Real Life Plant Parents of 2019
We’ve spent 2019 celebrating the Real Life Plant Parents of our amazing Wild Interiors® community, and we couldn’t be happier to share your stories. We’re taking this month’s blog to highlight all of our Plant Parents from this year and share their stories again along with a quick update on their plants from several parents!
January: Meredith
Our first Real Life Plant Parent was Meredith, who had about a hundred plants after collecting them for only a year. Meredith makes DIY plant stands and displays for her home to really show off her plant family.
Meredith shared a beautiful story about her Beefsteak Begonia, passed down through cuttings from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law for generations.
My mother-in-law has had this particular plant since she was first married (over 50 years ago). She had acquired it through clippings from her mother-in-law, who had passed long before I came into the picture. Now being married to her son for over 20 years, my mother-in-law, noticing my growing plant collection, shared a clipping from her beefsteak begonia to me. It initially took almost 3 months to finally produce, however now I have a beautiful vibrant vintage plant for myself. I like the idea of when I eventually become the mother-in-law, then I too will keep this tradition going to pass on a cutting to the next generation.
We were excited to check in with our first plant parent and get an update on her plant collection.
Things have been great, the plant family is still alive and thriving, including my most favorites. I’ve since added some air plants and went through a purple/burgundy plant phase adding some new plants I’ve never had before - calla lily, black fang begonia, and dragon’s tongue. I keep saying I’m tapped out for plants, but every once in a while another comes home with me.
We know how that goes, Meredith. We can’t resist an interesting new plant either… visitors to our office see a lot of plants on display covering our desks and shelves!
February: Michelle
When we talked to Michelle, her family was getting settled in a new house and she was curating the perfect plant collection to make it feel like home. She has loved plants from a very young age and is instilling the love of plants in her own children as she cared for her plant babies alongside her real babies!
We bought our first house last year and there's an awesome ledge that stretches along the living room that would be perfect for more plants!
My third son will turn 1 year old in February 2019, and he’s always on my hip while I'm doing touch up watering, or walking through the house checking my plants moisture with my meter. I also put him in the bouncy or stroller and he faces me watching me pot plants or do plant maintenance and I push him in the stroller on watering day when I'm watering indoor and outdoor plants. My four year old likes to shovel potting soil and the six year old tries to help me water. They're still very young, but I'm hoping one or more of them will love plants the way I do.
Follow Michelle on Instagram: @greenblooded18
March: Victoria
Victoria, our third plant parent of 2019, is a full time pharmacy student at the Ohio State University with a modest plant collection of nine plants that thrive on neglect, since she has to focus so much time on school work!
As a student, I have mastered the concept of caring for plants that thrive on neglect. I have recently expanded my repertoire to include more care-conscious plants and succulents to get used to caring for something other than myself.
We reached out to see how Victoria’s plant family is doing. She’s added a few to her collection and has graduated and relocated to Cleveland for a residency program. Congrats and welcome to northeast Ohio!
I've been slowly growing my little plant family. I have 13 plants right now, including 2 big monsteras, a snake plant that is taking over my living room, and several pothos plants. I have definitely learned more about plants in the past few months since moving to Cleveland, especially how to protect my babies against the freezing cold.
Follow Victoria on Instagram: vikuryluk
April: Kayla
We had a blast getting to know Kayla of Genre Green when she came to tour our greenhouses, and her love of plants came through in her Plant Parent interview. Kayla realized how enormous her love and awe of plants was when she got cuttings of a snake plant that was over twenty five years old.
One day at work, my co-worker brought in sections of this plant. At the time I had no clue what it was but I thought it was amazing. It was sectioned Sansevieria trifasciata, or Snake plant to most. I fell completely in love with it. So I asked her about it. She said this plant was impossible to kill and didn’t need much maintenance, so I thought okay this will be easy, right? Then she went on to tell me the pieces she brought in were from her own plant at home. Those pieces were over 25 years old. Then went on to tell me her plant came from pups she was given from a mother Snake plant that had been in her friends' yard for many years before that.
Follow Kayla on Instagram: @_genregreen
May: Michelle S.
Michelle’s story was one of self care and finding therapeutic benefits in her houseplants. We certainly relate, because tending to indoor plants helps remind us to tend to ourselves too. Michelle has turned her plant family into a daily care routine that is honestly an inspiration.
To keep my plants happy I try to spend some time checking in on them each day. I spritz my humidity loving plants with water and rotate the ones that grow lopsided towards the light. I also dedicate more time on the weekends to plant maintenance, watering and repotting when needed.
When we checked in with Michelle we got an update on her growing family -- meaning her plants, of course, but also another new addition!
There have been some big changes, the most exciting being that my boyfriend and I are expecting a baby in January 2020. We are still in our small house, and we still have a ton of plants! I have to get even more creative with using the space to make room for the new addition to the family. I love the idea of my baby being surrounded by plants as they grow up! The plants we have are still doing well and have survived the transition into winter, which included a lot of moving around within the house as we get organized.
Follow Michelle on Instagram: @house_plants_and_kitties
June: Royse
Royse is a law student who finds the time for her plant babies amidst a very busy school work schedule. A collection of fifteen plants is a reminder to stop and take care of the basics though, which is an important life lesson.
