on houseplants A. Chipman
On houseplants—
A brief selection of thoughts and poetry produced and collected by author Avery Chipman — dedicated to those who find joy in surrounding themselves with green.
table of contents
4
materials + knowledge
6
feelings
quotations 8
millennials 10
poetry 12
leafy
14
misconceptions 16
materials & k n o w l e d g e —
To create a beautiful green space within your home, there are a few tools required. Having different sizes and shapes of planters, types of soil, water, and patience will allow you to plant many types of seeds and watch them grow. It is important to be aware of the sunlight and water different species of plants require. Some plants need a lot of care and attention while others are much more hardy and require very little maintenance. Some plants will need to be moved to larger pots over time as they grow, or others will produce duplicates that will need to be transplanted to their own pots. If there are too many roots in one pot, the plants will become overcrowded and die because of a lack of available nutrients. The most important thing is to be aware of your plants and notice when they are not looking their best so that you can respond by either adjusting their sunlight or watering schedule, or move them to a larger pot so that they will be able to flourish.
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how are you f Studies have shown that the by being around houseplants, your blood pressure will likely lower,your anxiety will lessen, and your overall wellbeing will improve. There are many reported health benefits to keeping houseplants, but many people also experience emotional benefits from their plants. Many people feel generally calmer, more relaxed, and happier when they find themselves surround themselves with plants.
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Specific houseplants that are mentioned in studies for contributing to health benefits include: golden pothos, arrowhead vine, philodendron, snake plants and peace lillies. All plants will help purify the air in their space and can be a positive distraction or responsibility to allow the users of a space to feel that they are doing something good and helpful by caring for a living thing.
eeling?
My houseplants, to me, bring me a sense of calm, tranquility, and serenity that I don’t find in other environments and spaces. Their waxy, twisted leaves and shoots stand and sway with the sun. When I water them, I feel happy and important to be tending to them and making them happy. Their lives are simple and gentle and it pleases me to take part in their wellbeing.
My relationship to plants becomes closer and closer. They make me quiet; I like to be in their company. Peter Zumthor
Plants exist in the weather and light rays that surround them—waving in the wind, shimmering in the sunlight. I am always puzzling over how to draw such things. Hayao Miyazaki
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millennials—
There has, in the last few years particularly, been a resurgence of people keeping houseplants. The numbers say that it is a growing trend among millennials. Why is it that America’s youngest adult generation is interested in keeping houseplants, when the last resurgence was in the 70s amid Watergate and the Vietnam War? Some believe keeping plants becomes popular again while we as a culture hunker down and need to feel comfort. Are millennials hunkering down from the increasingly stressful housing market predictions, bleak job outlooks, and the ever-growing student loan debt mountain? Perhaps. Others say that millennials are in it for the Instagrammable moment. But whatever it is, something certainly is driving America’s millennials to bring home plants.
It is a small plant delicately branched and tapering conically to a point, each branch and the peak a wire for green pods, blind lanterns starting upward from the stalk each way to a pair of prickly edged blue flowerets: it is her regard, a little plant without leaves, a finished thing guarding its secret. Blue eyes— but there are twenty looks in one, alike as forty flowers on twenty stems—Blue eyes a little closed upon a wish achieved and half lost again, stemming back, garlanded with green sacks of satisfaction gone to seed, back to a straight stem—if one looks into you, trumpets—! No. It is the pale hollow of desire itself counting over and over the moneys of a stale achievement. Three small lavender imploring tips below and above them two slender colored arrows of disdain with anthers between them and at the edge of the goblet a white lip, to drink from—! And summer lifts her look forty times over, forty times over—namelessly.
It is a Small Plant
William Carlos Williams
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I have a basil plant with some lovely, emerald leaves crowning 3 strong, thick columns in an off-white, ceramic pot. Decorated with delicate foliage, hand-painted in rust and green, how it glows in the sunshine on the tiled kitchen window sill.
Basil J.
Leafy
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My sister moved work buildings in 2014 to an open office where she had window access. She purchased a small fittonia and named him Leafy. She kept Leafy happy and green as she moved up through the company and eventually they moved into a private office. Leafy sat on her desk for several years until a fateful summer when my sister took a week’s vacation and forgot to take Leafy home or ask someone to water him. When she returned from her vacation, relaxed and energized, she found Leafy shriveled and dead on her desk. Forced to let him go as there was no reviving him, Leafy hit the garbage can. So long, Leafy.
Lots of people assume that houseplants are either finicky and very difficult to maintain, or require lots of effort and work. There are some plants that can need more maintenance, but there are several varieties of plants that require almost no care except the occasional watering and checkup, and are great for beginners. All it takes to start your own indoor garden is a brief inspection of your plant’s health every couple days and a little water.
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