You know I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, being a part of the plant community is just amazing. I have met so many incredible people and have learned a ton from others and their shared experiences. In September NewDayNewGrowth was included in Independent.ie Weekend Magazine’s feature about Ireland’s plantstagrammers. I love being a part of Ireland’s growing plant community and I also love seeing the Irish Houseplant Club expand.
I have included excerpts from the article below, but you can read the full article here.
It’s been having a moment in recent years but now the pandemic has sparked a new boom in plant parenting. Amy O’Connor meets some of the Irish ‘plantstagrammers’ using social media to build a vibrant online community.
Millennials have been credited with fueling the houseplant revival. Between 2011 and 2018, 30pc of spend on indoor potted plants in Ireland was made by those under 35. “The one thing millennials haven’t killed is house plants,” read a Bloomberg headline last year.
One millennial plant enthusiast is Mizan Potgieter. After she got married last year, she says she found herself in need of a new pastime. “You know how busy a wedding keeps you?” explains the 27-year-old. “After that I needed a hobby.”
Originally from South Africa, Potgieter moved to Cork with her husband two years ago. After moving into their apartment, she wanted to make it feel more “homey and cosy” and decided to look into getting some house plants.
Unsure of whether or not she had a green thumb, she opted to start off small and bought a peace lily from a local garden centre.
“After that, I kind of got hooked and it became an obsession and full-time hobby,” she says. Less than a year later and Potgieter’s two-bedroom apartment is home to over 40 plants.
In March, she started an Instagram account dedicated to sharing photos of her beloved houseplants. Her account (@newdaynewgrowth) now has over 1,650 followers and counting. “I actually spend more time on it than my personal account, ” she says. She also keeps her own blog where she writes about her plants and interviews other plant collectors.
Potgieter credits Instagram with teaching her how to take care of plants and providing her with inspiration for her wishlist. She also says it has helped her connect with other plant collectors around Ireland.
“The online plant community is amazing,” she says. “We are always talking to each other. You learn a lot from them compared to reading a book about the plant or something like that.”
For Potgieter, the allure of plants is simple. It allows her to nurture and care for something. As she and her husband are not allowed to have pets, plants are the next best thing.
“You do want something you can put time and effort into,” she says. “Not necessarily a hobby but something to care for. I do think that plants are like pets. You can’t neglect them or they’ll die, like a pet would.
“You can see the effort you put into them. You can see the plants grow. The journey is rewarding if you see new leaves on your plant.”
New Day New Growth 