April 21, 2021 • 49 mins
From micro toms (the world’s smallest tomato plant) to miniature orchids, tiny gardens and miniature plants are right up there on the trend list with tiny homes. LA Times predicts that mini plants and tiny trees will be one of the biggest gardening trends of 2021. And this isn’t surprising, because the internet loves miniatures.
Join Mangesh as he learns about why we love tiny plants so much from the person who wrote the book on them, Leslie F. Halleck (Certified Pro Horticulturist and author of the book “Tiny Plants”). Mangesh also discovers the connection between tiny houses and tiny plants with brothers, Jesse and Ethan Waldman. And we catch up with comedian Anjelah Johnson-Reyes and learn about her own growing obsession and her thoughts on these adorable mini plants and their hilarious names.
For more helpful tips on gardening, check out the Miracle-Gro Website and learn about How to Care for Air Plants. Your friends at Miracle-Gro are collaboration partners with iHeart Radio for "Humans Growing Stuff."
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Yeah. Here, Yeah, he's listening up a little straw. He's
making cocktails. Game, he's making a teeny martini. It's so cute.
(00:31):
If you're anything like my producer Molly, who loves cooking
shows and also loves watching people make miniature versions of
food online, then you might be one of the six
hundred thousand plus followers of the Tiny Chef on Instagram.
The tiny Chef's account is mostly stop motion style videos
of a tiny, green felt character known as you Guessed
(00:54):
it Tiny Chef, and as he bakes tiny apple pies
and bottle cap miniature artisanal breads, tiny pizzas. He's even
opened up the smallest lemonade stand. Followers just can't get
enough of his small stature and even smaller culinary delights.
The Tiny Chef's growing fandom is just one example of
(01:16):
how much people love little things. We obsess over the
charm of tiny things and their overall cuteness, and there
might be a psychological reason for this. The anthropologist cloud
Levi Strauss theorized that because we can see and comprehend
tiny things in their entirety, they don't threaten us, and
that makes us feel powerful. I mean, that's one explanation.
(01:40):
But I also wonder if our love of all things
small might have to do with our innate nurturing abilities
as humans, and maybe we actually feel protective over tiny things. Oh,
this one's about meditation. This is oh my god. He's
surrounded with like ey, tiny miniature plants look like succulents.
(02:03):
But they're they're his size. They're they're tiny chef's size.
I'm supposed to breathing with him way way. It's so cute.
It would also explain why we love tiny plants. This year,
The l A Times identified tiny plants as one of
(02:24):
the biggest plant trends for two thousand twenty one. That's right,
there's an entire genre just for petite plants from teensy
weensy cacti, which I don't think are the scientific name
to dwarf fruit trees. But why is this the first
I've heard of these little bitty topi areas? And why
is everyone catching onto them now? And more importantly, are
(02:47):
tiny plants just a passing fad or a plant movement
with roots? I think it's time we found out. Hey. There,
I'm Mongais Particular, co host of Part Time Genius, one
of the unders of mental flaws. And this is Humans
Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart Radio and your
friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make this
(03:08):
the most human show about plants you'll ever listen to.
Along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, tips and tricks
to nurture your plant addiction, and just enough science to
make you sound like an expert. On this episode, we
are getting small and exploring the tiny plants and miniature
trees that are taking the world by stem. I want
(03:31):
to learn how tiny plants have elbowed their much bigger
brothers out of the way to capture the spotlight, and
also does this tiny plant obsession overlap with our love
of tiny houses. Plus, we'll hear from one of our
favorite Green Thumb comedians, Angela Johnson Reyes, and talk to
her about how Instagram is feeding her plant passion and
(03:52):
I'm going to get her thoughts on the tiny plant movement.
To stick with me, this is going to be fun.
Chapter thirteen, Big Dreams and Tinier Plants. We spent so
much of the last year inside our homes, homes of
all shapes and sizes, and as we saw the resurgence
(04:15):
of victory gardens at the start of the pandemic, house
plants have also seen this noticeable uptick and popularity. They've
provided the millions of homebound folks people like me, with
this much needed source of comfort and therapy. And living
in a city surrounded by people who have been stuck
in their apartments, I am acutely aware of the limited
(04:36):
space many of us have for our plants, which might
also be why so many new plant parents have found
themselves attracted to tiny plants. To learn more about this
growing part of the plant community, I wanted to chat
with Leslie Halleck. In addition to literally writing the book
on tiny plants, Leslie is a self proclaimed plant geek,
(04:58):
and she's dedicated nearly thirty years of her career to
working with various areas of horticulture, from scientific research to
landscaping and green industry marketing. So of course I had
to call her up. Hey, Leslie, are you there? I
am here. Hi. Hi, It's so nice to be chatting
(05:18):
with you. I know, thanks, I'm excited. I'm so enchanted
by your story. I want to hear a little bit
about how you fell in love with tiny plants. You're
speaking to my heart because I'm obsessed with all things tiny,
tiny plants, tiny chihuahua's, tiny everything. I sort of have
a little bit of an obsession with that. And as
a professional horticulturist, you know, I've gone through many phases
(05:41):
of plant obsessions, but I always come back to teeny
tiny plants. My tiny plant obsession probably hit me back
in the mid nineties, back in the day when I
was doing field research work in Puerto Rico, in the
National Rainforest in the Kiel region of Puerto Rico. I
was living up that old research station up in the
(06:02):
mountains and going out every day taking data on research
that had to do with Herricane Hugo that had come
through and completely defoliated the rainforest. So I was there,
you know, geeking out taking plant data, and one day
I just happened out of the corner of my eye
to catch this little tiny blip of sort of a
pinkish red color, And you know, you're always on the
look for, lookout for orchids in that situation, and sure enough,
(06:24):
I discovered this itty bitty tiny species of le panthes
orchids growing on rocks, and the flowers are only a
couple of millimeters in size, and I just absolutely fell
in love. And after that I began building the variums
and terrariums and keeping poison dark frogs and all sorts
of others that require teeny tiny animals, teeny tiny frogs
(06:47):
that require you to build the habitats that include species
that are conducive to their their life and they're breeding.
So I just kind of got into all things tiny
and have sort of obsessively collected and grown teeny tiny
plants ever since. That is so great. So tell me
about your book. Why did you decide to write about
tiny plants? And please say the full title because it
(07:09):
is really charming. Oh yes, Tiny Plants Discover the Joys
of Growing and Collecting Any Bitty house Plants is the
full long name. When publishers come to you and they
want you to write about something, you want to write
about something that you're passionate about that you can inspire
other people to do. And you know, after writing Gardening
(07:30):
under Lights, which was a little more technical, and then
Plant Parenting, which is very technique based, I wanted to
do something a little more fun, and probably I convinced
them to let me do Tiny Plants because I just thought,
you know, it seemed like the right moment, with indoor
plants becoming so popular. I just wanted to give people
(07:50):
a window into a type of plant collecting they may
not have experienced. Yeah. Completely, And so what are some
of your favorite types of tiny plants? You know, plants
come go in terms of their popularity, right, and sometimes
they're they're really popular and highly available, and then they
cycle back out. So those types of availabilities come in waves.
But teeny tiny bagonia, so I grow a lot of bogonias.
(08:11):
There are some really cool micro aeroids that related to
a lot of the larger aeroids we grow, like philodendron.
So there's some really tiny philodendrons that are really cool.
I really love little micro sundews, their little, tiny, tiny
carnivorous plants. And you'll find those tiny plants which are
just fascinating. There again, the size of about the tip
of your fingertip. I'm obsessed with many different species of
(08:34):
tiny Have you seen the tiny plant movement grow during
this last period and what do you think the enthusiasm
for it is based in. Yeah, I have seen it grow,
partially because I've just been forcing it on everybody. I
love it, and I just do you give them? Did
you give tiny plants to people? I do? I do.
I do give tiny plants. And that's another great thing
(08:55):
about tiny plants is that they're easy to gift. You know,
they're easy. You know, they don't take a lot of space,
and you can propagate them and they're easy to give. UM.
But I have seen we'll call it sort of miniature
gardening across the board, and I am not talking about
fairy gardening, so put fairy gardening aside. We're talking about
is scale. So what's been great is that in the
last few years there are a lot of new dwarf
(09:16):
vegetable and fruit varieties that have come out on the market.
Uh and and a lot of smaller plant species for
houseplant culture. People who live in smaller spaces, smaller apartments,
don't have a yard. Dwarf edibles are fantastic. Also if
you're growing edibles inside, I think tiny plants offer up
a really great solution. So small scale across the board,
(09:40):
miniature gardening, tiny indoor plans, I think is a really
helpful way to keep indulging in your gardening habit without
running out of space and it also takes less resources too.
So how does the care for a tiny plant differ
from that of a regular plant. Some things are going
to be very much the same and other things will
be a little bit different. A lot of teeny tiny
(10:00):
plants maybe hemi epiphytic or semi epiphytic and may require
higher humidity. So growing under glass, you know, maybe something
that you do more often with some of the very
tiny plant species than you would like the bigger aeroids.
But that's easy to do because you don't need much
space and you don't need a big container to do that. Um.
They can also be a little more sensitive to water
(10:21):
quality and over fertilizing, so you have to be a
little bit more careful. I tend to use mostly rain
water or ro o water exclusively, like on my micro
orchids and my synergis some of the more sensitive plants.
And you have to be really careful on fertilizers, so
I usually cut fertilizer down to maybe a quarter or
even less of the recommended application, right, because you can
(10:44):
easily burn you know, tiny plants if you're not careful
with your fertilizers. So you know, all things um in scale, right,
so pineer plants, you may go tinier, you know, tinier
with your containers, tinier with your fertilizers. So there are
some things that you have to be a little bit
more careful with. Conversely, when you're growing tiny plants underglass,
(11:04):
they can become very low maintenance. You hardly ever have
to water them. So you know, there's some things that
are a little trickier and some things that are easier.
That's amazing. So, um, do you think tiny plants are
a trend or do you think this is something that's
here to stay. So you know, things that were popular
in the sixties and seventies are popular again now and
those will fade away, and right, it's going to happen
(11:26):
again and again. Right, there are cycles that always happen,
so I expect there to be a cycle to that. However,
I think that the pandemic has really opened up the
world of gardening and plant keeping in sort of an
exponential way for people that I think as a hobby,
it's much more here to stay than a cyclic trend
(11:50):
than just a straight up trend. I think people are
going to keep gardening and plant keeping embedded in their
lifestyle much more significantly than than in the past, and
I think in terms of scale, growing small, growing tiny.
