Hanging planters hanging from lamp stand

Shopping Dollar Tree’s hanging planter accessories!

It’s that odd bit of winter where it’s freezing cold outside, but it somehow feels like spring because the sun is out. Around this time of year, I often find myself wandering around Dollar Tree to pick up spring gardening tools because I finally feel […]

Plants on a shelf

I’m decluttering my plant collection

I am, once again, committing to a plant declutter. No, really, I’m going to minimize my collection and stop bringing in plants. I know that this is a refrain I’ve been singing over and over again, but it feels more definitive this time around No. […]

Ficus altissima plant next to gold lamp

Attaching sentimental value to my ficus plants

I’ve been admiring my ficus plants lately and thinking about the ways in which I attach sentimental meaning to my plants. I have mixed feelings about ficus rubber plants because they bring me back to both painful and joyful memories. My houseplant hobby started as […]

Red roses blooming

Why I love deadheading flowers

Our summer days in the Central Valley are blisteringly hot; it feels like walking on coals whenever I venture out into my parents’ rock garden in nothing but a ratty pair of Old Navy sandals mid-afternoon. But early mornings — a few hours after dawn […]

Wearing a red hat, flannel shirt, and Simpsons shirt

What to wear when you’re gardening

I’m telling everyone that I’m in my Vietnamese grandpa era. These days, I’ve been into flannel shirts, clogs, multi-pocketed cargo pants, and wide-brimmed fishing hats—things that made up my late grandpa’s go-to outfit on his flea market ventures. Fact: These also happen to be the […]

Cactus in pot

My first time ordering from Hey Rooted!

Hey, guess who just got *rooted*? I’m a thrifty gal, and I don’t usually seek out uncommon plants. Most of my plant collection comes from pure serendipity as I encounter cool picks from nurseries, flea markets, and grocery stores. BUT, I’ll occasionally do a little […]

Maranta

So-called easy-care prayer plants I haven’t killed…yet

Ross and Rachel. Sam and Diane. J.D. and Elliot. Me and prayer plants. Prayer plants and I have the most on-and-off relationship ever because I cannot resist their gorgeous patterned leaves no matter how much pain they cause me down the line. They get crispy […]

Alocasia silver dragon

The best places to find affordable plants

I finally willed myself to leave the five mile radius of my town for the holiday weekend and had some self-prescribed fun! (And now I need to sit in a dark, quiet room for about three weeks.) Anyway, I browsed a lot of plants yesterday. […]

Top of Dollar Tree cloche

Review: Dollar Tree bell cloche

I have a confession: I am downright terrible with calatheas and ferns. Abysmal. Give me a calathea, and it will be a crispy, dried-up mess in about one month’s time. But perhaps the darker confession is that I’ve been finding myself drawn to calatheas more […]