Inside Green Favourites: The Millenials' Plant Parenthood

A whole new 'plant world' is created from Millenial-era anxieties about climate change and lack of connection with nature in general. This wave of millennials collecting plants, aptly named 'plant parenthood,' has led to a niche market that's not only thriving but surprisingly diverse. Check out our three favourite articles about this recent green trend!!

The Leafy Love Affair Between Millennials and Houseplants by Jia Tolentino (The New Yorker)

Suddenly, I noticed ferns and succulents everywhere, as if they were babies in strollers and I was trying to conceive. I started gazing with uncontrollable longing into apartment windows, storefronts, restaurants, yoga studios, dreaming about snatching up every beautiful plant within and hoarding them in my now barren-seeming home. I began peppering all my plant-loving friends with questions: Which houseplants might survive being cared for by a botanical ignoramus? What was a philodendron? Since plants can’t cry or wag their tails or angrily drag their water bowls across the floor, how did you know when they felt happy or thirsty or sad?!

Millennials Aren't Buying Homes, but They Are Spending Thousands on Houseplants by Alina Dizik (Money)

For many 20 and 30-somethings dormers and a white picket fence seem impossibly out of reach. Making rentals feel more inviting and homey through greenery is a more realistic alternative. They argue the right plants (and modern planters) can turn tiny apartments into aspirational urban jungles. Cluttered nooks look suddenly chic with a monstera or fiddle leaf fig nearby. To achieve the right look, some young renters are spending hundreds or even thousands of dollars — the kind of money homeowners might spend renovating a kitchen or bathroom.

Trading Houseplants and Making Friends by Alyson Krueger (The New York Times)

Plant swaps are gaining in popularity across New York City. Some are organized events. Others are individual trades that occur with the help of listservs or social media. It’s a solution for people who might want to diversify their collection or who need to get rid of their plants — perhaps because of an allergy or a new workplace policy that doesn’t allow them. “People are starting to look at their plants differently,” said Summer Rayne Oakes. “There is a trend of people trading clips that they have grown or plants they got from their parents. It’s meaningful.”