the night)

Finally, the fragrance of flowers also can help us fall asleep faster by regulating our nervous system or working as natural relaxants.

So, with so many benefits let’s take a look at some of the best plants to help you sleep better. ​​​​

Plants that help you sleep better

NASA is so committed to using plants for better sleep practices that it has conducted much research into the best bedroom plants for sleep. Using this and other studies, we’ve rounded up this list of the best plants that will improve your sleep health, as well as add a bit of green glamor to your bedroom.

Plants that produce oxygen at night

Snake Plant (Sansevieria)

One of NASA’s top 10 air-purifying plants, snake plants top every list of good bedroom greenery because of its ability to remove harmful chemicals and impurities from the air.

Snake plants produce oxygen at night – lots of it, in fact – which improves the air quality of your bedroom and thus can positively impact our sleeping patterns. Increased humidity levels in our bedroom and poor air quality are known to affect our rest and snake plants combat both with its large, toxin-absorbent leaves and cleansing qualities.

Best of all, it’s pretty low maintenance, meaning it can survive the often more temperamental conditions of a bedroom. Choose your perfect snake plant here.

Aloe

Many of us are already familiar with the many health and medicinal benefits of aloe vera, from soothing burns and minor cuts to aiding in digestion and boosting our immune systems.

However, its healing properties can even extend to poor shuteye. Aloe is another fantastic bedroom plant making oxygen at night and thus boosting your bedroom’s environment and air quality.

Flourishing best in sunlight, keep aloe in the windowsill for best results. Find yours at Plants.com.

English Ivy

English Ivy is not only a delightful addition to your bedroom décor with its sprawling vines, it is also an excellent air-purifier that removes harmful toxins like benzene, formaldehyde, and trichloroethylene from the environment.

This too was featured by NASA as one of the most effective options for improving air and rest quality so hang this colorful trailing vine near your bed for endless health and aesthetic benefits. Get yours here.

Flowers that help you sleep better

Lavender

Of course we cannot speak of flowers that make you sleep without mentioning the flower that is perhaps best known for its relaxing properties: lavender. The scent of this shrub is synonymous with soothing and calm atmospheres – an essential ingredient for a good night sleep.

Scientifically, lavender is a great addition to your bedroom to effectively boost your sleep. It has been proved to lower blood pressure and heart rate, two critical factors in our sleep quality. Furthermore, otherstudies have shown that lavender reduces crying in children and thus helps infants and their mothers to sleep better.

To sleep like a baby, place a pot of this deliciously calming herb by your bedside locker for the most indulgently calm night’s rest.

Gerbera Daisies

Gerbera daisies are one flower that makes you sleep due to its oxygen-producing abilities at nighttime. Not only do these cheery flowers add a bright pop of exquisite color to your bedroom, they work similar to aloe and snake plants, purifying the air and improving sleep quality with better oxygen circulation.

Treat yourself to a luscious bouquet at 1800Flowers, SendFlowers, or FromYouFlowers for a cheerful addition to your bedroom.

Gardenias

This delectably fragrant shrub originating from China and Japan has been proven to be one of the most effective flowers for promoting a good night’s sleep due to its heady perfume. Research conducted in Germanyfound that chemicals in gardenia flowers can be as potent as some pharmaceutical sedatives in their ability to regulate excitement in the brain and promote sleep.

So, for a natural – and beautiful – remedy for poor sleep, try brightening up your bedroom with some elegant gardenias.

Do plants sleep?

Technically, plants don’t sleep. This is because plants don’t have a Central Nervous System like us humans and so they are incapable of what we would call “real” sleep. However, that’s the short answer.

Plants do however have Circadian rhythms which means that their patterns alter in accordance with the Earth’s light-dark cycle, just as ours do. At nighttime, how they process oxygen and other substances changes with the lack of sunlight, yet the chemical reactions continue.

Are some plants harmful in the bedroom?

With such a wonderful list of flowers and shrubs that can improve our sleep, is it possible to have plants that can negatively impact our sleep patterns?

While there has been much debate over whether some plants can be harmful to keep in our bedrooms due to the amount of carbon dioxide they produce, it does not seem that any plants are particularly detrimental. While all plants do produce some amount of carbon dioxide during photosynthesis, these amounts are considered negligible, being far less than that of a human or even a pet.

So, sleep easy! And in fact, sleep better, with any one of these amazing plants by your side.