I think again part of that is a matter of
people being cooped up inside without necessarily a lot of
(12:11):
outdoor space. So they need to be able to fit
plants in whatever space they have, and that may not
be a yard, that may be a window sill, that
may be a balcony. My definition of gardening is one
plant in one pot. If you're doing that, you're gardening.
You can be a gardener in lots of different ways,
(12:31):
and I want to make sure that folks that live
in small spaces or you know, just are trying to
bring some nature to their desk. Plants are such an
important part of our health and wellness and you know,
mental happiness exactly. So we asked this question on our
show a Lot. Do you think caring for plants makes
(12:52):
us happier or makes us better people? Plants make me
really happy, and I think they make everybody happy, and
I think that right now we all really need to
invest in our health and wellness. This past year has
been really stressful for everybody. Gardening and plant keeping it's
an amazing stress reducer. I love observing the plants I
(13:16):
love observing how they change. I completely freak out when
one of my micro orchids blooms. If you hear me
yell from across my house, like it's probably because something
just flowered. I just get so excited. And you know,
I'm not a newbie. I've been doing this a long time.
That enthusiasm has never waned for me. And there is
(13:37):
always a new plant to discover. Here's the big secret
about horticulture and gardening. Nobody knows everything. Nobody will ever
know everything. We can call ourselves ex experts, but even
as an expert myself, I learn every day. And that's
a great way to keep your brain healthy, right, There's
always something new to learn out the natural world and plants,
(14:02):
And so I hope that my book Tiny Plants can
bring a little joy and happiness into a plant parents
world and expose them to something new that they can
learn today and as they move forward in their new hobby. Yeah,
we're gonna have to get your book and surround it
with lots of tiny plants and squee. Thank you so
(14:24):
much for being here, Leslie. I really really appreciate it absolutely.
Thanks for so so much for having me. It was
a joy. And now for another poetry corner. This poem
is called little Meal for two. I carefully sliced up
(14:47):
my dwarf fig for this tiny fruit plate for two.
I plucked up all my baby corn and made this
tiny stew. I placed it all on tiny plates and
a horrible healthy brunch. But once we've hugged and said goodbyes,
I'm ordering food for lunch. Thank you. So I'm kind
(15:16):
of getting why people love tiny plants. But I've got
to say my first real fascination with tiny things probably
started with tiny houses. We started writing about them years
ago on a website I used to run, but it's
incredible to see they are more than just a fad.
According to the New York Times, some tiny house builders
saw a one hundred and seventy seven percent increase in sales.
(15:41):
And it makes a ton of sense when you think
about it. Tiny houses started as people wanting to decrease
their carbon footprint, and now with more city dwellers heading
out of town, trading those concrete buildings for the wide
open spaces of nature, the tiny home movement is alive
and well. And while they unrelated except for their size,
(16:02):
tiny plants and tiny houses have a lot more in
common than meets the eye. I wanted to learn more
about where that then diagram of tiny homes and plants overlap.
So I called up Ethan and Jesse Waldman. Ethan is
the founder and curator of the site the tiny house
dot Net, and his brother Jesse is the brand developer
at Pistols Nursery in Portland, Oregon. The two recently collaborated
(16:24):
on a piece for the tiny house dot Net about
the best plants for tiny houses and spoiler, the tiny
mounted jungle cacti is definitely a favorite. Ethan, Jesse, are
you there? Yeah? Hey, how's it going. Hey, it's so
nice to be chatting with both of you. I am
so excited to talk about tiny homes and tiny plants
(16:47):
and all of the tininess to come. Ethan, tell me,
I know you're an expert on tiny homes, and I'm curious,
what is it about these tiny homes that really makes
a difference for people. I mean, they have gotten so
popular and they've gone from when I was doing it.
If you said the word tiny house, you know, people
kind of looked at you with with a blank stare,
(17:10):
and now it's hard to find somebody that doesn't understand
when you say tiny house. They have a very specific
picture in their head of a house on a trailer
because they've seen the various tiny house shows. You know,
when I did this, I'm a millennial. I was graduating
from college right around the time that two thousand eight,
two thousand nine the stock market kind of crashed and
(17:30):
people were losing their homes, and so I assumed that
it was going to be a lot of millennials doing it.
And now I see a huge number of people who
are retiring. Who are you know, building or buying tiny
houses as a way of actually being able to retire.
That's really interesting. And Jesse, what about you? Do you
have a tiny house as well? I do not. I
(17:50):
love visiting Ethans though it's it's amazing how well designed
his is that it doesn't really feel tiny. It's quite comfortable.
That's what's so appealing about them, right like, is that
they're often so thoughtfully designed. I mean to me, the
other part of it is that it feels like, particularly
after this last year and people being quarantined and people
stuck in their homes, having a small space in somewhere
(18:12):
that's really beautiful really matters. To people. Absolutely, and that's
you know, that's something that because the house is small,
it really turns the outside into your living room. You
see the outside way more because you're always very close
to a window, and you also are going outside way more.
And so do you see this as kind of a
trend or more of a cultural shift. I think it's
(18:33):
started as a trend and it's becoming a cultural shift.
I think that it fits in really nicely with other
things that you're seeing people really embrace, like Marie Condo
and the idea of minimalism and owning less things. It
fits in with the environmentalism. Living in a smaller house
and having a smaller footprint is definitely a piece of
that puzzle. So I do think that it's it was
(18:54):
a trend and now it's becoming part of the culture. Yeah,
and I do think there is something too when you
hair things down, you really value the things you have
and take advantage of right, and and also how you're
spending your time. So Jesse, before I ask you the same,
let's take a step back. How do you define a
tiny plant and how are they different from normal plants?
I think that for me, a tiny plant probably would
(19:17):
be one that you're not really going to have to
worry about graduating past like a four inch pot. There
are plants that maybe have shallow roots systems. So you know,
you might buy a little plant that's in a small
pot that has like little leaves that are like two
inches long. But if you actually give it the growth,
the growth kind of environmental conditions that it it once,
For example, you might have it climb up a they're
(19:39):
called moss poles um They kind of mimic plants that
climb up trees, and in nature, when they start climbing,
there's actually like a physiological shift that happens when they
can sense that they're climbing, and if they're getting that
right light and they're getting that support, like boom, that
two inch leaf. Like the next leaf that comes out
might be six inches and then twelve inches, and then
like all of a sudden, you have this massive tropical blind.
(19:59):
You know, the plants that we're talking about, like the
pepper roma as the rhizomatos Pagonia is a little alo howorthia,
some some ferns um or chids. These are plants that
are are not going to do that. They're not going
to have any sort of like major physiological change between
their juvenile form, like when their first propagated or they're
first growing from seed and their mature forms. So I
(20:22):
think that that's kind of the The main difference is
just like what does the plant look like when it's
a baby versus when it's an adult. So you two
collaborated on this blog post helping tiny homeowners with the
ideal tiny plants that can fit within their designs. Can
you talk us through some of those tiny plants? Yeah,
absolutely so. I think that there are kind of a
couple of different approaches when thinking about fitting plants into,
(20:45):
you know, a small space. Certainly a very reasonable one
is to look for plants that are just small by nature.
And another one thing to note is, you know, sometimes
and you probably won't know this when you go into
the nursery, but some plants are actually sprayed with growth
inhibitors that that kind of keep them small. That is
something that is not going to you know, say that
on the label. But if you do your research into
(21:07):
the plant um and you know, look at the what
it looks like when it becomes a mature plant versus
what you're seeing in the nursery, you might you might
be able to get a little que as to whether
or not that's happened. But yeah, so a couple of
great small plants. There's a couple of different genuses that
the plants just kind of stay small by nature. One
is the pepper Roma genus. I really love these plants.
(21:27):
They kind of have like fleshy, semi succulent sorts of leaves.
A lot of them kind of have a creeping growth habit,
or if they're growing upright, they're just like form like
a very kind of a small little bush. Almost. One
that I really love is called pepperromea prostrata. It's i
would say, one of the trendiest plants right now. Sometimes
called string of turtles. Little leaves they look like just
(21:48):
like little tiny little beads, and they kind of have
like a little striping pattern on them, makes them look
like little turtles. There's a lot of string us right
now in the plants where others string of hearts during bananas,
during a fishhooks during of dolphins, string of pearls. Another
genus that is really cool is the Tolanzia genus. Tolanxia
are often referred to as air plants. They're called air
(22:09):
plants because they actually don't grow in soil. These plants
are super unique. To water them, you actually soak them
in a bowl of water because their roots system is
literally just exist to hold them onto whatever they're growing on.
In nature, they're just entirely free floating. So you can
just like set them on a shelf, put them in
a bowl, uh, stick them on a window sill. They're
really unique. They're great in terrariums, and they come in
(22:30):
all different sizes and colors, and they flower eventually. They're
they're quite cool. I think air plants are so incredible.
How hard are they to maintain? You know, they kind
of have a reputation for being really easy. You know,
we hear a lot of people come into the nursery
and say, oh, those air plants, they just all they
need is air. That is not true. Um, they definitely
need water. I always kill mine, by the way. They're
(22:51):
honestly not. They're not the easiest in order to get
them to to really thrive. The you know, they're getting
the water for the air, so humidity is great, so
they and to thrive you know, in a bathroom as
long as it gets decent natural light. They do need
a fair amount of natural light to to thrive. They
don't want direct light as much as, like, you know,
they need to be soaked and watered. They also don't
(23:11):
tolerate staying wet for too long. So what we like
to tell people to do is, after they're done soaking
their air plant to you know, literally inverted, put it
upside down on a towel in a window sill, so
it's gonna fully dry out within an hour or two.
I love that they seem so low maintenance, and then
they're actually pretty ivan not on like a tiny house.
(23:32):
So in terms of these tiny houses, have you seen
people grow gardens outside of them? And do you feel
like tiny homes create an opportunity for growing and harvesting
your own food. Yeah? Absolutely. I mean, you know, tiny
homes fit a little bit into the whole permaculture movement.
