It is a source of frustration to many home-owners (and a source of great annoyance to commercial growers) that most people expect a bunch of flowers to last a week but a houseplant to last forever! A rule of thumb is this: a flowering plant will have a limited period of life but a foliage plant will last much longer.
With care you might get a well-budded cyclamen to last several weeks but if you want to adopt a plant that will become part of your family then go for a crassula - with care it will last longer than you do!
For all budding botanists, try our KS3 Science quizzes. 50 quizzes on all things science.