May is my favourite time of the year, the season just starts changing into something slightly colder but we still get so many bright sunny days. I feel like the boxes this month represented the happy-go-lucky sentiment of the month and they really came together nicely.
The Plants:
The Classic box included a Maidenhair Vine plant. I first came to know one of these plants when I found one at Super Plants in Tokai. It was climbing up a hoop and I decided to detangle it. I’d never seen one before and thought it was super pretty. These plants originate from New Zealand and have a more common quirky name, ‘wire vine’, due to the way they creep and climb. So this plant would make a perfect hanging plant or if you wanted it to climb up a wall or post it could do that too.
Unlike the Maidenhair Fern, this plant is a lot more hardier. The leaves will go dry if they need water and will bounce back once given water – however, be careful, don’t leave them too long as this might result in permanent drought damage. This is what unfortunately happened to me after a few weeks too many of not watering it. They’re also fast growing plants which is a blessing for us plant lovers so we don’t need to agonise for months about what we’re doing wrong. The plant also has succulent like flowers that Māori children would eat because they’re so sweet.
The Collector’s box included what was once known as a Philodendron goeldii – and in fact I hadn’t realised it’s name had change up until I did some research on it for the plant care bookmarks. It’s now known as a Thaumatophyllum spruceanum or a ‘tree Philodendron’. What makes these plants absolutely fascinating for any collector is the way they have ring petioles with leaves that stretch out from them like fingers. And the number of leaves actually increase per ring as the plant gets older. Super large specimens can have up to 15 leaves per ring!
The Gifts
Nkehnsani from Hermerakai created an amazing Plant Care spray during 2020 lockdown and it really has become a favourite for many plant parents. It’s made mainly from Neem and essential oils and is a great way to maintain the health of your plant. The bottle size of 100ml was specifically created for Plant Club boxes and it has a really nice spray nozzle that takes care of reaching those hard to get to places on a plant. Nkehnsani is also a plant stylist and reiki practitioner. If you ever need advice from her, you can find her here.
Aromadough included a wonderful plant-styled aromatherapy stress ball for the Plant Club. I was first introduced to Aromadough a few months ago and really didn’t think much of it until I started using it. It was so addictive to roll the stress ball around and feel those essential oils going to work in my hands. This was a huge hit with subscribers and it’s amazing how many parents said their stress balls got hijacked by kids. Thought this was pretty funny. Aromadough has a huge range of products that you can purchase here. They also do corporate gifts which I think is truly a great thing to gift to employees.
Last but definitely not least, a very special brand, Plasticity, was included in the Collector’s box. They make the most gorgeous upcycled planters. They also focus on slow made products and use plastic waste from the community and recycled centres. They clean and rework the plastic to create this amazing material. The little planters also have organic hemp handles and you just know they’re quality.
If you’d like to purchase a subscription for either of these boxes, we’d love to have you part of the club! You can get one here.