I know a few people who really just have designed
an entire system around their tiny house where you know,
(23:55):
they're they're harvesting the rain water off the roof. A
lot of tiny homes have compost toilets, and then they're
using that to grow plants, and it's, you know, just
this big self sustaining cycle. Not to say, everybody is
doing that, but that's definitely uh small subset of the movement.
And can you describe exactly what perman culture is for
our listeners. I'm no pro. It's a design philosophy where
(24:16):
you are thinking beyond just the needs of the plant,
to the needs of the garden, to the needs of
your entire property, and you you try to design systems
that serve multiple needs. So a classic example of a
perma culture, you know, a fish tank full of telapia
that has you know that you can throw food scraps
in and the tilapia eat the fish, and then the
(24:37):
poop from the tilapia fertilizes makes this really great fertilizing
water that you then feed into a garden like that.
That's kind of a perma culture system that's really interesting
to to contemplate. And like, how how many things you
can build in and see that like sort of feed
all these systems is pretty great. What are some things
that are easy to grow that can sort of help
(24:57):
fill your tiny home with delicious, healthy food? It? Yeah,
I mean it's all gonna depend on your environment, right. Um,
If we're talking about growing outdoors, it's possible to grow
certain edible things. Indoors. Herbs for example, on a on
a sunny window sill can do can do pretty well.
But really, when you're talking about growing yourself food, you're
gonna be you're gonna want to be leveraging your outdoor space.
(25:18):
So if you're in a permanent space, I think that,
you know, it's incredible what you can grow in a
small raised bed. I think that if you have the
capacity to build a garden box, the benefit there is
that you're filling that soil up and it's able to
not get compacted the way it would. You know, just
if you're kind of digging out of bed in the
ground and then you're you know, stepping around that soil
compaction makes it really hard for the roots to grow deep,
(25:40):
and the deeper the roots and healthier the roots systems.
I think like one of the easiest things that can
be grown in many, many different environments is just sally greens.
Lettuces come up really fast. They don't need a ton
of sun. In fact, they tend to bolt in the sun.
Bolting just means they go to seed, and once a
planet goes to seed, you're typically just done. One of
my favorite things grow as radishes. I think I've acquired
(26:02):
a taste for radishes because of how fun they are
to grow, and then you know, depending on on on
the light and your level of dedication. Tomatoes are like
the classic thing to grow because homegrown tomato just tastes
ten thousand times better than what you can get at
the store, and it's pretty amazing as far as like
space goes. You know, you can grow tomato in a
five yallon bucket. Um. There are two different main types
(26:24):
of tomato plants. There's determinate plants and in determinate plants.
In determinate plants will just keep growing and growing and
growing and growing forever, and they set fruit intermittently throughout
their lives, whereas determinate plants grow to a set size
and then they set all their fruit all at once.
So that's what people with limited space would want to
look for as a determinate variety. How has COVID impacted
(26:45):
the popularity or culture of both tiny homes and tiny plants.
I'll say, from the tiny home perspective, just out of control,
bonkers interest. You know, there are a lot of people
who are really suffering financially due to the pandemic and
the appeal of tiny house living as a way of
(27:06):
saving money and a way of having housing stability. People
see it, and the governments and municipalities and cities are
struggling scrambling to to change laws to make it legal,
because it's not always legal to live in a tiny
house in most places. And I would, uh, I would
concur crazy bonkers over the top interest, you know, not
(27:29):
specifically in tiny plants, but in plants in general. I
think that you know, with COVID kind of as I
was alluding to earlier, people are spending more times in
their home. They might be missing that morning commute to work,
that they walk through the park, or just that other
touch points in their lives where they're able to connect
with nature. And they want their homes to feel good.
And you know, plants. Plants make a space feel good.
You know, having plants around increase your productivity, They stabilize
(27:52):
your mood. They actually make a space more comfortable by
putting out humidity, um, they dampen the sound into space.
So there's all sorts of ways because like above and
below the surface, that having plants in your space can
improve your quality of life. And so I think the
kind of the bar for knowledge has gone way up,
Like people come in and they know so much these days.
It's just pretty incredible how it's turned into like a
(28:12):
real community in a movement. Yeah, it is always impressive
to me to see the different communities that have come
up and emerged on Instagram and formed around things like plants,
and also to see how specific those communities get. Do
you think tiny plants are a part of that, and
are they on Instagram trend or do you think they're
here to stay? I think for me, like, I think
(28:34):
that right now we're in a phase where people are
discovering plants and they're discovering that they want to have
them in their homes. Right. There are different kind of
personality types and different things that you know, just naturally
attract you. Some people want to get a toy poodle
and other people want to get a same Bernard, Right.
I think that the same goes with plants. Like there's
so much information out there these days, and there's people
(28:54):
are getting really deep. I think that that's kind of
the what I'm noticing as a trend more than say
like a shift towards tiny plants, but just people getting
really into their kind of plant, like their pepper roma.
People who want to have all the pepperonias. People are
just becoming passionate, and the nursery industry is responding by
diversifying and making these plants that were once super duper
(29:17):
rare and hard to find, like putting an energy into
you know, propagating them and having them available in greater quantity.
And then you know, it's kind of a self perpetuating
cycle that there's you know, greater availability, greater knowledge, uh,
community forming around it. So like people are just kind
of you know, finding what speaks to them, you know,
for something that will be tiny plants for sure. And
I would say that I think that there's an initial
(29:39):
attraction that maybe a tiny plant and a tiny house shares,
which is just there's a cute factor. Tiny houses are
very popular on Instagram and Pinterest because they're just so
visually appealing. You know, a lot of people might click
on a tiny house. Nine out of ten of them
may just be clicking on it to to just see it.
And then maybe one of those people will see it
(30:00):
and say, oh wow, this actually could be something that
that would be really great for me, and they get
interested and I think the same is probably true for
house plants. You know, you see a really beautiful plant
on Instagram and you click on it, and some people
just might look, and then other people might say, you know,
I it's beautiful and I want to put it on
my coffee table, and so I think there's they share that.
(30:21):
And another thing I think that's important to mention is, like,
you know, there there obviously is a natural synchronicity between
tiny home tiny plant. But I also think that like,
just because you live in a small space doesn't mean
you can't have any plant. Um. I mean, you might
not physically be able to fit a giant tree in
your home, but I think that you can really get
creative and just activate different areas of the home if
(30:43):
you're committed to, you know, having having greener in that space.
Plants don't have to be just you know, in that
big pot on the floor occupying your your living space.
I like that. Ethan and Jesse, thank you both so
much for being on this program. I'm I'm fascinated in
what both of you do, and um throw to have
you here. Thank you, Thanks so much. Humans Growing Stuff
(31:06):
will be right back after a short break. Tiny Plants
are so useful and for a small amount of space,
they can do a lot of good. But as I've
been researching some of the popular tiny plants for this episode,
I couldn't help but think of how funny some of
(31:27):
them are. The plants themselves are adorable, but also the
names are hilarious, like et fingers come on. So I
decided to give comedian Angela Johnson red As a call
and get her take on them. Angela is a former
cast member on Mad TV and sells out comedy tours
across the country, and not only does she make me laugh,
(31:50):
she's also an avid gardener. She and I caught up
about what got her hooked on gardening, how Instagram has
brought her closer to this new community, and what she
thinks of some of the more comedic tiny plant names
out there. Handeler, are you there? Yes? Hello, Hey, it's
so nice to be chatting with you. I am so excited. Well,
(32:14):
I've been watching some of your Facebook videos and and
watching your enthusiasm for the garden, and we thought it
would be super fun to have you on the show.
I'm excited to talk about this because this is like
a whole new world for me. That developed. Yeah, I
love to share with every I'm like, how is everyone
not gardening? Like everyone? Yeah, that's how I feel too,
But I'm curious. Was gardening something you grew up with? Um? No?
(32:38):
Actually really all new I full on. I took Ron
Finley's master class and I learned a lot from him.
And also, my brother got into plants before I did,
and so he's the one who kind of got me into.
So one day he came up right before quarantine January.
(32:58):
I went with him to the plant district downtown l A.
It was like we walked into this oasis and I
was like, what, this is a real place with plants
and flowers, and so I bought so many plants that day,
and I started becoming a plant mom. And then it
grew from there to a garden and everything. And then
what did did you know immediately what to do because
(33:19):
you've seen these videos? Or how did you get into
gardening from there? Instagram? So I would watch videos on
Instagram on YouTube, learning about spider mites, learning about like
all kinds of things, and then it became personal. These
plants there on my balcony and my bathroom and my bedroom.
I remember the day my elephant ear plant. I was
(33:42):
so proud of. It was like my biggest plant that
I had ever purchased. And and she's in my my bedroom,
and every morning I wake up and there she was
in the corner. And one day I woke up and
she was just weeping, like limping over. I didn't know
what happened. When I tell you, I jumped out of
my bed and rushed to her side like it was
my child. It really became super personal, like I have
(34:05):
a relationship with my plants, to the point where when
I was moving, I had to find a foster home
for my plants because I was like, my husband, he
doesn't quite get it. And he's like, well, why can't
she just get rid of him and get new ones
when we get our new place, And I'm like, how
dare you you make me? Hear you you walk your
(34:26):
mouth sir? Yeah. So they became very personal to me,
and I learned how to take care of them from
videos online, and then I would share what I was
learning with my fans online, and then people would message
me and and we're so helpful and being like, hey,
I think your plant has you know this going on?
Maybe you put too much water, and it really became
like a community online that we really just kind of
(34:49):
supported each other and helped each other. Isn't that amazing
how these groups have formed out of interest during these pandemics, right,
Like people have actually made friends through Instagram and at
least feel like they they have these connections, which is
amazing totally. And then all like I get all the
funny memes now, like my brother did plant Dad memes
(35:09):
and gifts, and like you know, everybody's talking about their
steamy chicks, like what they're going to spend their steamy
check on, and like all the popular ones are like,
you know, a new pair of shoes or whatever, Let's
go to Red Lobster. We got that steamy check. And
then all the plant Dad ones are like, you know,
just got my steamy check. And then it's a picture
of like four thousand plants in there. But I am
surprised to hear you say that you hadn't done this before,
(35:30):
because I I watched these videos and I see like
you've got these beautiful beds and and you know, you've
got everything from like Valencia orange tree to like you know,
tomato plants to blueberries. I mean, it's it's impressive the
variety of things you grew. And you know what. I
my friend Dizzy Perkins, she would post her garden a lot,
and it was very inspiring to me. It makes it
(35:53):
feel doable, like, well, if she could do it, I
can do it, you know. And even though I had
no knowledge. And then I would message her and you like, hey, so,
like how did you learn how to do it? She's like,
I just started. I just gave it a go, and
you learn as you go. And even and Ron Finling
his master class too, he teaches that too, like there
is no really like right or wrong. You just start.
