My Favorite Things: 5 Indoor Planting Tools

Welcome to My Favorite Things! Each month, we highlight products to help you create a holistic lifestyle that inspires and nurtures you, so that you can be happier and feel supported.

April hosts one of our favorite holidays, Earth Day, coming up in a couple of weeks! There are many ways to go green, from making easy, small changes, to checking your carbon footprint or donating to great causes. You can also go green by adding a little actual greenery to your space! Look out for our list of indoor trees next week, but before then, take a peek at my favorite indoor plant necessities!

Hand Pruning Shears

Whether you're just keeping your plants up or sharing them through cuttings (which I love to do!), you'll need pruning shears if you're growing indoors. 

There are many varieties of hand shears, but it's important to make sure you choose a pair that is easy to use for you and strong enough for your plants. I love these pruning shears from Gardenite, because they're high quality, strong and the ratchet feature makes using them a breeze!

Available at: Amazon

Double Macrame Hanging Planter

Some of my favorite houseplants are hanging in windows in my bathroom and kitchen. Double hanging planters are the perfect tool for getting plants great light and brightening your space. 

This planter is handmade with natural cotton sourced locally in Canada and comes in three different lengths to match your space perfectly! I love the neutral color and gentle material. It's like cuddling your plants!

Available at: FreeFille

EM-1 Microbial Inoculant

My mother-in-law and her husband are plant experts who teach all around the world, and a few years ago, Hugh (her husband) recommended this conditioner for my houseplants. I love it!

EM-1 is great as a general conditioner for all plants and can fight issues like chlorine poisoning and more by creating healthy micro-organisms. Just add an ounce to a gallon of water!

Available at: TeraGanix

Recycled Glass Spray Bottle

Many plants, including at least one of our favorite indoor trees, require significant amounts of humidity in addition to just water in the soil. Keeping a spray bottle of water nearby is perfect for providing this indoors. 

This bottle is made from recycled glass and holds 8 ounces of water for small or larger houseplants. It's also BPA free, handmade and features a clean, holistic design that won't stick out like a sore thumb! 

Available at: Rail19

Ceramic Planter

Don't forget the most important thing for keeping nature in your holistic spaces - planters! The type of planter you use will depend on what your plant needs, but I love this handmade stoneware option from RehnWorks. 

These hand-thrown, hand-glazed planters are made to order, include drainage holes and are even available in larger sizes than listed. Not to mention they add a beautiful Wood element color to your space in addition to the plant itself! 

Available at: RehnWorks

Do You Speak the Language of Flowers?

Most of us know how meaningful it is to receive flowers or plants from a lover, colleague, friend or anyone else in our lives. Typically, it shows that the person cares for us and wants to invite beauty into our lives. Even with only these connotations, plants and flowers make beautiful gifts. But there is actually so much more meaning in which flowers are chosen and how they are presented! Harkening back to Victorian times, we refer to this as the language of flowers. 

In her reference book, The Language of Flowers, Sheila Pickles gives a few great examples of how it is important to take care in choosing the color and presentation style of flowers as gifts. 

“The choice of flower was all important, but so too was the manner of presentation. If the flowers were upside down the opposite meaning was intended, thus tulips presented with their stems uppermost meant blatant rejection from a lover.

Ardent suitors must beware when selecting their roses, for whilst the Cabbage Rose implies ambassador of love and Rose la France invites the loved one to meet by moonlight, the Yellow Rose means that love is waning. ”

To get a little deeper into this concept, I wanted to share some of my favorite flowers based on meaning through the language of flowers. 

Hollyhock

The Hollyhock flower has a very interesting history, as it is believed to be a characteristic English plant but was actually brought to the European continent from China. In Chinese culture, this flower symbolizes fruitfulness and has been expanded to represent female ambition!

Jasmine

Like the rose, the meaning of Jasmine depends on the color and genus. The most popular variety of jasmine is the White Jasmine, which represents amiability and love. The Yellow Jasmine, a symbol of grace and elegance, and the Spanish Jasmine, which invokes sensuality are close behind. 

Lily

The Lily flower may be one of the most commonly used in modern times for its symbolism. Believed in Christian legend to have originated from Eve's tears as she left the Garden of Eden, the Lily stands for purity and is often used in wedding bouquets and religious ceremonies for this reason. 

Pansy

Though it may not always be the first choice, the Pansy is a wonderful gift, as it sends a message that you are thinking about the person to whom you give it. Pansies are symbolic for thoughts (the name is derived from the French word for "thoughts") and were often used in Victorian days as gifts to loved ones as reminders of affection.

What is your favorite flower? Do you know what it means in the Victorian language of flowers? I encourage you to take a look and see what messages and intentions you are sending and welcoming into your space with flowers. More than just pops of color, these beautiful additions can be very meaningful!

by Anjie Cho

New Beginnings with the Vernal Equinox

It may not seem like it, with our recent blizzards, snowstorms and cold temperatures, but it is finally spring! As of March 20, we have experienced the Vernal Equinox and are moving toward warmer weather and new beginnings. 

In fact, though we often associate the change of seasons with temperature, the equinoxes and solstices are actually all about sunlight! On the Vernal Equinox, the sun crosses the celestial equator heading north, and all around the world, regardless of time zone, the day and night are roughly the same length. Once the equinox (which is Latin for "equal nights") passes, the Northern hemisphere can finally look forward to longer days of sunlight and yang energy. In ancient times, these changes in the sun's position were the only way of determining the new seasons and calendar days! 

Practically, and in feng shui terms, the arrival of spring is symbolic of the new beginnings of life and growth throughout. Worms begin tunnel their way out of the earth, trees and plants show foliage once more, and the extra sunlight even makes birds sing more! With such positive energy, spring is a wonderful season for starting anew in any aspect of life. Renew your space with a good spring cleaning and/or space clearing, clean out your closet to make way for beautiful new pieces you love, or just move nine things around in your space to stir up new energy. Now is also a great time to add new plant life to your home, open your windows to fresh air and sunlight and consider bringing additional wood element pieces into your space. If you're starting a particular project or hoping to make changes, you may even want to add a new beginnings mandala to your space! 

Whatever steps you may take to welcome the spring season, be sure to express gratitude for the chance to start anew and offer thanks to your space for providing shelter and warmth throughout the colder months!

by Anjie Cho