Terrarium
Seems everyone has a great aunt or grandmother who has an old terrarium full of plants that appear to be able to live forever without any effort. So, why not plant your own? You can use any glass container - seal it with plastic wrap if you don't have a lid to fit it. Cover the bottom with an inch of sand or gravel, then add three inches of potting soil. Water until the soil is moist but not soggy, then add plants that like moisture, such as ferns, African violets, begonias.
You'll find a great list of plants and more information than you knew existed about terrariums from the Department of Horticulture of the University of Missouri: http://muextension.missouri.edu/xplor/ag...
Aquarium gardens
If you've got a 10 gallon tank sitting around, but can't leave your fish unattended over long school breaks, try planting an underwater garden instead. Most garden shops and pet stores these days sell aquarium plants, and there's a wide variety of colors and textures to choose from.
For inspiration, check out the beautiful photos of Planted Aquariums on the "Home of the Rainbowfish" website: http://www.ecn.net.au/~atappin/Planted.h... . And if you get hooked, there's always the archives of the aquatic-plants mailing list to browse through: http://www.actwin.com/fish/aquatic-plant...
Houseplants
If all else fails, and you have hardly any light or time to care for plants - there are always a few houseplants that can survive through almost anything. (I speak from experience, as the peace lily my mom sent me off to college with is still alive despite years of neglect... granted it still only has the 10 leaves it started with, but it's not dead, so I still feel good about myself J. )
My favorite technical site for houseplants is merely entitled "House Plants." It has a great chart of "Plants that will withstand most adverse house conditions and abuse" if you click on the link to "Plants for specific indoor gardening uses" and scroll down the page a bit: http://www.uaex.edu/hort/orn/housepl.htm . For a more eloquent perspective on the world of houseplants visit Norine's Suite 101 column: http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/hous...
Also, most shade tolerant plants will live happily on the amount of light available in a bright windowsill or with fluorescent lights. So don't be afraid to experiment with plants that are usually considered outdoor plants. A few good choices are: impatiens, begonias, chrysanthemums, and geraniums.
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