(36:14):
And he's like, you can plant anything in an old suitcase,
in an old boot. And he pulls out an old boot,
put some soil in it, but a little seedling in
it and some water, and he's like, boom, there you go,
you have your garden. I feel like it's funny because
after I started gardening, when I'd be driving down the
street and I would see an empty patch of weed
(36:36):
growing grass like by the freeway, I'd be like, oh,
that'd be a good garden. Your eyes start seeing just
all the possibilities for it, and I hope it just
grows and grows. Yeah, I mean it is funny, this
like new awareness you have for things. Right. I feel
like even in my apartment, I noticed now where the
light is and which are is a cooler and you
(36:56):
know you're thinking about it from a plant's perspective instead
of your own. Something about it from the plant's perspective.
That's hilarious. But I'm so true. But I really hope
that my kids don't hear that part about the boot
because I feel like I'm gonna end up with one
like one sneaker that's functional and one that has a
plant in it for all. And even let me tell you,
(37:17):
when I have to prune, I know it's a part
of the process, right, I have a hard time almost
whenever I have to prune. I come and I think,
I think, my my girl, like thank you so much
for the life that you've provided. Just let the joy,
the oxygen, like everything you're you've served your purpose and
I thank you so much. Like I'm such a weird
(37:38):
plant lady now like Marie, kind of an emotional moment
with my stems and I'm like, thank you, and then
I like gear myself up to actually cut it, and
I thank you for the new life that's going to
come from you by So, one of the things we're
talking about is that as people in quarantine have gotten
super into gardening and been encouraged by Instagram and stuff,
(38:01):
they've sort of done the base level of gardening, but
slowly people are figuring out what their niches are in
terms of like their interests. And so one of the
things we've seen is that people are really into tiny plants.
And so I want to ask you a little bit
about this. But I saw that you had, either on
purpose or accidentally, grown very tiny potatoes in your garden.
(38:22):
What do tiny potatoes taste like? Oh my god, they
tasted amazing because I just washed them, put some olive oil,
salt and pepper and throw them in the oven. I
had like these little little potato fries. Well, I was asking,
have you noticed on your Instagram feed or even with
your family's interactions that people are starting to play in
(38:45):
the tiny plant space? Um, for sure, because it's easy
and it's cute, and especially if you've downsized in the
quarantine COVID days and you don't have much room, start
with a little tiny plants and they're super cute. Sure,
So I have a list of tiny plants and some
are super weird, some are super fun, and I'm curious,
(39:07):
just on a gut reaction, do you think these plants
are good to having at home or do you think
they have some bad juju? So I'm gonna ask you
the name and you tell me first reactions. Google weed
what I mean? I guess that depends on if it's
legal in your state then that would depend. But I
would say yes for for the Google weed or Doogle
(39:29):
eat whateveras it uh Superstar Creeper, Superstar creeper. I mean
that's like, you're not just a peeping tom, but you're
like the best of the best peeping Tom's. You're a
superstar creeper. That's what that says to me. So I
would say no on the Superstar Creeper. Yeah, I know,
I wasn't sure. Does the superstar elevate it to like
(39:50):
a curiosity or is it just so creepy that not
worth it? The best creeps mini money warts, many money wore.
Anything with Wart makes me go, So I would say
pass on that because you don't want warts all over
your money eating. You're gonna be like, what did I
spend my money? On this week and be like, I
(40:10):
don't know you talked to many money war over here,
you'd go over here making you spend things. I am
with you this one. I think you might like Tree
of a thousand Stars, three of a thousand stars. Love
that that? Yeah, that feels very like universe earthy, like
very much like I want to go, like meditate next
to my Tree of a thousand stars. Yeah, it sounds
like a gorgeous constellation or something. So this is called
(40:34):
a baby jade, but it's got some nicknames et fingers
and shreks plant et fingers. It sounds like it's very nubby,
sounds like it looks like a twitty role but also
with a little glowy bold at the end. Yes, keep
that one. How about the energy on this one? A
weeping fig. Well, I'm gonna say yes on that one,
(40:58):
because sometimes you just need to let a good cry out,
you know what I mean, And after you let out
a good cry you just feel so much better, like
so much release, And maybe the weeping fig will help
you and it will help absorb it. So I say
yes and thank you, Weeping Fig. And one last one,
fiend finger, Oh oh, a fiend finger that one sounds
(41:21):
a little devious, that one sounds like a rebel, like
she's a little type away. I feel like she's got
some sass, and I'm gonna say yes, because we all
need a little sass in our lives. Yeah, I agree
with you. So why do you think people love miniature
so much? In your opinion? Because they're cute. I think
(41:43):
anytime I love animals, I love dogs. So if I
see a doodle, I'm like, oh my god, you're so cute.
I want to cuddle you and like spoon you. But
then if you see a mini doodle, it's just so
much cuter. It's like, oh my god, you're a mini
version of that. And I feel like it's plants like
anything many and tiny is so keyte. So, I I
(42:05):
know that you've switched houses, but I love seeing how
your community came out to name your garden. And can
you tell us a little bit about how you came
up with that idea and then and then what the
process is like. Okay, So I had been talking with
my my followers on on Instagram and Facebook and everything
about a garden and getting into plants and everything, and
I'm gonna build my garden and I put a whole
(42:27):
video together and like, here's my new garden, and I
need help picking out names. And so everyone was submitting
so many cool creative names, things that were like Spanish,
touching on my culture, things that were spiritual, touching on
that aspect of my life, and really just showing like
all the different parts of like who I am. But
(42:47):
I'm also a comedian. So I had a lot of
funny names that were submitted, and these were some of
my favorite funny names. Armor garden, seed you later, garden,
good vines, only bone thugs and harvestry, nothing but a
p thing, Notorious, b I Greens, I'm in Love with
(43:08):
a pepper, and covid teen gardens. Oh there was also
a garden of eaton. These are these are great names,
aren't they? The right? I ended up going with Queen's
Greens because my husband calls me queen, but also I
am a queen and like I wanted to embrace that.
And also my friend Penelope was living with me and
(43:31):
she was helping me with the garden, and she's a
queen too, So it became like Queen's Greens and the
other name that I almost picked, but I will definitely
be using for something else. Was Rays of Sunshine because
my married last name is Reyes Yea and I love
that name, so I'm definitely gonna use that for something.
Nobody's still all punch you, Angela. Thank you so much
(43:52):
for being here. Is such a delightful conversation and so
fun to have you on and I can't wait to
see what the instagram of your new at your next
house looks like. Thank you so much. This has really
been fun to talk to you about this because I
have yet to be able to do a podcast talking
about just my garden. Very cool and I had so
(44:13):
much fun. Thank you for letting me share. Thrilled that
you came on. Thank you. When my kid Ruby was
four and people used to say they were cute, Ruby's
response was always the same, with this gravelly voice, Ruby
would correct them and say, I'm not cute, I'm awesome.
And every time I hear the word cute, now that's
(44:36):
what I think of, this little tornado of a child
insisting I am not cute, I'm awesome. When you're looking
at photos of tiny plants and tiny homes, the word
cute pops up a lot. But what's funny is that
the word cute didn't always mean cute as we know it.
According to Popular Science, the original meaning of cute was
actually clever or shrewd, because cute things take a certain
(44:57):
amount of cleverness. As the magazine and explains, it's more
difficult to make a burrito the size of a thumb
than one as big as your forearm. And I kind
of like that. Reframing tiny things tiny plants is clever
because they are clever. They've come up with all sorts
of ways to thrive in a world that's not exactly
built for them, and they have all sorts of strategies
(45:19):
for success, including being adorable. According to Metal Flaws, we
take more care and are more careful with tiny objects
of affection. So when a two thousand nine study, participants
that viewed very cute images of puppies and kittens then
played the game operation actually performed better than participants that
(45:39):
saw less cute images. Our brains are conditioned to help
adorable things survive, but for many of us, there seems
to be something else that draws us into caring for
tiny plants and tiny homes. And that's the simplicity. I
have a funny relationship with minimalism. Back in college, I
started abroad into Pollen Tibet, and on my trip I
(46:01):
took very few clothes, maybe two or three T shirts,
a couple of sweatshirts, and two pairs of pants. But
after my semester abroad, I remember coming back to the
States and every morning I'd wake up and just stare
into my closet, perplexed. Why do I have so many clothes?
Why do I need this many clothes. I've lived so
(46:22):
simply and so happily for months, and now everything felt
so daunting. Even looking around my room right now, I
see things I don't need too many books, clothes, things,
and that we keep trying to pare down and live simply,
things just seem to accumulate. And I think my romance
with tiny homes is just knowing that in a smaller
(46:44):
home you need to simplify. It's funny because part of
the reason I started doing humans growing stuff was because
I was yearning for simplicity. I wanted to put away
the social media and the technology and things that clutter
up my mind and just put my hands in dirt
and spend time watching things grow. And part of what
(47:04):
I keep hearing in this program is that simplicity of
plants that they want to grow. They need just light
and soil and water, and for the tiniest plants to
live beautifully to thrive, their needs are really just that simple.
I've come to believe that there's a happiness to be
(47:25):
found in simplicity. This week, I switched jobs to pare
down my work and focus on things that feel essential
and make me happy. And in that process I cleared
my desk, I organized papers, I got rid of things
I didn't need, And in that organizing I made just
enough space for a tiny plant to sit on the
corner and serve as a reminder to simplify that I
(47:49):
don't need that much, and a reminder to watch this tiny,
happy thing thrive because it's not cute, it's awesome. That's
it for today's episode. Don't forget. No matter what season
it is or where you're at in your gardening journey,
there's some incredible resources waiting for you on the Miracle
(48:12):
Grow website. Join me next time as we explore the
many ways humans can learn and grow from plants. If
you like what you heard, don't forget to rate and
review the show on Apple Podcasts. Also, we want to
hear from you. What are your inspiring plant stories, relatable
struggles or growing questions taggers in your post or tweet
(48:32):
using the hashtag Humans Growing Stuff, and don't be surprised
if you hear your story featured on an upcoming episode.