I am a current law student, so my time is spread pretty thin. I always have time though for my succulents, my foliage plants, my money tree, and my personal favorites, two spider plants that were propagated from a spider plant that my mom and dad bought for their first house.
We didn’t hear back from Royse, so we hope law school is going great!
June: Stephanie
Stephanie was our bonus plant parent in June and she has perfected her indoor jungle. Plants are a way of life in her home and she creates ideal habitats for her plants that need different environments.
Plants are truly my happy place. While I have been outdoor gardening for years, I recently started my indoor garden/jungalow about two years ago. I started with some orchids that I was given as a gift, which soon turned into to picking up succulents and then I just couldn’t stop collecting anything green, luscious, and exotic. My visions from Pinterest soon became my reality and I have built my own little jungle oasis. Of course, every new plant is an experiment in care. You lose some and you grow some into big beauties.
Follow Stephanie on Instagram: @syoung1975
July: Jen
Jen of Jsodet Crochet was our July plant parent, and we celebrated her journey to plant parenthood after picking up a humble Peperomia Happy Bean plant from our very own Wild Interiors collection!
I don’t have any special stories about my plants yet. I have killed quite a few I am embarrassed to say, however, I didn’t let that deter me. I want plants in my life and I have learned from my rookie mistakes. Although, I decided to give the survivors names, so they are more like my little babies than just home décor.
Curly Shirley – Curly Spider
Blossom – Green Echeveria
Spike – Aloe
Phoebe – Parlor Palm
PePe – Peperomia Happy Bean
Zaria – ZZ plant
Hailey – Haworthia Succulent
We checked in to see how these little babies were doing and Jen unfortunately had to report some casualties - and some new additions!
The good news is that I adopted new plants: Penelope, Riley Jane, Zeke, Mariella, and Sienna. My daughter even has a couple plants of her own, including one Wild Interiors succulent that she named Anna. Proud mama! Sorry to say that Blossom, Spike, and Hailey have passed on.
Jen, don’t fret! Succulents can be difficult and the change in temperature as we transition into fall can be tough on little plants.
Follow Jen on Instagram: @jsodetcrochet
August: Sarah
Sarah has long been an outdoor gardener but started an indoor plant collection after she realized an office Pothos plant helped her feel better at work!
The motivation behind getting it was that I had just started a desk job in an office that got zero sun and could at times get stuffy with so many people inside. When one person got sick, EVERYONE would. I stumbled across an article about NASA’s clean air study and decided to get a pothos because it was a plant that did well in purifying the air. I thought why not add more greenery to my desk, while potentially improving the air quality near me. I honestly did notice that I was able to battle office sinus plagues easier, or at least they wouldn’t last as long. I learned from this experience that I was CAPABLE of taking care of plants indoors.
September: Michele
Michele and her daughter went on a plant shopping spree last winter to bring some life into the dreary gray season, and they haven’t looked back! Michele has turned her home into a beautiful indoor landscape of potted plants in all sizes.
It began this past long dreary New York winter. My daughter and I felt like we needed some color in the house and the trend we started seeing was adding simple green plants. Sort of a Scandinavian style, then we came across the Bohemian (Boho) style that started to open our eyes up to more and more color! The first plant run made me so giddy, I couldn't wait to show her my finds as I walked around the nursery that dreary day. I felt like Spring was on its way.
We checked in with Michele again now that winter is on its way back, and she had been thinking of us lately too!
I’m having some trouble with the sudden cold snap and dark days. I’ve been moving some plants around under lights, adjusting watering, moving away from drafty windows but I’ve lost some plants. My husband said to me last night, ‘What’s going on plant lady, you’re losing plants! What would the Wild Interiors blog think about that?’ I’m trying to save the ones I had hanging on windows and moving them to warmer spots.
Tell your husband we think it’s totally normal to lose some plants in the winter. Sometimes if they’re already feeling iffy, a cold snap can cause them to give up. It doesn’t mean you’re not still a great plant parent!
Follow Michele on Instagram: @chopinteriors
October: Lisa
In October we heard from plant parent Lisa, who has a habit of rescuing plants from dumpsters and other dire straits as well as inheriting them from family and friends.
I have a few plants with unique stories. I have a peace lily and a corn plant that both came from dumpsters! With some TLC, they have both been thriving for a few years now. I have a pothos and a philodendron that came from my grandma's house that are each at least 10 years old. My biggest cactus, now 24 inches tall, was given to me by a college professor. I had to walk across campus carrying a huge cactus!
November: Katey
Last month we featured Katey, who haggled her way to a great bargain on a rare Monstera cutting.
I think the most unique story is my Monstera Thai Constellation. I found it on vacation in a cute little rare plant shop. It was a sad little cutting, only one and a half leaves. As much as I wanted to bring it home, it was way out of my budget, even for such a rare find. I couldn't stop thinking about it though, and I went back on my way to the airport and haggled them down to less than half of what it was marked at. I was so proud. I carried that cutting through security, on the plane, and safely home.
We know it was just last month that we talked to Katey, but we reached out to see how her Thai Constellation is doing!
Just last week I noticed that a new leaf is getting ready to emerge. So exciting!
Follow Katey on Instagram: @mykansasjungle
Ring In the New Year
We’re continuing our Real Life Plant Parent series for 2020. Submit your Plant Parent story using our form here, or email us at info@wildinteriors.com. We can’t wait to hear your story.