🌱 Your Weekly Pitch: Inside the socialite houseplant renaissance
The pandemic made plants a luxury product, but a culture shift is bringing the community back to its roots
Written by @alexc_journals, a journalist who can’t have nice plants because of her cat
A 6 minute read
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“I have dreadful hayfever. I get literally bullied by plants but it can't stop my love!”
J.J. from England
THE LEDE
The pandemic drove people to find unexpected social groups, particularly through collecting houseplants. What was once a solitary practice suddenly became a social lifeline, albeit an increasingly expensive one.
But social groups established on a love of plant parenting have found a way to temper the high-demand prices of pandemic plants; through cuttings—sharing pieces of plants for others to grow. Which… isn’t new in and of itself.
But when you put two and two together...
The fact that plant collecting has become a social activity in the pandemic and,
There is a new wave of interest in sharing cuttings…
You can see the beginnings of a pressure point.
One that could dramatically lower the price of plants, and ultimately, the barrier to entry for every person to be a part of the plant phenomenon.
THE BEST PITCH
The guiding question
How has the plant community used social groups to evolve through COVID?
The answer
It’s kind of heartwarmingly egalitarian when you think about it. Friendly plant lovers sharing their cuttings with people they know but have never met.
We confirmed with sources (a.k.a. plant parents via adorable subreddits like r/houseplants) that they were increasingly social through the pandemic thanks to their plants.
In fact, not only did their collections and purchases contribute to the $15 billion plant market, but their friend groups flourished as they found like-minded plant lovers popping up in parallel communities, like those of goblincore or even in video games like Among Us.
Plants got popular, and pricy, through the pandemic for a few reasons:
They had an easy barrier to entry at first (for non-rare plants)
People moved to bigger spaces so they had room to accommodate plants
People spent less on other items, like going out to eat, and therefore could spend more on items like plants
But as time went on, plant lovers found the internet was so much more than a how-to resource. Rather they found others echoing a similar narrative—plants were a boon to mental health; a way to bond online on Instagram, Reddit, Discord; a way to bond in person through plant pop-ups and plant swaps; all in a time where human connection was itself a scarcity.
And these communities are growing their size, scale, and diversity through a new wave of interest in cuttings
Cuttings—shared plant parts—provide a clear value proposition to the community.
They’re immediately social
They overcome the financial barrier to entry since there’s little to no cost to sharing plants
It’s an easy way for newcomers to diversify and scale their plant collections so that they’re not just dabbling in plant parenting, but highly engaged actors
While measuring the informal cuttings community is difficult, the frequency and popularity of the practice have an immediate effect on plant demand and thus, eye-boggling plant prices.
From an economic angle, as the pandemic winds down and fewer people look to buy plants at the same frequency, the newly evolved plant community and their cuttings will play a pivotal role in returning prices to normal, all while maintaining a new social dynamic the likes of which have never been seen in the world of amateur horticulture.
The news peg
This is an evergreen pitch.
(Pun not intended? Who are we kidding, pun totally intended, that’s hilarious)
But you can also call out the renewed interest in cuttings itself as a news peg.
Why this story is worth it
The second wave of cuttings interest speaks to a shift in the hyperactive culture of amateur horticulture as well as the clear economic effects it can have on lowering plant prices back to normal.
Diverse sources worth interviewing
Moderators of the subreddit r/Take a Plant, Leave a Plant
Mods can speak to managing sharing practices within the culture, as well as any spikes in activity since the start of the pandemic.The owner of a plant popup, like Jazmyne of The Plant Corner
Popup owners can speak on a parallel perspective as online moderators, except they can apply their knowledge to physical, in-person community growth.
Publications to pitch
The Guardian: They love a quick cultural analysis and have published similar stories in this space.
Contact: culture@theguardian.com; alan.evans@theguardian.com or bibi.vanderzee@theguardian.com at the Environment desk; lifeandstyle@theguardian.com
The Atlantic: They would adore a character-focused narrative that could point to the broader consequence of this culture shift.
Contact: culture@theatlantic.com
Vox: Their bread and butter is where cultural zeitgeist meets explainer. A pitch on a niche space with real economic impact is exactly what gets them excited.
Contact: Submissions
OTHER PITCHES IN THIS SPACE
Why is queerness so embraced as a niche in the plant community?
Tons of plant pages, communities, and collectives are decidedly queer. What is the draw for the queer community? More importantly, why do they feel like they can be particularly expressive through plant parenting?
Who would win? A nursery or “plant Amazon?”
Internet plant purchases had their own revolution during the pandemic, sometimes at the cost of local nurseries. That being said, local nurseries still seem to have a foothold in the garden market (think big backyard bushes, not humble houseplants). Will nurseries manage to escape the death trajectory of the traditional retail market? Or will major improvements in customer experience online and through shipping ultimately catch up and compete with nurseries too?
ADDITIONAL SOURCES
The dark side of our houseplant obsession (The Telegraph)
The houseplant industry is thriving, thanks to millennials and their 'plant babies' (National Post)
How the Pink Princess and the Pink Congo Scam Flourished Online (Wired)
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