Humans Growing Stuff is a collaboration from My Heart Radio
and your friends at Miracle Grow. Our show was written
and produced by Molly Sosha and me Mongay Chatigler in
partnership with Ryan Ovadia, Daniel Ainsworth, Hayley Ericson, and Garrett
Shannon of Banter Until next Time, Thanks so much for listening.
(49:00):
Two
Yeah. Here, Yeah, he's listening up a little straw. He's
making cocktails. Game, he's making a teeny martini. It's so cute.
(00:31):
If you're anything like my producer Molly, who loves cooking
shows and also loves watching people make miniature versions of
food online, then you might be one of the six
hundred thousand plus followers of the Tiny Chef on Instagram.
The tiny Chef's account is mostly stop motion style videos
of a tiny, green felt character known as you Guessed
(00:54):
it Tiny Chef, and as he bakes tiny apple pies
and bottle cap miniature artisanal breads, tiny pizzas. He's even
opened up the smallest lemonade stand. Followers just can't get
enough of his small stature and even smaller culinary delights.
The Tiny Chef's growing fandom is just one example of
(01:16):
how much people love little things. We obsess over the
charm of tiny things and their overall cuteness, and there
might be a psychological reason for this. The anthropologist cloud
Levi Strauss theorized that because we can see and comprehend
tiny things in their entirety, they don't threaten us, and
that makes us feel powerful. I mean, that's one explanation.
(01:40):
But I also wonder if our love of all things
small might have to do with our innate nurturing abilities
as humans, and maybe we actually feel protective over tiny things. Oh,
this one's about meditation. This is oh my god. He's
surrounded with like ey, tiny miniature plants look like succulents.
(02:03):
But they're they're his size. They're they're tiny chef's size.
I'm supposed to breathing with him way way. It's so cute.
It would also explain why we love tiny plants. This year,
The l A Times identified tiny plants as one of
(02:24):
the biggest plant trends for two thousand twenty one. That's right,
there's an entire genre just for petite plants from teensy
weensy cacti, which I don't think are the scientific name
to dwarf fruit trees. But why is this the first
I've heard of these little bitty topi areas? And why
is everyone catching onto them now? And more importantly, are
(02:47):
tiny plants just a passing fad or a plant movement
with roots? I think it's time we found out. Hey. There,
I'm Mongais Particular, co host of Part Time Genius, one
of the unders of mental flaws. And this is Humans
Growing Stuff, a collaboration from My Heart Radio and your
friends at Miracle Grow. Our goal is to make this
(03:08):
the most human show about plants you'll ever listen to.
Along the way, we'll share inspiring stories, tips and tricks
to nurture your plant addiction, and just enough science to
make you sound like an expert. On this episode, we
are getting small and exploring the tiny plants and miniature
trees that are taking the world by stem. I want
(03:31):
to learn how tiny plants have elbowed their much bigger
brothers out of the way to capture the spotlight, and
also does this tiny plant obsession overlap with our love
of tiny houses. Plus, we'll hear from one of our
favorite Green Thumb comedians, Angela Johnson Reyes, and talk to
her about how Instagram is feeding her plant passion and
(03:52):
I'm going to get her thoughts on the tiny plant movement.
To stick with me, this is going to be fun.
Chapter thirteen, Big Dreams and Tinier Plants. We spent so
much of the last year inside our homes, homes of
all shapes and sizes, and as we saw the resurgence
(04:15):
of victory gardens at the start of the pandemic, house
plants have also seen this noticeable uptick and popularity. They've
provided the millions of homebound folks people like me, with
this much needed source of comfort and therapy. And living
in a city surrounded by people who have been stuck
in their apartments, I am acutely aware of the limited
(04:36):
space many of us have for our plants, which might
also be why so many new plant parents have found
themselves attracted to tiny plants. To learn more about this
growing part of the plant community, I wanted to chat
with Leslie Halleck. In addition to literally writing the book
on tiny plants, Leslie is a self proclaimed plant geek,
(04:58):
and she's dedicated nearly thirty years of her career to
working with various areas of horticulture, from scientific research to
landscaping and green industry marketing. So of course I had
to call her up. Hey, Leslie, are you there? I
am here. Hi. Hi, It's so nice to be chatting
(05:18):
with you. I know, thanks, I'm excited. I'm so enchanted
by your story. I want to hear a little bit
about how you fell in love with tiny plants. You're
speaking to my heart because I'm obsessed with all things tiny,
tiny plants, tiny chihuahua's, tiny everything. I sort of have
a little bit of an obsession with that. And as
a professional horticulturist, you know, I've gone through many phases
(05:41):
of plant obsessions, but I always come back to teeny
tiny plants. My tiny plant obsession probably hit me back
in the mid nineties, back in the day when I
was doing field research work in Puerto Rico, in the
National Rainforest in the Kiel region of Puerto Rico. I
was living up that old research station up in the
(06:02):
mountains and going out every day taking data on research
that had to do with Herricane Hugo that had come
through and completely defoliated the rainforest. So I was there,
you know, geeking out taking plant data, and one day
I just happened out of the corner of my eye
to catch this little tiny blip of sort of a
pinkish red color, And you know, you're always on the
look for, lookout for orchids in that situation, and sure enough,
(06:24):
I discovered this itty bitty tiny species of le panthes
orchids growing on rocks, and the flowers are only a
couple of millimeters in size, and I just absolutely fell
in love. And after that I began building the variums
and terrariums and keeping poison dark frogs and all sorts
of others that require teeny tiny animals, teeny tiny frogs
(06:47):
that require you to build the habitats that include species
that are conducive to their their life and they're breeding.
So I just kind of got into all things tiny
and have sort of obsessively collected and grown teeny tiny
plants ever since. That is so great. So tell me
about your book. Why did you decide to write about
tiny plants? And please say the full title because it
(07:09):
is really charming. Oh yes, Tiny Plants Discover the Joys
of Growing and Collecting Any Bitty house Plants is the
full long name. When publishers come to you and they
want you to write about something, you want to write
about something that you're passionate about that you can inspire
other people to do. And you know, after writing Gardening
(07:30):
under Lights, which was a little more technical, and then
Plant Parenting, which is very technique based, I wanted to
do something a little more fun, and probably I convinced
them to let me do Tiny Plants because I just thought,
you know, it seemed like the right moment, with indoor
plants becoming so popular. I just wanted to give people
(07:50):
a window into a type of plant collecting they may
not have experienced. Yeah. Completely, And so what are some
of your favorite types of tiny plants? You know, plants
come go in terms of their popularity, right, and sometimes
they're they're really popular and highly available, and then they
cycle back out. So those types of availabilities come in waves.
But teeny tiny bagonia, so I grow a lot of bogonias.
(08:11):
There are some really cool micro aeroids that related to
a lot of the larger aeroids we grow, like philodendron.
So there's some really tiny philodendrons that are really cool.
I really love little micro sundews, their little, tiny, tiny
carnivorous plants. And you'll find those tiny plants which are
just fascinating. There again, the size of about the tip
of your fingertip. I'm obsessed with many different species of
(08:34):
tiny Have you seen the tiny plant movement grow during
this last period and what do you think the enthusiasm
for it is based in. Yeah, I have seen it grow,
partially because I've just been forcing it on everybody. I
love it, and I just do you give them? Did
you give tiny plants to people? I do? I do.
I do give tiny plants. And that's another great thing
(08:55):
about tiny plants is that they're easy to gift. You know,
they're easy. You know, they don't take a lot of space,
and you can propagate them and they're easy to give. UM.
But I have seen we'll call it sort of miniature
gardening across the board, and I am not talking about
fairy gardening, so put fairy gardening aside. We're talking about
is scale. So what's been great is that in the
last few years there are a lot of new dwarf
(09:16):
vegetable and fruit varieties that have come out on the market.
Uh and and a lot of smaller plant species for
houseplant culture. People who live in smaller spaces, smaller apartments,
don't have a yard. Dwarf edibles are fantastic. Also if
you're growing edibles inside, I think tiny plants offer up
a really great solution. So small scale across the board,
(09:40):
miniature gardening, tiny indoor plans, I think is a really
helpful way to keep indulging in your gardening habit without
running out of space and it also takes less resources too.
So how does the care for a tiny plant differ
from that of a regular plant. Some things are going
to be very much the same and other things will
be a little bit different. A lot of teeny tiny
(10:00):
plants maybe hemi epiphytic or semi epiphytic and may require
higher humidity. So growing under glass, you know, maybe something
that you do more often with some of the very
tiny plant species than you would like the bigger aeroids.
But that's easy to do because you don't need much
space and you don't need a big container to do that. Um.
They can also be a little more sensitive to water
(10:21):
quality and over fertilizing, so you have to be a
little bit more careful. I tend to use mostly rain
water or ro o water exclusively, like on my micro
orchids and my synergis some of the more sensitive plants.
And you have to be really careful on fertilizers, so
I usually cut fertilizer down to maybe a quarter or
even less of the recommended application, right, because you can
(10:44):
easily burn you know, tiny plants if you're not careful
with your fertilizers. So you know, all things um in scale, right,
so pineer plants, you may go tinier, you know, tinier
with your containers, tinier with your fertilizers. So there are
some things that you have to be a little bit
more careful with. Conversely, when you're growing tiny plants underglass,
(11:04):
they can become very low maintenance. You hardly ever have
to water them. So you know, there's some things that
are a little trickier and some things that are easier.
That's amazing. So, um, do you think tiny plants are
a trend or do you think this is something that's
here to stay. So you know, things that were popular
in the sixties and seventies are popular again now and
those will fade away, and right, it's going to happen
(11:26):
again and again. Right, there are cycles that always happen,
so I expect there to be a cycle to that. However,
I think that the pandemic has really opened up the
world of gardening and plant keeping in sort of an
exponential way for people that I think as a hobby,
it's much more here to stay than a cyclic trend
(11:50):
than just a straight up trend. I think people are
going to keep gardening and plant keeping embedded in their
lifestyle much more significantly than than in the past, and
I think in terms of scale, growing small, growing tiny.
I think again part of that is a matter of
people being cooped up inside without necessarily a lot of
(12:11):
outdoor space. So they need to be able to fit
plants in whatever space they have, and that may not
be a yard, that may be a window sill, that
may be a balcony. My definition of gardening is one
plant in one pot. If you're doing that, you're gardening.
