a beginners guide to: buying plants
Topo, Plants and Crystals by Noel Kalmus via Dribbble
First things first: If you haven’t read our Plant 101 we suggest you do so now.
Now that that’s out of the way and we can assume you are a responsible adult and have all the tools and information you need to keep your plants alive, here are our recommendations:
For INDOOR PLANTS: These are pretty much un-killable. (If you do end up killing them, you should probably consider fakesies, but no one wants to see those, so we encourage you to keep trying)
- Succulents
- Philodendron
- Boston Fern
- Jade Plant
- Snake Plant
- Bromeliad
- Dracaena
- Kalanchoe
- Photos Plant
- Aloe Plant
- Shamrock Plant
- Here’s a cool site’s suggestion for indoor trees.
The following are some things to evaluate before committing to your plants (which coincidentally also applies to committing with significant others):
Know who you are: To know who you are you need to stay present. The past doesn’t define you. So answer these questions in the NOW: Where do you live? How’s the weather down there? Are you super busy? Can you spare a bit of time to nurture something other than yourself? Do you want to? That’s it. Those are the questions.
By answering them, you’ll be able to figure out how much time and effort you are willing to give of yourself, if any.
Do your homework: Now that you know what you’re willing to put on the table, take your time to think about the type of plants you want. Then do some research about them. Nothing cray cray (stalker alert), but just enough to know if you can keep up or not.
Thread carefully: Sometimes we find plants along the way that seem perfect, but then find out they just aren’t meant to be with us. You can avoid disastrous results, however, by simply doing a little digging and then making informed, fact-based decisions in advance.
Find out their bare necessities and requirements. Some plants, like partners, can be very demanding (but exciting!), while others are more low-key (and comforting). The choice to commit to either or is no one’s but yours.
This fool-proof route will inevitably lead you to find the one, or many, you can commit to. Plants that is.
Size matters: No matter what you hear elsewhere, size does matter. You need to find out their fully-grown size before you commit: This is basically so that you don’t end up with a gigantic plant that you have absolutely no room for. Pretty self-explanatory.
Long-distance is hard: You need to be able to thrive in the same space. Some plants just simply don’t belong in your environment. Please, just make sure your plant can keep up with your temper(ature).
Give it what it needs: “Happy wife happy life”. If it wants sun you give it sun. If it needs water you get the hose. And most of all: Don’t.let/it.get.hangry.
Are they kid/pet friendly?: This is self-explanatory, and sadly non-negotiable. Plants can be literal poison.
Now that you’ve gone through these, you have the grounds to form your set of terms and conditions for the relationship you want to have. We’re still talking about plants here.
And the good news is we found this handy user-friendly encyclopedia that practically chooses your plant for you. If only it were that easy to find a partner.
Happy plantin’!
Green-thumb sites, shops & books we LOVE
GARDEN.ORG All you need to know about plants and how to care for them. Enough said.
GARDENING FOR DUMMIES There is a dummies for everything, obviously. This is a simplified guide to getting our toes in the gardening waters. You can access the info online, or buy the book for your reading pleasure.
AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY’S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PLANTS AND FLOWERS This huge book it’s basically the gardening bible. If you can only buy on thing, this should probably be it. It covers errthing.
THE PLANT ENCYCLOPEDIA The online version (unrelated source), if you’re not that into books (also, FREE)
BETTER HOME & GARDENS PLANT ENCYCLOPEDIA An alternative to the one above, this one has a really cool search-engine tool that lets you browse thousands of plants by type, size, seasons, and even colors. Just PERFECT!
MOTHER EARTH NEWS Dubbed itself as the ‘original guide to living wisely’ MEN is precisely that. This website is much more holistic than the others in that it also covers topics such as renewable energy, organic good, natural health, DIY projects and, to our surprise, real estate (?). Has great articles though!
CROCUS A one-stop-shop for all your gardening needs. Even if you’re not fond of buying plants on-line, it can be a useful tool to narrow down the infinite world of plants by your specific needs. And, you can also find really nice tools, accessories, pots, planters. Pretty much everything and anything you can think of.
URBAN FARMER Just like the one above, this one has you need in the world of plants, herbs, fruits, flowers, etc. It also offers great guides, tips and how-tos.
GARDENISTA Another one-stop-shop. This is the hippie sister-site of the famous Remodelista sourcebook/online-shopping website. It offers a lot of inspiration trends, informative articles, DIY project ideas, and a more curated, design-inclined variety of items. Enter with caution: You will get sucked in for hours and hours.
*For more cool indoor plant ideas we love follow our 'The Great Indoor' board on Pinterest
*For more cool outdoor plant ideas our 'Outdoor + Beyond' board on Pinterest
