Where did this plant come from?
SALT has always had a love for indoor plants, but let’s just say we had inspiration without the follow through. Busy-ness, caseloads, running the business, and – for me – lack of knowledge or confidence on where to start were barriers to having the green space we wanted in the clinic. There are so many benefits for plants in an indoor space, and specifically for mental health! (I later want to write another article on the benefits of indoor plants on mental health and link it here) It was a dream for another time or season (pun intended). When we opened the clinic we started out humbly with our plant collection. Al (short for aloe) was our first indoor plant in the clinic. He’d struggle at times, but he’d always pull through. Here he is just living his best life.
Then we got a cascading ivy plant. I’m pretty sure I almost killed it because it turned yellow and most of the time I forgot to water it. We had aspirations of hanging planters, a plant wall, and little reminders of the natural world represented by potted plants in every room. There came a time when Kim and I were interviewing people for the Office and Marketing Manager position and an email came through including an introduction, a resume, and a powerpoint presentation. Let me tell you… We’ve received a lot of different methods from applicants trying to set themselves apart, but this was the first time to receive a real powerpoint presentation! And a good first! Holly’s presentation was explaining how much she wanted this job and why she would be a good fit for our clinic. If I’m being honest I couldn’t tell you what previous jobs or any other detail was included in this presentation. But there was one thing that stood out to us. She claimed that our clinic needed a “Plant Lady” and that she fit the bill. Talk about an attention grabber! Immediately, we knew we had to interview her to find out more about her. The minute she walked in and sat in our office we knew she was our next Office and Marketing Manager for more reasons than being our plant lady, obviously! But there was something about the confidence she had in knowing we needed her for that role. Little did she know we had many aspirations for plants in our clinic.
Meet Holly, Our Resident Plant Lady
After hiring Holly we began sharing our dreams of our space and a part of that dream was growing our plant population. It started out innocently. We bought a plant or two. We found cute little pots to fill. Brought some plants from home. Then all of a sudden new plants started showing up that Kim and I didn’t contribute. It felt like every week SALT had a new plant provided by our resident Plant Lady. We had so many new plants that we began using our empty Bath and Body Works candle containers as planters. We’d ask Holly “where did that plant come from?” and she would provide a sweet little story about how she had acquired it. Usually accompanied with compassion for others. Each one speaks to her and just wants to come be a SALT plant!
Caring for our Plant Collection
As our collection grew we knew we needed somewhere to house them. Kim had the idea of a plant stand that looked like a ladder. We knew we’d need some more square footage to house all of our babies! As fall passed it became colder and our plants were struggling. We were rotating them to the window for more light, but they were getting too cold. Holly was taking them home and caring for them over the weekend. We thought maybe we needed to create a little green house effect in the clinic. So, we researched the most functional anWd easy to install or reinstall plant lights. We found these Plant Grow Lights and thought we’d give them a try! After all, they are only $14.99 for two lights! Worth a shot. When we got them in you should’ve seen us. We were giddy with excitement to plug these babies in. They have a USB charging cord and ability to separate the light bars for the perfect placement. They were extremely easy to install and included 3M strips or sets of screws depending on need. We decided to first use the 3M strips because we didn’t want to damage the plant stand quite yet until we knew the exact placement for healthy plants. We couldn’t be happier with this purchase. Each light is dimmable so we have full control over how much light the plants are receiving based on the plant and location. Each light can be connected to a fully programmable app on your phone. Guess who is in charge of that? Yep, Holly. After using it a couple of times she would come into the clinic excited to share how she was able to set a timer or adjust the setting from home while the plants were in the clinic.
What a difference these plant lights have made for our plant babies! We purchased two sets (a total of four lights) for the plant ladder. It provides great ambient lighting for our long wall while providing light to our plants! Win, win for SALT and our Plant Lady!
Our plant ladder was a custom piece made by a local woodworker, but here are some really great options that are affordable.