You can be a gardener in lots of different ways,
(12:31):
and I want to make sure that folks that live
in small spaces or you know, just are trying to
bring some nature to their desk. Plants are such an
important part of our health and wellness and you know,
mental happiness exactly. So we asked this question on our
show a Lot. Do you think caring for plants makes
(12:52):
us happier or makes us better people? Plants make me
really happy, and I think they make everybody happy, and
I think that right now we all really need to
invest in our health and wellness. This past year has
been really stressful for everybody. Gardening and plant keeping it's
an amazing stress reducer. I love observing the plants I
(13:16):
love observing how they change. I completely freak out when
one of my micro orchids blooms. If you hear me
yell from across my house, like it's probably because something
just flowered. I just get so excited. And you know,
I'm not a newbie. I've been doing this a long time.
That enthusiasm has never waned for me. And there is
(13:37):
always a new plant to discover. Here's the big secret
about horticulture and gardening. Nobody knows everything. Nobody will ever
know everything. We can call ourselves ex experts, but even
as an expert myself, I learn every day. And that's
a great way to keep your brain healthy, right, There's
always something new to learn out the natural world and plants,
(14:02):
And so I hope that my book Tiny Plants can
bring a little joy and happiness into a plant parents
world and expose them to something new that they can
learn today and as they move forward in their new hobby. Yeah,
we're gonna have to get your book and surround it
with lots of tiny plants and squee. Thank you so
(14:24):
much for being here, Leslie. I really really appreciate it absolutely.
Thanks for so so much for having me. It was
a joy. And now for another poetry corner. This poem
is called little Meal for two. I carefully sliced up
(14:47):
my dwarf fig for this tiny fruit plate for two.
I plucked up all my baby corn and made this
tiny stew. I placed it all on tiny plates and
a horrible healthy brunch. But once we've hugged and said goodbyes,
I'm ordering food for lunch. Thank you. So I'm kind
(15:16):
of getting why people love tiny plants. But I've got
to say my first real fascination with tiny things probably
started with tiny houses. We started writing about them years
ago on a website I used to run, but it's
incredible to see they are more than just a fad.
According to the New York Times, some tiny house builders
saw a one hundred and seventy seven percent increase in sales.
(15:41):
And it makes a ton of sense when you think
about it. Tiny houses started as people wanting to decrease
their carbon footprint, and now with more city dwellers heading
out of town, trading those concrete buildings for the wide
open spaces of nature, the tiny home movement is alive
and well. And while they unrelated except for their size,
(16:02):
tiny plants and tiny houses have a lot more in
common than meets the eye. I wanted to learn more
about where that then diagram of tiny homes and plants overlap.
So I called up Ethan and Jesse Waldman. Ethan is
the founder and curator of the site the tiny house
dot Net, and his brother Jesse is the brand developer
at Pistols Nursery in Portland, Oregon. The two recently collaborated
(16:24):
on a piece for the tiny house dot Net about
the best plants for tiny houses and spoiler, the tiny
mounted jungle cacti is definitely a favorite. Ethan, Jesse, are
you there? Yeah? Hey, how's it going. Hey, it's so
nice to be chatting with both of you. I am
so excited to talk about tiny homes and tiny plants
(16:47):
and all of the tininess to come. Ethan, tell me,
I know you're an expert on tiny homes, and I'm curious,
what is it about these tiny homes that really makes
a difference for people. I mean, they have gotten so
popular and they've gone from when I was doing it.
If you said the word tiny house, you know, people
kind of looked at you with with a blank stare,
(17:10):
and now it's hard to find somebody that doesn't understand
when you say tiny house. They have a very specific
picture in their head of a house on a trailer
because they've seen the various tiny house shows. You know,
when I did this, I'm a millennial. I was graduating
from college right around the time that two thousand eight,
two thousand nine the stock market kind of crashed and
(17:30):
people were losing their homes, and so I assumed that
it was going to be a lot of millennials doing it.
And now I see a huge number of people who
are retiring. Who are you know, building or buying tiny
houses as a way of actually being able to retire.
That's really interesting. And Jesse, what about you? Do you
have a tiny house as well? I do not. I
(17:50):
love visiting Ethans though it's it's amazing how well designed
his is that it doesn't really feel tiny. It's quite comfortable.
That's what's so appealing about them, right like, is that
they're often so thoughtfully designed. I mean to me, the
other part of it is that it feels like, particularly
after this last year and people being quarantined and people
stuck in their homes, having a small space in somewhere
(18:12):
that's really beautiful really matters. To people. Absolutely, and that's
you know, that's something that because the house is small,
it really turns the outside into your living room. You
see the outside way more because you're always very close
to a window, and you also are going outside way more.
And so do you see this as kind of a
trend or more of a cultural shift. I think it's
(18:33):
started as a trend and it's becoming a cultural shift.
I think that it fits in really nicely with other
things that you're seeing people really embrace, like Marie Condo
and the idea of minimalism and owning less things. It
fits in with the environmentalism. Living in a smaller house
and having a smaller footprint is definitely a piece of
that puzzle. So I do think that it's it was
(18:54):
a trend and now it's becoming part of the culture. Yeah,
and I do think there is something too when you
hair things down, you really value the things you have
and take advantage of right, and and also how you're
spending your time. So Jesse, before I ask you the same,
let's take a step back. How do you define a
tiny plant and how are they different from normal plants?
I think that for me, a tiny plant probably would
(19:17):
be one that you're not really going to have to
worry about graduating past like a four inch pot. There
are plants that maybe have shallow roots systems. So you know,
you might buy a little plant that's in a small
pot that has like little leaves that are like two
inches long. But if you actually give it the growth,
the growth kind of environmental conditions that it it once,
For example, you might have it climb up a they're
(19:39):
called moss poles um They kind of mimic plants that
climb up trees, and in nature, when they start climbing,
there's actually like a physiological shift that happens when they
can sense that they're climbing, and if they're getting that
right light and they're getting that support, like boom, that
two inch leaf. Like the next leaf that comes out
might be six inches and then twelve inches, and then
like all of a sudden, you have this massive tropical blind.
(19:59):
You know, the plants that we're talking about, like the
pepper roma as the rhizomatos Pagonia is a little alo howorthia,
some some ferns um or chids. These are plants that
are are not going to do that. They're not going
to have any sort of like major physiological change between
their juvenile form, like when their first propagated or they're
first growing from seed and their mature forms. So I
(20:22):
think that that's kind of the The main difference is
just like what does the plant look like when it's
a baby versus when it's an adult. So you two
collaborated on this blog post helping tiny homeowners with the
ideal tiny plants that can fit within their designs. Can
you talk us through some of those tiny plants? Yeah,
absolutely so. I think that there are kind of a
couple of different approaches when thinking about fitting plants into,
(20:45):
you know, a small space. Certainly a very reasonable one
is to look for plants that are just small by nature.
And another one thing to note is, you know, sometimes
and you probably won't know this when you go into
the nursery, but some plants are actually sprayed with growth
inhibitors that that kind of keep them small. That is
something that is not going to you know, say that
on the label. But if you do your research into
(21:07):
the plant um and you know, look at the what
it looks like when it becomes a mature plant versus
what you're seeing in the nursery, you might you might
be able to get a little que as to whether
or not that's happened. But yeah, so a couple of
great small plants. There's a couple of different genuses that
the plants just kind of stay small by nature. One
is the pepper Roma genus. I really love these plants.
(21:27):
They kind of have like fleshy, semi succulent sorts of leaves.
A lot of them kind of have a creeping growth habit,
or if they're growing upright, they're just like form like
a very kind of a small little bush. Almost. One
that I really love is called pepperromea prostrata. It's i
would say, one of the trendiest plants right now. Sometimes
called string of turtles. Little leaves they look like just
(21:48):
like little tiny little beads, and they kind of have
like a little striping pattern on them, makes them look
like little turtles. There's a lot of string us right
now in the plants where others string of hearts during bananas,
during a fishhooks during of dolphins, string of pearls. Another
genus that is really cool is the Tolanzia genus. Tolanxia
are often referred to as air plants. They're called air
(22:09):
plants because they actually don't grow in soil. These plants
are super unique. To water them, you actually soak them
in a bowl of water because their roots system is
literally just exist to hold them onto whatever they're growing on.
In nature, they're just entirely free floating. So you can
just like set them on a shelf, put them in
a bowl, uh, stick them on a window sill. They're
really unique. They're great in terrariums, and they come in
(22:30):
all different sizes and colors, and they flower eventually. They're
they're quite cool. I think air plants are so incredible.
How hard are they to maintain? You know, they kind
of have a reputation for being really easy. You know,
we hear a lot of people come into the nursery
and say, oh, those air plants, they just all they
need is air. That is not true. Um, they definitely
need water. I always kill mine, by the way. They're
(22:51):
honestly not. They're not the easiest in order to get
them to to really thrive. The you know, they're getting
the water for the air, so humidity is great, so
they and to thrive you know, in a bathroom as
long as it gets decent natural light. They do need
a fair amount of natural light to to thrive. They
don't want direct light as much as, like, you know,
they need to be soaked and watered. They also don't
(23:11):
tolerate staying wet for too long. So what we like
to tell people to do is, after they're done soaking
their air plant to you know, literally inverted, put it
upside down on a towel in a window sill, so
it's gonna fully dry out within an hour or two.
I love that they seem so low maintenance, and then
they're actually pretty ivan not on like a tiny house.
(23:32):
So in terms of these tiny houses, have you seen
people grow gardens outside of them? And do you feel
like tiny homes create an opportunity for growing and harvesting
your own food. Yeah? Absolutely. I mean, you know, tiny
homes fit a little bit into the whole permaculture movement.
I know a few people who really just have designed
an entire system around their tiny house where you know,
(23:55):
they're they're harvesting the rain water off the roof. A
lot of tiny homes have compost toilets, and then they're
using that to grow plants, and it's, you know, just
this big self sustaining cycle. Not to say, everybody is
doing that, but that's definitely uh small subset of the movement.
And can you describe exactly what perman culture is for
our listeners. I'm no pro. It's a design philosophy where
(24:16):
you are thinking beyond just the needs of the plant,
to the needs of the garden, to the needs of
your entire property, and you you try to design systems
that serve multiple needs. So a classic example of a
perma culture, you know, a fish tank full of telapia
that has you know that you can throw food scraps
in and the tilapia eat the fish, and then the
(24:37):
poop from the tilapia fertilizes makes this really great fertilizing
water that you then feed into a garden like that.
