5 Pet Safe Purple Houseplants We Love (& Where to Buy!)

3. Purple houseplants that are not pet safe (Toxic to Pets!)

• Tradescantia Zebrina
• Begonias
• Purple Rubber Plant
• Purple Anthurium are all toxic purple houseplants for pets!

4. Common mistakes to avoid with Pet safe purple houseplants

Letting purple tones fade in weak light
We’ve seen people place Purple Passion or Purple Waffle in dim corners because they’re safe for pets: but their color washes out fast. The leaves turn dull green within weeks and lose the dramatic purple everyone buys them for!

Overcrowding humidity lovers and inviting pests
It’s tempting to cluster Purple Passion and Purple Heart together since they’re all non-toxic, but tight spacing traps moisture and stale air. We’ve had whitefly show up in our Brooklyn home from exactly this kind of grouping!! Give them a little space, and make sure there is some form of ventilation (like a bigger room, or occasional breeze from outside and also please rotate plants regularly to avoid most of such issues)

Allowing water to sit in the crown or central cup
Purple Bromeliads rot from the center if water sits too long or if dust collects in the cup. Forum growers complain about sudden collapses, and we had to start flushing the cup weekly so no debris built up. Always remember, less is more for watering and dip your fingers two inch to check if the plant needs watering.

Using tap water that spots or burns leaves
African Violets and Purple Calatheas react quickly to minerals and chlorine in tap water. We’ve seen brown edging and leaf spotting in our Brooklyn home, and growers online say the same—especially in cities with hard water. (Fortunately NYC water isn’t hard)

Keeping these plants in stagnant, still corners
Purple Calatheas sulk when airflow is too low, and African Violets get powdery mildew fast in crowded shelves. We made this mistake once, and the leaves stayed damp for hours after watering, which sped up fungal problems.

5. How We Chose these Pet-Safe Purple Houseplants

We wanted this list to reflect the purple plants that actually stayed beautiful and steady in our Brooklyn home, not just the ones that look dramatic online! So we paid close attention to how each plant behaved across different rooms, seasons, and light levels — every plant here earned its place through real growth, real mistakes, and real recovery.

• Color That Holds Up
  We chose plants that kept their purple tones through New York’s dim winters, because many purple varieties fade fast unless the light is just right.
• Performance in Real Homes
  We watched how these plants grew in bright living rooms, north-facing bedrooms, and medium hallways. Only the ones that stayed full and healthy in real apartment conditions made the list.
• Watering Forgiveness
  We included plants that bounced back from our occasional drying out or slightly heavy-hand watering, since not every plant parent waters perfectly every week.
• Seasonal Stability
  Brooklyn winters get dry and summers get humid, so we kept plants that handled these shifts without collapsing, crisping, or wilting dramatically.
• Pest and Rot Resistance
  Spider mites and mildew are common in warm apartments, so we focused on plants that didn’t break out in issues every time the radiators came on.
• Affordable and Easy to Find
  Some purple plants look incredible but are overpriced or rarely available. We kept the ones you can actually find locally or online without hunting.
• Apartment-Friendly Size
  We prioritized compact purple houseplants that don’t overwhelm shelves or side tables, since many readers live in smaller homes like ours.