Decorating a fireplace requires special care due to the heat and fire danger involved. As nice as your living room might look with houseplants in certain places, think twice about putting plants in those places which are too near the fireplace. In certain conditions, however, houseplants can sit by a fireplace, as long as they can tolerate the level of light there. When, of course, the fireplace has a fire burning in it, no plants should be near the fixture.
Fireplace in Use
No plants must sit next to your fireplace which includes fire because sparks could place the plants. Even though a fireplace in use is supposed to incorporate a metallic screen or glass enclosure to stop sparks from flying out of their fire, it is still not safe to set flammable items like plants next to the fire. It is always possible for your metallic screen or glass enclosure to be defective. Even when the screen or enclosure is in good shape, opening the unit in order to add wood to the fire temporarily removes the protection from flying sparks. Additionally, the heat from a fire is too hot for plants to tolerate, and they could wilt or die from the exposure. Keep all plants well away from the fireplace when it is in use.
Recently Used Fireplace
Keep all plants well away from the fireplace if there is no passion in it, also, if the fireplace has been used within the previous 3 days. Coals or embers left over from a fire can continue to smolder for three days after the original fire had been extinguished. That means flammable material — like a leaf fallen from a houseplant — could ignite when it touches hot embers or ashes. Do not assume that a fire is completely out until all its embers are cold and you can touch them with your hands and not be wounded. Catch the fireplace’s damper open while the embers are present. Don’t place warm embers or ashes at a flammable container or a container which can melt; wait until the embers and ashes cool before you transfer them. Heat from warm embers or ashes in a container can heat the container and then stimulate the surface where it sits, according to an article on TheReddingPilot.com.
Cold Fireplace Not Applied Recently
If the fireplace does not have new embers or ashes in it and it has been quite some time since a fire was in the fireplace, then it is safe to place plants near the exterior of the fireplace. Be aware of the light level, nevertheless. Unless your fireplace is near a window, plants there will receive indirect light. Poinsettia (Euphorbia pulcherrima), hardy outdoors all year in U.S. Department of Agriculture plant hardiness zones 9 through 11, is one choice for a fireplace area which receives some shade or bright indirect light. Plants that grow best in shade include the dwarf peace lily (Spathiphyllum x “Wallisii”), hardy in USDA zones 10b through 11. Moving plants from the fireplace will be essential if you want to use the fireplace to get an actual fire, and keep away the plants for three or more days after the fire, ensuring all embers and ashes are cold.
Old, Blocked-Off Fireplace
If your fireplace is actually an old fixture which has been blocked off long ago, then passion isn’t the problem for houseplants there; it is the light. Plants which you place around such a fireplace likely will receive indirect light, depending on the fireplace’s location. If, however, you place plants within the fireplace’s cavity, those plants have to be shade-tolerant to survive there. The aforementioned peace lily is one chance for the shady location, as is the heart-leaf philodendron (Philodendron scandens), perennial in USDA zones 10b through 11.
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