green thumbs rule at edmonton Home + garden Show

Plantsome

GREEN THUMBS RULE

AT EDMONTON HOME + GARDEN SHOW

by Pepper Rodriguez

A sure sign of spring is the Edmonton Home + Garden Show that is back this March after a nearly two-year hiatus. Another sure sign of spring is the start of the gardening season, which is always at risk of cancellation because of central Alberta’s notoriously fickle weather.

Indoor gardens though, tend to flourish no matter the weather outside, and Sonya Nisevich of Plantsome thinks it’s the best kind of stress relief especially for the times we live in.

“Caring for indoor plants comes with many benefits! Plants give you something to care for, teach patience, and promote concentration. They can also relieve stress and increase the oxygen in your space. Not to mention - a green home is aesthetically SO pleasing!” she tells Edmonton New Home + Condo Guide.

Plantsome is an Alberta-based indoor plant distribution company that ships to all Canadian provinces, and they are one of the 400 exhibitors coming this year to the Edmonton Home + Garden Show happening March 24 to 27 at the Edmonton EXPO Centre.

Sonya says Plantsome was founded because buying plants should be easy and fun. The nationwide plant distributor says it couldn’t help but notice how inconvenient (and boring!) it is to buy plants. So instead of turning your car into a mess and breaking your back to carry your new green friend home, they figured they would ship them to you and have some fun helping you select the perfect plants!

“We love plants and take pride in carefully curating our tropical plants, but the mission doesn’t end there. We care deeply about the planet and want to leave it better than we found it. That is why we use as little plastics as we can, recycle all incoming packing material from our suppliers and work only with reputable vendors and nurseries.”

Edmonton New Home + Garden Show sat down with Sonya to talk about the best ways to raise and care for indoor plants.

Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault The BroLaws

1. CAN YOU GIVE US SOME INDOOR PLANTS THAT WOULD BE RELATIVELY EASY TO RAISE IN ALBERTA?

Ssssssssnake Plants like Gus and Kaa (Sansevieria Zeylanica and Sansevieria Laurentii) are some of our go-to easy care amigos along with Pablo (Peperomia Obtusifolia)— he’s pet friendly, too!—and Amelia (Pothos Gold) if you’re feeling some trailing vibes.

2. CAN YOU GIVE US FIVE TIPS ON BEST WAY TO NURTURE THESE PLANTS?

How much watering, plant food, do they have to be transplanted to bigger containers? Snake Plants, Peperomia Obtusifolia, and Pothos are tough cookies that can survive a little neglect. They tolerate a variety of lighting conditions from bright, indirect light to partial shade and don’t need a ton of H2O. Snake Plants like to dry out completely between waterings and both Pothos and Peperomia Obtusifolia like for the top 1/3 to ½ of their soil to dry between waterings. These guys would like some plant food every month or every other month when they are putting out new growth (usually in the spring and summer). All purpose liquid plant food will do the trick. Every 2-3 years you’ll want to repot if you’re noticing that the plant is starting to get root bound (the pot is filling up with roots). The new pot should be two inches in diameter larger than the existing pot, and always make sure it has drainage holes!

3. HOW DO YOU CHOOSE CONTAINERS FOR PLANTS?

Store-bought plants, is it okay to keep them in the vases or pots they come in? If you intend to repot directly into the new container, we always recommend that the new container has drainage holes. However, we usually recommend leaving your new green amigo in their plastic nursery pot and finding a decorative pot that fits the nursery pot inside, no repotting necessary!

4. WHERE BEST TO POSITION INDOOR PLANTS IN A HOME?

It depends on the lighting needs of the plant, so it’s important to check the needs of your specific plant. Most indoor houseplants will thrive in bright, indirect light so close to an east or west facing window or a little bit back from a south facing window. Make sure to avoid any heaters/heating vents/AC vents since they create pockets of very dry air which your green amigo will not appreciate.

What to expect at the 2022 Edmonton Home + Garden Show

After a nearly two-year hiatus the Edmonton Home + Garden Show is back, and how! Kristy Cairns, Group Manager at Marketplace Events, the show’s organizer say they will continue to follow all provincial guidelines, and they are optimistic that everything will be back to normal when the show opens on March 24.

This year’s show promises the return of some of the most popular exhibitors and presenters, as well as some exciting new ones. “VanLife is back for Edmonton, same with For Your Home Marketplace and DYP Refillery. We also have some other design features such as the Backyard Wars, Pick Your Picnic as well as Hello from the Outside,” Cairns says.

“For speakers we’re really excited to have BroLaws joins us as well as Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault!”

The BroLaws

Dave Kenney and Joey Fletcher have been working as expert builders on and off camera for over a decade. They have been a part of many HGTV Canada shows such as Family Home Overhaul, Decked Out, Disaster Decks, Custom Built, and Home To Win. They also make regular appearances as home and garden experts on Cityline.

Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault

Leigh-Ann Allaire Perrault is a TV personality, colour and design expert, and spokesperson for Rust-Oleum Canada. For the past 16 years, Leigh-Ann has been sharing her hands-on approach to DIY and design on Canada’s longest running daytime television show, Cityline. Her work has gained attention for being unapologetically frugal without sacrificing quality and style, and along with being a regular contributor to various national print publications, her projects have been shared internationally. After spending 6 years as a professor of Colour Theory at Sheridan College,