Read an Excerpt
How Plants Became My Favorite People
I’m Alessia Resta, artist, gamer, plant mom, and creator of the Instagram account Apartment Botanist.
As a child, I always knew I would be an artist. When I finally had the chance to study art, I went to college at the School of Visual Arts in New York City, where my main concentration was sculpture and bio-art. I fell in love with the physical forms we find in nature—in particular, plants and sea life. During my studies, I started to wonder how these plants and sea creatures would behave if they could use social media. In doing my thesis work, I started buying plants for how they looked without really considering the fundamental needs they required to survive. I was creating terrariums and experimenting with different ways to design installations with plants and turn them, along with other nature-inspired imagery, into sculptures. But I was also killing plants—a ton of plants. I was a total plant-care novice, and it took years of asking questions (the same ones I receive on my Instagram) to learn everything I now share with my followers and am about to share with you.
After I graduated, I was running my own business, dealing with some health issues, and beginning to show my work in galleries. With life moving at a fast pace, I really craved a release. I started looking for hobbies and outlets that I could use to calm my anxieties and cultivate positivity. I saw the growing plant collection in my tiny apartment and realized that what had been a passive distraction in my hectic life had started to become something much more meaningful.
I began researching the scientific names of my plants and where they were native to so I could understand the environment in which they would thrive. I realized that some of the cacti I owned would never flourish unless I was willing to actively control the environment by altering the light and temperature to suit their needs. At the same time, I didn’t quite have the time or temperament to commit to all that. I definitely wasn’t yet the type of plant parent I wanted to be. I was still learning how to balance my time and career, all while trying to find a sturdy place for my feet to land.
Years later, I was spending a lot of my time cooped up in my New York City apartment. In February 2017, I thought it would be ironic, challenging, and funny to attempt to be my own botanical garden and keep rare plants in this city apartment. I also liked the idea that visiting my apartment might give someone the chance to see and experience a plant they might never have the opportunity to see otherwise. My little idea finally sprouted and grew into my Instagram account, Apartment Botanist.
I created the account in hopes that its lightheartedness would bring similar happiness to my followers and give folks a taste of what it’s like caring for an indoor jungle in a concrete one. Now I care for over 200 plants—a nice mix of rare and common houseplants—in my 750-square-foot apartment on New York’s Upper West Side. With Apartment Botanist, I began turning all the things I learned (and wished I had learned earlier) into tips and tricks for plant novices to help them have fun and experiment with plants. I love that I can be the difference that helps people gain that much-needed “plant confidence.”
On top of it all, caring for my plants also helped me care for myself. I began developing a natural bond with my foliage friends. If I neglected my needs, my plants would also get overlooked. Seeing them like that pushed me to pull myself together and take better care of myself so that I could care for my plants, my boyfriend, Micah, and my two canine assistants, Pachino and Zeus, to the best of my ability.
I love housing and caring for all these plants. Despite the lack of space in our apartment, we’ve made it work and have tied that into our decor. Our plants are part of our unique little family, and we love it that way. Caring for plants has also helped me in so many unexpected ways. Plants not only have taught me about patience and taking my time but also have improved my general well-being and brought so much positivity into my life. I’ve also made lifelong friends by sharing my plant failures and successes on my Instagram account and in real life; I meet up with them to go plant shopping (more on this on page 163) and even trade propagated plants (learn more on page 161). Apartment Botanist has helped me foster a large local and international community of plant lovers, allowing me to connect with millions of plant parents online and create a plant-care (and self-care) support system.
Nurturing my collection, becoming involved in this community, and maintaining Apartment Botanist helped me realize how far I’ve come since I started on my plant journey and all the remarkable and unexpected positive things plants have introduced into my life—they even brought me here, writing this book for you. Everyone will have a different experience with plants, but opening yourself up to happiness and the lessons they will teach you are the first steps on your journey.
This book is a culmination of my many years of knowledge gained from buying, collecting, and caring for plants. Whether you just want a few plants to spruce up a sunny spot or crave a floor-to-ceiling collection that rivals a rainforest, this is the guide for you. We’ll figure out your plantparent personality (take the quiz on page 31), which plants will work for you and your space (including those unexpected choices!), and the ins and outs of plant shopping (and avoiding plant scammers). Just as not all plants are alike, not all plant advice applies across the board. I hope to guide you on your plant journey so you can understand what you and your environment have to offer.
Plants have subtle characteristics that make them unique, but when it comes down to it, plants are my favorite people because they always are worth the work. I have gained as much from them as I have put into them. Building that relationship with my plants has been the most rewarding part of my plant-parent journey, and I hope to help you on your journey to discovering the magic of plants.
