The houseplant industry is thriving, sorry BOOMING. Just when you thought macramé and spider plants were out, millennials from ages 20 to 35 years of age are contributing to houseplant sales. A 1.7-billion-dollar industry, according to the National Gardening Association.
Millennials are obsessed with plants. The Monstera, Peace Lilies, Succulents, and the popular Fiddle Leaf Fig Tree.
For the record, at 48 years old, I own all of these plants. Does that make me cool?
So it must be Joanna Gaines fault right? Her popular show, Fixer Upper, will often add finishing touches to rooms with various plants. If Joanna Gaines places a fig tree in a living room, you can almost hear people buying them all up at local nurseries.
Is this trend a means to create stability in our lives? If you see a home or apartment with well cared for plants does this mean the home is well-lived? It certainly is a cheap hobby and one that millennials are taking by storm. Plants, who knew?
I am here to say though, that millennials are not the only crazy plant people out there. There are shirts, mugs, signs – the industry has gone crazy for plants. Although millennials have helped to create this big boom for plant sales, I strongly can support that “plant parents” are adults of all ages and gender.
I for one, am one of them.
It happened the other day, one of my followers on Instagram purchased a popular plant stand that I sell in my Leif Décor line. We started swapping stories about which plants we like and why, and she invited me to join "Rooted Connection", a plant club on social media. Her name is Gill Friedman and her account is all about people and their plant babies. Her motto is “Plant Obsesser, People Connector” and she believes that relationships, kindness, and respect are the number one ways to have a successful business. I feel this way as well.
My Leif Décor line focuses on wood products for the home, carefully built with our environment in mind. We wanted to feature some plant stands as the demand was there. We created a modern Scandinavian looking plant stand, that would be sturdy enough to hold all plant sizes, but sleek enough for even the smallest of spaces. One of our best sellers for sure. What can I say, people love their plants! A plant holder to a plant is the same as a little leopard-skin jacket for Mimi the Chihuahua. Right up there for the ultimate in accessorizing.
In my interior decorating business and home, I find rooms without plants, incomplete. I have my favorites. My number one is the fiddle leaf fig tree whom I lovingly call Tree Diddy. He’s a great plant and I think I might love him. Owning a cat, however, makes plant ownership tricky. My cat, Nike, likes to chew them, and a lot of plants are poisonous. He likes to dine on my fern plant, which is safe (non-poisonous to cats). It looks really sad though, with half its leaves eaten. "Fern-ando" (there was something in the air that night, the stars were bright ..sorry lover of Abba ), is hanging in there.
Plants have been a staple of the home since the '50s and it looks like it is here for years to come. Life is hard, plants give us a sanctuary to come home too. I love that.
Live simple, love your space (and your plants)
Tracy x