That's kind of a perma culture system that's really interesting
to to contemplate. And like, how how many things you
can build in and see that like sort of feed
all these systems is pretty great. What are some things
that are easy to grow that can sort of help
(24:57):
fill your tiny home with delicious, healthy food? It? Yeah,
I mean it's all gonna depend on your environment, right. Um,
If we're talking about growing outdoors, it's possible to grow
certain edible things. Indoors. Herbs for example, on a on
a sunny window sill can do can do pretty well.
But really, when you're talking about growing yourself food, you're
gonna be you're gonna want to be leveraging your outdoor space.
(25:18):
So if you're in a permanent space, I think that,
you know, it's incredible what you can grow in a
small raised bed. I think that if you have the
capacity to build a garden box, the benefit there is
that you're filling that soil up and it's able to
not get compacted the way it would. You know, just
if you're kind of digging out of bed in the
ground and then you're you know, stepping around that soil
compaction makes it really hard for the roots to grow deep,
(25:40):
and the deeper the roots and healthier the roots systems.
I think like one of the easiest things that can
be grown in many, many different environments is just sally greens.
Lettuces come up really fast. They don't need a ton
of sun. In fact, they tend to bolt in the sun.
Bolting just means they go to seed, and once a
planet goes to seed, you're typically just done. One of
my favorite things grow as radishes. I think I've acquired
(26:02):
a taste for radishes because of how fun they are
to grow, and then you know, depending on on on
the light and your level of dedication. Tomatoes are like
the classic thing to grow because homegrown tomato just tastes
ten thousand times better than what you can get at
the store, and it's pretty amazing as far as like
space goes. You know, you can grow tomato in a
five yallon bucket. Um. There are two different main types
(26:24):
of tomato plants. There's determinate plants and in determinate plants.
In determinate plants will just keep growing and growing and
growing and growing forever, and they set fruit intermittently throughout
their lives, whereas determinate plants grow to a set size
and then they set all their fruit all at once.
So that's what people with limited space would want to
look for as a determinate variety. How has COVID impacted
(26:45):
the popularity or culture of both tiny homes and tiny plants.
I'll say, from the tiny home perspective, just out of control,
bonkers interest. You know, there are a lot of people
who are really suffering financially due to the pandemic and
the appeal of tiny house living as a way of
(27:06):
saving money and a way of having housing stability. People
see it, and the governments and municipalities and cities are
struggling scrambling to to change laws to make it legal,
because it's not always legal to live in a tiny
house in most places. And I would, uh, I would
concur crazy bonkers over the top interest, you know, not
(27:29):
specifically in tiny plants, but in plants in general. I
think that you know, with COVID kind of as I
was alluding to earlier, people are spending more times in
their home. They might be missing that morning commute to work,
that they walk through the park, or just that other
touch points in their lives where they're able to connect
with nature. And they want their homes to feel good.
And you know, plants. Plants make a space feel good.
You know, having plants around increase your productivity, They stabilize
(27:52):
your mood. They actually make a space more comfortable by
putting out humidity, um, they dampen the sound into space.
So there's all sorts of ways because like above and
below the surface, that having plants in your space can
improve your quality of life. And so I think the
kind of the bar for knowledge has gone way up,
Like people come in and they know so much these days.
It's just pretty incredible how it's turned into like a
(28:12):
real community in a movement. Yeah, it is always impressive
to me to see the different communities that have come
up and emerged on Instagram and formed around things like plants,
and also to see how specific those communities get. Do
you think tiny plants are a part of that, and
are they on Instagram trend or do you think they're
here to stay? I think for me, like, I think
(28:34):
that right now we're in a phase where people are
discovering plants and they're discovering that they want to have
them in their homes. Right. There are different kind of
personality types and different things that you know, just naturally
attract you. Some people want to get a toy poodle
and other people want to get a same Bernard, Right.
I think that the same goes with plants. Like there's
so much information out there these days, and there's people
(28:54):
are getting really deep. I think that that's kind of
the what I'm noticing as a trend more than say
like a shift towards tiny plants, but just people getting
really into their kind of plant, like their pepper roma.
People who want to have all the pepperonias. People are
just becoming passionate, and the nursery industry is responding by
diversifying and making these plants that were once super duper
(29:17):
rare and hard to find, like putting an energy into
you know, propagating them and having them available in greater quantity.
And then you know, it's kind of a self perpetuating
cycle that there's you know, greater availability, greater knowledge, uh,
community forming around it. So like people are just kind
of you know, finding what speaks to them, you know,
for something that will be tiny plants for sure. And
I would say that I think that there's an initial
(29:39):
attraction that maybe a tiny plant and a tiny house shares,
which is just there's a cute factor. Tiny houses are
very popular on Instagram and Pinterest because they're just so
visually appealing. You know, a lot of people might click
on a tiny house. Nine out of ten of them
may just be clicking on it to to just see it.
And then maybe one of those people will see it
(30:00):
and say, oh wow, this actually could be something that
that would be really great for me, and they get
interested and I think the same is probably true for
house plants. You know, you see a really beautiful plant
on Instagram and you click on it, and some people
just might look, and then other people might say, you know,
I it's beautiful and I want to put it on
my coffee table, and so I think there's they share that.
(30:21):
And another thing I think that's important to mention is, like,
you know, there there obviously is a natural synchronicity between
tiny home tiny plant. But I also think that like,
just because you live in a small space doesn't mean
you can't have any plant. Um. I mean, you might
not physically be able to fit a giant tree in
your home, but I think that you can really get
creative and just activate different areas of the home if
(30:43):
you're committed to, you know, having having greener in that space.
Plants don't have to be just you know, in that
big pot on the floor occupying your your living space.
I like that. Ethan and Jesse, thank you both so
much for being on this program. I'm I'm fascinated in
what both of you do, and um throw to have
you here. Thank you, Thanks so much. Humans Growing Stuff
(31:06):
will be right back after a short break. Tiny Plants
are so useful and for a small amount of space,
they can do a lot of good. But as I've
been researching some of the popular tiny plants for this episode,
I couldn't help but think of how funny some of
(31:27):
them are. The plants themselves are adorable, but also the
names are hilarious, like et fingers come on. So I
decided to give comedian Angela Johnson red As a call
and get her take on them. Angela is a former
cast member on Mad TV and sells out comedy tours
across the country, and not only does she make me laugh,
(31:50):
she's also an avid gardener. She and I caught up
about what got her hooked on gardening, how Instagram has
brought her closer to this new community, and what she
thinks of some of the more comedic tiny plant names
out there. Handeler, are you there? Yes? Hello, Hey, it's
so nice to be chatting with you. I am so excited. Well,
(32:14):
I've been watching some of your Facebook videos and and
watching your enthusiasm for the garden, and we thought it
would be super fun to have you on the show.
I'm excited to talk about this because this is like
a whole new world for me. That developed. Yeah, I
love to share with every I'm like, how is everyone
not gardening? Like everyone? Yeah, that's how I feel too,
But I'm curious. Was gardening something you grew up with? Um? No?
(32:38):
Actually really all new I full on. I took Ron
Finley's master class and I learned a lot from him.
And also, my brother got into plants before I did,
and so he's the one who kind of got me into.
So one day he came up right before quarantine January.
(32:58):
I went with him to the plant district downtown l A.
It was like we walked into this oasis and I
was like, what, this is a real place with plants
and flowers, and so I bought so many plants that day,
and I started becoming a plant mom. And then it
grew from there to a garden and everything. And then
what did did you know immediately what to do because
(33:19):
you've seen these videos? Or how did you get into
gardening from there? Instagram? So I would watch videos on
Instagram on YouTube, learning about spider mites, learning about like
all kinds of things, and then it became personal. These
plants there on my balcony and my bathroom and my bedroom.
I remember the day my elephant ear plant. I was
(33:42):
so proud of. It was like my biggest plant that
I had ever purchased. And and she's in my my bedroom,
and every morning I wake up and there she was
in the corner. And one day I woke up and
she was just weeping, like limping over. I didn't know
what happened. When I tell you, I jumped out of
my bed and rushed to her side like it was
my child. It really became super personal, like I have
(34:05):
a relationship with my plants, to the point where when
I was moving, I had to find a foster home
for my plants because I was like, my husband, he
doesn't quite get it. And he's like, well, why can't
she just get rid of him and get new ones
when we get our new place, And I'm like, how
dare you you make me? Hear you you walk your
(34:26):
mouth sir? Yeah. So they became very personal to me,
and I learned how to take care of them from
videos online, and then I would share what I was
learning with my fans online, and then people would message
me and and we're so helpful and being like, hey,
I think your plant has you know this going on?
Maybe you put too much water, and it really became
like a community online that we really just kind of
(34:49):
supported each other and helped each other. Isn't that amazing
how these groups have formed out of interest during these pandemics, right,
Like people have actually made friends through Instagram and at
least feel like they they have these connections, which is
amazing totally. And then all like I get all the
funny memes now, like my brother did plant Dad memes
(35:09):
and gifts, and like you know, everybody's talking about their
steamy chicks, like what they're going to spend their steamy
check on, and like all the popular ones are like,
you know, a new pair of shoes or whatever, Let's
go to Red Lobster. We got that steamy check. And
then all the plant Dad ones are like, you know,
just got my steamy check. And then it's a picture
of like four thousand plants in there. But I am
surprised to hear you say that you hadn't done this before,
(35:30):
because I I watched these videos and I see like
you've got these beautiful beds and and you know, you've
got everything from like Valencia orange tree to like you know,
tomato plants to blueberries. I mean, it's it's impressive the
variety of things you grew. And you know what. I
my friend Dizzy Perkins, she would post her garden a lot,
and it was very inspiring to me. It makes it
(35:53):
feel doable, like, well, if she could do it, I
can do it, you know. And even though I had
no knowledge. And then I would message her and you like, hey, so,
like how did you learn how to do it? She's like,
I just started. I just gave it a go, and
you learn as you go. And even and Ron Finling
his master class too, he teaches that too, like there
is no really like right or wrong. You just start.
