Collection over Community
by Rebecca Lespier (she/her), The 2020 DiGiCat Barista Champion and plant lover
When I started getting into plants, I thought it was weird because I’m Black. I lived in Ithaca NY, surrounded by white plant shop owners, overpriced “organic” fertilizer, and rich white vegan plant mommies. When I went on youtube, the algorithm showed me pretty white women in their $3K/month #minimalist apartments telling me how often to water my monstera. I felt like I didn’t belong in the community, that there was something wrong with me for wanting to buy and care for more and more plants.
It seems silly and sort of like “who cares” when I write it out, but plants are really important to me. From pretending I didn’t care when the heart shaped hoya my mom got me for Valentine’s Day died, to spending an entire day carrying plants back and forth from the kitchen sink for their monthly deep watering, my experience with plants has changed. They’ve become a big part of my life.
My plant hobby has mainly existed between myself, my pals, and my Instagram story, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but I’ve found that I want more. I want to be part of a larger plant community, and to learn and share with others.
Some of my favorite memories have been made with folks who love plants as much as I do. Sharing cuttings, being shown a way to repot without damaging too many roots, or even just making stupid jokes about orchids. I’m incredibly grateful for the experiences that I have had. But, for me, trying to be part of a community where you don’t see people who look like or have similar experiences to you is really hard and invalidating. Plants should be universal, and they are, aren’t they?
The houseplant trend has re-emerged over the last decade or so. Like many trends, it has gone from people owning plants because they like them, to the same capitalistic, profit-driven model that dare I say most industries have turned into. Is there a reason that some of these plants are so expensive? Who is getting that money? Should we even be taking these plants from their homes if they are that hard to come by? I won’t pretend like I have answers to these questions, and that I haven’t been reeled in by them. A lot of these plants are gorgeous and it's hard not to fall in love, but these are questions that I’ve started to ask recently, and it’s changing the way that I view my personal plant collection, as well as how I approach taking care of plants and interacting with the plant community.
I began to find plant content creators online, specifically on Instagram, who were queer, Black, and whose plant ideals I could get behind and learn from. Teaching kids how to grow their own food, organizing a database where people can give Black folks plants for free, operating with the understanding that plants won’t be Instagram perfect every day of the year. I felt validated and more included with these creators that I have never met than I do with the plant community where I live.
It feels right to surround myself with plants. I feel like I have a connection with them and I cherish that. That being said, anyone can take care of a plant. The idea that you need to be good at plants from the start and that you must have a “green thumb”, or all of the fanciest equipment available, is a bit silly. If you take the time to research what the plant needs and replicate that environment to the best of your ability, chances are, the plant will thrive.
I had some insecurity while writing this. I felt like maybe this wasn’t important to talk about, maybe no one would care and would skip to articles about more pressing issues.
But if 17 year old me had read this back when buying my very first little bamboo from a street festival, I think it would have made me feel just the tiniest bit more accepted and understood. Those moments are important, those moments can be life changing, and we all deserve them.
I know from experience that coming together around a table of potting soil can start some real and deep conversations, and sometimes that can make all the difference.
Some planty content creators to follow on Instagram:
Rebecca Lespier
Rebecca (she/her) began working in coffee in 2016 as a barista, and later an educator. She is a film and digital photographer, focusing mainly on portraits and botanicals in her work. She is also the caretaker of far too many plants, indoor and out.