Adulthood is defined by different things for different people. It could be moving out, getting married, switching careers - just to name a few. Moving from the suburbs of New Jersey to NYC was always a huge goal of mine, so when I finally managed to do it, it was like I’d finally made it. Sure, I was living in a crappy apartment and I was still trying to figure out my actual career, but to me, living in New York made me an adult and being an adult made me successful. Plants were at the bottom of my priority list.
I anticipated many of the standard things about living on my own in the city but what no coming-of-age New York movie or show had prepared me for was the importance of plants in your home decor.
My roommates were the first to mention it to me, “We have a cat. And of course, plants!” and sure enough when I moved in, our single windowsill was filled with an array of greenery. A few weeks later, I was gifted a housewarming kit from the Sunday Forever team which included a calluna heather, specifically because “they’re hard to kill”. The Sunday Forever studio is filled with "plant babies" as Ashli refers to them. I've seen her effortlessly care for them, water them, spritz them, talk to them, play music for them and they grow, grow and grow some more. She makes it look so easy, but how? I wanted to figure this out.
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I was, unfortunately, able to kill the plant that was gifted to me just a couple of weeks, so I swore off plants for a while after that, resigned to the fact that I wasn’t responsible enough to give a plant the life it deserved.
However, with the weather warming up and spring in the air, it’s hard not to miss the greenery of suburbia. I finally felt confident enough a week ago to purchase a little shrub on my most recent Trader Joe’s run. So far, she’s going strong, but whether that’s because I’ve finally stepped up to plant parenthood or because she’s more resilient than my last is still up for debate.
If you like the idea of bringing a little bit of outside in and find yourself ready to tackle the labors of raising some plants, there are a couple beginner plants to start you out, with almost guaranteed success. Almost all of these plants come with added benefit of air purification, win, win.
Here are four plants that I've found that need minimal care and provide maximum green beauty:
( Golden Pothos Spider plants Snake plants Cactus )
This is just the first step in what I hope to be my journey to a full on green thumb, but in the meantime these baby steps are working and giving me the confidence to keep going. I hope you will too!
