statement plants
This week's newsletter is sponsored by Empress 1908 Indigo Gin. Infused with butterfly pea flower for a beautiful color and a warm, earthy, herbal taste. Check out my video where we make a quick, delicious summer drink.
I got to visit The Plant Daddies again this week - which is easily one of my favorite spaces in the entire world.
Man on the street
Multiple greenhouses filled with large sculptural plants from around the world. They specialize in uniquely shaped plants and trees in organic stone planters. It's like a landscaping business, but instead of backyards, they focus on individual statement plants, installing them where they can become sculptures in atriums, homes, gardens, and galleries.
Can't get enough of those raw Onyx planters, something else!
Like many great businesses today, it started in 2020. Two workout buddies began selling plants on Facebook Marketplace. After gradually building a small word-of-mouth following as sellers of interesting plants, they partnered with Berber Imports, a home furnishings importer in LA's Inglewood neighborhood. Berber had a huge warehouse with 30-foot ceilings, tons of imported planters and vessels, and...no plants. The perfect partnership was born.
Today, The Plant Daddies has grown into an incredible operation with multiple crews & deliveries every day, sometimes huge projects with installations of 20+ trees, two locations, and a growing roster of clients and designers.
My favorite thing about them is the "imperfect" plants. They are always on the hunt for ones that are overgrown, or have unusual shapes, or are pruned strangely. Things that don't look "normal." They lean into those unique forms and oddball trees to create something super special and very much their own thing.
Some important simple plant tips we learned from Macy, one of the founders:
1) Most plants die from overwatering. If a plant's leaves start turning yellow or falling off, most people's instincts are to water it more. Then, as more leaves continue to fall off, they keep watering it, and it drowns. Be very cautious with the amount of water.
2) Plants take weeks to communicate. If a plant doesn't like its light, water, or container, it doesn't let you know right away. It often takes 1-3 weeks to respond to a change or new environment. So don't rush to make a judgment; let it live with a set of variables for a while before trying new things. Make each adjustment gradually.
3) An Audrey Ficus is the perfect starter plant. It's fussy enough to force you to learn the basics, but not so fussy that most people will kill it. If you don't overwater, it's actually harder to kill a plant than you think.
the filter
I met with my friend Oren John in the flesh earlier this week. He has been my primary mentor in the world of short-form video, and started about a year before I did. He does what I do, but from a creative direction/branding angle. Our lives have each been fundamentally reshaped by short-form video, in terms of both the actual work and the opportunities.
We talked about a whole lot, but particularly about the role of creators in today's marketplace.
In the modern world, so much of what people do and care about is online. And on the internet, there is essentially infinite information and an infinite number of products.
How do you choose?
Even something as innocuous as an electrolyte mix has so many options that it's overwhelming.
Consumers, already overwhelmed by choice, have been conditioned not to trust primary marketing campaigns for products, and brand loyalty is on shaky ground in the age of the hyper-informed consumer. Everyone looks for a product review before they purchase it.
Enter the reviewer. The creator. The tastemaker. The filter.
Someone to test the electrolyte mix and tell you it's good.
In an era of free infinite information, people pay for curation. Andrew Huberman is doing this for health. Lucy Williams for style and personal care. This is what I'm doing for design - encouraging people to make interesting and bold choices in their homes and distilling down what goes with what.
It's a category that will continue to grow as more and more things are bought and sold online. In the AI era, the value of taste and human touch is only increasing.
If you are interested in this world, I'm building a program on exactly this — how to develop your eye and make your taste your work. Get on the list here.
room review
If you missed the video, here's another one I did. This one seems to be a little more polarizing than the others - some people don't like the vertical orientation of the art and told me I made the room worse. I like putting my taste out there and will continue to do so.
In this one, we started with a blank canvas dining room and added ochre sheer curtains and a blue rug. The shape of the table is already great and echoes the shape of the room.
Add blue rug + ochre curtains
We wall-mounted the existing red-framed art and found a new vintage piece of art to replace the total dud that was there before.
Mounting art on the left up on the wall and replacing art on the right
Finally, after trying pendant lights, I realized they were clashing too much with our new loud painting, so we opted for these bronze spots. And, of course, a large plant in the corner makes everything better.