(36:14):
And he's like, you can plant anything in an old suitcase,
in an old boot. And he pulls out an old boot,
put some soil in it, but a little seedling in
it and some water, and he's like, boom, there you go,
you have your garden. I feel like it's funny because
after I started gardening, when I'd be driving down the
street and I would see an empty patch of weed
(36:36):
growing grass like by the freeway, I'd be like, oh,
that'd be a good garden. Your eyes start seeing just
all the possibilities for it, and I hope it just
grows and grows. Yeah, I mean it is funny, this
like new awareness you have for things. Right. I feel
like even in my apartment, I noticed now where the
light is and which are is a cooler and you
(36:56):
know you're thinking about it from a plant's perspective instead
of your own. Something about it from the plant's perspective.
That's hilarious. But I'm so true. But I really hope
that my kids don't hear that part about the boot
because I feel like I'm gonna end up with one
like one sneaker that's functional and one that has a
plant in it for all. And even let me tell you,
(37:17):
when I have to prune, I know it's a part
of the process, right, I have a hard time almost
whenever I have to prune. I come and I think,
I think, my my girl, like thank you so much
for the life that you've provided. Just let the joy,
the oxygen, like everything you're you've served your purpose and
I thank you so much. Like I'm such a weird
(37:38):
plant lady now like Marie, kind of an emotional moment
with my stems and I'm like, thank you, and then
I like gear myself up to actually cut it, and
I thank you for the new life that's going to
come from you by So, one of the things we're
talking about is that as people in quarantine have gotten
super into gardening and been encouraged by Instagram and stuff,
(38:01):
they've sort of done the base level of gardening, but
slowly people are figuring out what their niches are in
terms of like their interests. And so one of the
things we've seen is that people are really into tiny plants.
And so I want to ask you a little bit
about this. But I saw that you had, either on
purpose or accidentally, grown very tiny potatoes in your garden.
(38:22):
What do tiny potatoes taste like? Oh my god, they
tasted amazing because I just washed them, put some olive oil,
salt and pepper and throw them in the oven. I
had like these little little potato fries. Well, I was asking,
have you noticed on your Instagram feed or even with
your family's interactions that people are starting to play in
(38:45):
the tiny plant space? Um, for sure, because it's easy
and it's cute, and especially if you've downsized in the
quarantine COVID days and you don't have much room, start
with a little tiny plants and they're super cute. Sure,
So I have a list of tiny plants and some
are super weird, some are super fun, and I'm curious,
(39:07):
just on a gut reaction, do you think these plants
are good to having at home or do you think
they have some bad juju? So I'm gonna ask you
the name and you tell me first reactions. Google weed
what I mean? I guess that depends on if it's
legal in your state then that would depend. But I
would say yes for for the Google weed or Doogle
(39:29):
eat whateveras it uh Superstar Creeper, Superstar creeper. I mean
that's like, you're not just a peeping tom, but you're
like the best of the best peeping Tom's. You're a
superstar creeper. That's what that says to me. So I
would say no on the Superstar Creeper. Yeah, I know,
I wasn't sure. Does the superstar elevate it to like
(39:50):
a curiosity or is it just so creepy that not
worth it? The best creeps mini money warts, many money wore.
Anything with Wart makes me go, So I would say
pass on that because you don't want warts all over
your money eating. You're gonna be like, what did I
spend my money? On this week and be like, I
(40:10):
don't know you talked to many money war over here,
you'd go over here making you spend things. I am
with you this one. I think you might like Tree
of a thousand Stars, three of a thousand stars. Love
that that? Yeah, that feels very like universe earthy, like
very much like I want to go, like meditate next
to my Tree of a thousand stars. Yeah, it sounds
like a gorgeous constellation or something. So this is called
(40:34):
a baby jade, but it's got some nicknames et fingers
and shreks plant et fingers. It sounds like it's very nubby,
sounds like it looks like a twitty role but also
with a little glowy bold at the end. Yes, keep
that one. How about the energy on this one? A
weeping fig. Well, I'm gonna say yes on that one,
(40:58):
because sometimes you just need to let a good cry out,
you know what I mean, And after you let out
a good cry you just feel so much better, like
so much release, And maybe the weeping fig will help
you and it will help absorb it. So I say
yes and thank you, Weeping Fig. And one last one,
fiend finger, Oh oh, a fiend finger that one sounds
(41:21):
a little devious, that one sounds like a rebel, like
she's a little type away. I feel like she's got
some sass, and I'm gonna say yes, because we all
need a little sass in our lives. Yeah, I agree
with you. So why do you think people love miniature
so much? In your opinion? Because they're cute. I think
(41:43):
anytime I love animals, I love dogs. So if I
see a doodle, I'm like, oh my god, you're so cute.
I want to cuddle you and like spoon you. But
then if you see a mini doodle, it's just so
much cuter. It's like, oh my god, you're a mini
version of that. And I feel like it's plants like
anything many and tiny is so keyte. So, I I
(42:05):
know that you've switched houses, but I love seeing how
your community came out to name your garden. And can
you tell us a little bit about how you came
up with that idea and then and then what the
process is like. Okay, So I had been talking with
my my followers on on Instagram and Facebook and everything
about a garden and getting into plants and everything, and
I'm gonna build my garden and I put a whole
(42:27):
video together and like, here's my new garden, and I
need help picking out names. And so everyone was submitting
so many cool creative names, things that were like Spanish,
touching on my culture, things that were spiritual, touching on
that aspect of my life, and really just showing like
all the different parts of like who I am. But
(42:47):
I'm also a comedian. So I had a lot of
funny names that were submitted, and these were some of
my favorite funny names. Armor garden, seed you later, garden,
good vines, only bone thugs and harvestry, nothing but a
p thing, Notorious, b I Greens, I'm in Love with
(43:08):
a pepper, and covid teen gardens. Oh there was also
a garden of eaton. These are these are great names,
aren't they? The right? I ended up going with Queen's
Greens because my husband calls me queen, but also I
am a queen and like I wanted to embrace that.
And also my friend Penelope was living with me and
(43:31):
she was helping me with the garden, and she's a
queen too, So it became like Queen's Greens and the
other name that I almost picked, but I will definitely
be using for something else. Was Rays of Sunshine because
my married last name is Reyes Yea and I love
that name, so I'm definitely gonna use that for something.
Nobody's still all punch you, Angela. Thank you so much
(43:52):
for being here. Is such a delightful conversation and so
fun to have you on and I can't wait to
see what the instagram of your new at your next
house looks like. Thank you so much. This has really
been fun to talk to you about this because I
have yet to be able to do a podcast talking
about just my garden. Very cool and I had so
(44:13):
much fun. Thank you for letting me share. Thrilled that
you came on. Thank you. When my kid Ruby was
four and people used to say they were cute, Ruby's
response was always the same, with this gravelly voice, Ruby
would correct them and say, I'm not cute, I'm awesome.
And every time I hear the word cute, now that's
(44:36):
what I think of, this little tornado of a child
insisting I am not cute, I'm awesome. When you're looking
at photos of tiny plants and tiny homes, the word
cute pops up a lot. But what's funny is that
the word cute didn't always mean cute as we know it.
According to Popular Science, the original meaning of cute was
actually clever or shrewd, because cute things take a certain
(44:57):
amount of cleverness. As the magazine and explains, it's more
difficult to make a burrito the size of a thumb
than one as big as your forearm. And I kind
of like that. Reframing tiny things tiny plants is clever
because they are clever. They've come up with all sorts
of ways to thrive in a world that's not exactly
built for them, and they have all sorts of strategies
(45:19):
for success, including being adorable. According to Metal Flaws, we
take more care and are more careful with tiny objects
of affection. So when a two thousand nine study, participants
that viewed very cute images of puppies and kittens then
played the game operation actually performed better than participants that
(45:39):
saw less cute images. Our brains are conditioned to help
adorable things survive, but for many of us, there seems
to be something else that draws us into caring for
tiny plants and tiny homes. And that's the simplicity. I
have a funny relationship with minimalism. Back in college, I
started abroad into Pollen Tibet, and on my trip I
(46:01):
took very few clothes, maybe two or three T shirts,
a couple of sweatshirts, and two pairs of pants. But
after my semester abroad, I remember coming back to the
States and every morning I'd wake up and just stare
into my closet, perplexed. Why do I have so many clothes?
Why do I need this many clothes. I've lived so
(46:22):
simply and so happily for months, and now everything felt
so daunting. Even looking around my room right now, I
see things I don't need too many books, clothes, things,
and that we keep trying to pare down and live simply,
things just seem to accumulate. And I think my romance
with tiny homes is just knowing that in a smaller
(46:44):
home you need to simplify. It's funny because part of
the reason I started doing humans growing stuff was because
I was yearning for simplicity. I wanted to put away
the social media and the technology and things that clutter
up my mind and just put my hands in dirt
and spend time watching things grow. And part of what
(47:04):
I keep hearing in this program is that simplicity of
plants that they want to grow. They need just light
and soil and water, and for the tiniest plants to
live beautifully to thrive, their needs are really just that simple.
I've come to believe that there's a happiness to be
(47:25):
found in simplicity. This week, I switched jobs to pare
down my work and focus on things that feel essential
and make me happy. And in that process I cleared
my desk, I organized papers, I got rid of things
I didn't need, And in that organizing I made just
enough space for a tiny plant to sit on the
corner and serve as a reminder to simplify that I
(47:49):
don't need that much, and a reminder to watch this tiny,
happy thing thrive because it's not cute, it's awesome. That's
it for today's episode. Don't forget. No matter what season
it is or where you're at in your gardening journey,
there's some incredible resources waiting for you on the Miracle
(48:12):
Grow website. Join me next time as we explore the
many ways humans can learn and grow from plants. If
you like what you heard, don't forget to rate and
review the show on Apple Podcasts. Also, we want to
hear from you. What are your inspiring plant stories, relatable
struggles or growing questions taggers in your post or tweet
(48:32):
using the hashtag Humans Growing Stuff, and don't be surprised
if you hear your story featured on an upcoming episode.
Humans Growing Stuff is a collaboration from My Heart Radio
and your friends at Miracle Grow. Our show was written
and produced by Molly Sosha and me Mongay Chatigler in
partnership with Ryan Ovadia, Daniel Ainsworth, Hayley Ericson, and Garrett
Shannon of Banter Until next Time, Thanks so much for listening.
(49:00):
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