Indoor gardeners raise more than plants
At sunset one evening in January near the family condo at a local ski resort, Melissa Bakth watched her 3-yearold’s sled skid considerably off course and go over a 40foot cliff. There was no easy way to reach her, so Ms. Bakth stared down at her bloody but conscious baby girl, Penelope, and sang “You Are My Sunshine” over and over to keep them both calm. About 10 minutes later, a passing snowboarder stopped, shimmied down the cliff and assisted the girl. Ski Patrol arrived moments later and called a medical helicopter.
Penelope received treatment for two collapsed lungs, four fractures in her face, two lost teeth and a gash to her lip. In what doctors called “really, truly a miracle,” the 30-pound girl was spared from a head injury and any other long-term concerns. But a three-day hospital stay was necessary for observation and to place a metal plate in her chin.
Once settled in their room with Penelope feeling well, Ms. Bakth’s thoughts drifted to the $200 worth of hard-tofind houseplants sitting in her Regent Square condo. While at a local Walmart a few days before, she’d spotted some uncommon varieties, posted a picture to her favorite Facebook plant group, Pittsburgh Plant Buy-SellTrade, and offered to purchase some on behalf of anyone wanting to expand a collection.
That kind of honor-system purchase is a common practice among some Pittsburgh-based Facebook plant groups, which focus on troubleshooting, identification or good-natured bragging. Ms. Bakth first interacted with the 2,200-member group last summer, when she asked the members for milkweed, a native wildflower, to feed the monarch butterflies she and Penelope raised. At least six members offered plants from their own gardens, and Ms. Bakth vowed to pay it forward ever since.
Though the day-to-day care of indoor plants is largely a personal endeavor, plant groups, virtual or not, highlight a broader culture among houseplant hobbyists and their desire for connection to the natural world, to age-old botanical knowledge and to like-minded people.
‘Easier than an aquarium’
Gardening, especially indoors, has surged in recent years. According to the 2020 National Gardening Survey, 53.3 million American households purchased one or more houseplant products last year, with the 18- to 34-year-old demographic showing substantial growth. Apartment living and delayed adult milestones — purchasing a home, marriage and having children — are theorized to play a role. A cultural shift toward self -care and the creation of enriching living spaces highlights the benefits of living alongside plants. Modern decor followed suit with popular botanical themes and even trendy plants, such as Fiddle Leaf Figs and Monsteras. But social media’s fertile ground spreads those ideas and creates virtual human connection, especially during the social vacuum of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Tony Ciotoli, whose wife, Patty Logan, owns City Grows houseplant and supplies stores in Lawrenceville and the Strip District, has seen the effect of “plant friends” first hand.
“They tell us to join their groups,” he said with a laugh, while explaining that one new customer from an online plant group can result in 40 new social media followers the next day. With stores in apartment-dominated areas, City Grows frequently serves 18- to 24-yearolds by adding “texture” to the blandness of their rented spaces.
Rentals often shun pets, but people can find similar symbiotic satisfaction by caring for plants. The way plants grow and change gives indoor gardeners something to look forward to — a commodity in COVID-19 times, Mr. Ciotoli points out. Customers excitedly report back to the City Grows staff when new leaves emerge, which is often the gateway to a new hobby. “Once they have success, it makes them feel better,” he said. “We’re all going crazy.”
‘It’s just who I am’
Dave Steidl, 71, of Highland Park, worries about “everything.” His hyper-vigilance isn’t new, but the pandemic hasn’t helped. He’s always concerned for his 25year-old son with cerebral palsy. Before semi-retirement, his 16-hour-a-day graphic design job pressured him. Now, he thinks about how to get a COVID-19 vaccine, the state of his car’s windshield wipers after a snowy night and whether climate change will lead to extinction.
For the past 30 years, the antidote to those thoughts is his bonsai tree hobby and the Pittsburgh Bonsai Society, which he credits with teaching him a lot about the artform.
His attraction to trees started at a young age, growing up in the rural outskirts of Kent, Ohio. He appreciates the form of a tree — the twisting of branches, how roots spread from the base of the trunk — with the same sense of artistry that made him an accomplished graphic designer. A 1996 American Bonsai Society show at a Downtown hotel hooked him on the ancient Japanese practice of tending to them.
As he explains it, the idea of bonsai is to create a miniature model of a very old tree. He won’t prune some of his trees for years to achieve the desired gnarl. Despite the waiting, his hobby has rhythm and ritual.
He monitors his trees daily for pests, soil dampness and growth. Though the practice is “90% solitary,” the Bonsai Society’s monthly meetings, guest speakers and yearly showcases — when not paused by COVID-19 — add consistent opportunities to learn and troubleshoot tree troubles. He monitors weather patterns at least daily to protect the trees when they’re outdoors, a practice that makes him feel deeply connected to the natural world and grounds his sometimes swirling thoughts.
The effect of plants on errant thinking, which has been scientifically studied, is what compelled Dr. Rameshwari Tumuluru, medical director of the UPMC Western
Psychiatric Hospital adolescent intensive outpatient program, to create an on-site mindfulness, healing and wellness garden upon receiving a grant from The Beckwith Institute in 2017. As she observes with her own patients, using the hands to care for plants and the mind to oversee those tasks makes gardening an effective mindfulness practice. With the mind focused elsewhere, it “creates a space in yourself where you can continue to do what you’re doing without really feeling overwhelmed.” Awareness of the senses is another way to stay mindful while caring for plants. “Dr. T” encourages patients to smell herbs crushed between the hands, observe colorful flowers and taste the tomatoes that they grow.
As opposed to the patience required for Mr. Steidl’s bonsai trees,
mindfulness benefits happen “organically and immediately because you’re there in the moment and actually involved in that activity,” Dr. Tumuluru said.
Self(less) help
Since gathering a few stalks of milkweed last summer, Ms. Bakth fell hard for gardening, especially indoors. Her condo has become a botanical oasis with 40 to 50 houseplants. She cares for them as a part of her morning mindfulness practice — it includes yoga and reading — because “the mental health benefits are insane.” Though a novice, she watches plants flourish in her care, making her feel as though “you can literally see your love in a plant.” And in a plant group. When the Facebook group learned of Penelope’s accident, the reaction was “overwhelming” for the single mother. People she’d never met in person sent good wishes and balloons, and one virtual friend crocheted Penelope a “Star Wars” Yoda hat and doll. But the connections created by a bunch of plant lovers delivered the biggest gift.
After reading about Penelope’s rescue, a member wrote on the post that the rescuer “is my friend’s son. He just told his mom he saved a baby, and he doesn’t know whathappened to her.”
The 30-something “angel,” named Travas, happens to be a rock climber, which is how he was able to rescue Penelope. Ms. Bakth was “sobbing uncontrollably” as she thanked him over the phone. She breaks down all over again anytime she talks about him or her plant friends.
“They’re just a bunch of selfless people, and you don’t find that very often. My deal with this group and loving plants,that’s a forever thing.”