I work for Maison Green, a Boston-based plant styling, plant-sitting, installation, and maintenance company. If you or anyone you know ever needs a plant-sitter, plant-whisperer, plant-repotter, or plant-anything-er, please get in touch with us! Among other things, I write Maison Green’s “Orchid Corner” blog, where I post tips, info, and anecdotes about caring for these amazing plants.

I also wrote a piece for the Boston Globe about what I’ve learned about and from caring for orchids.

I’ve been into plants for a number of years, thanks to my green-thumbed mom. My enthusiasm deepened into an obsession during the pandemic, as I sought comfort and beauty from houseplants. I have over 100 houseplants, including 15 orchids. I have a small greenhouse (an IKEA cabinet my partner converted for me) in which I raise more difficult tropical, humidity-loving plants. I belong to many community and online plant groups where I give advice, such as “don’t water your orchid with ice cubes,” “only water your crotons with distilled or rain water,” or “that weird-looking thing is an aerial root.” I often rescue and rehab dying plants and propagate my own plants to give away. In 2021, I hosted a plant consultation clinic with support from the Somerville Arts Council, where I answered plant-related questions from Somerville residents.

Five years ago, my partner and I de-paved our backyard, which like many others in our area had been covered in asphalt. I rehabilitated the soil through weeks of raking, aerating, and fertilizing. I planted different types of clover as ground cover (the bees love it!). I’ve also planted ivy, coleus, hydrangeas, azaleas, butterfly bushes, milkweed, sunflowers, trumpet vines, a tulip magnolia tree, and much more. What was once a parking space now teems with bees, butterflies, and birds (and yes, sometimes rats—it is Somerville, after all).

I also teach a class at Boston University called “Environmental Equality and Urban Tree Canopies,” through which I’ve learned a lot about how disparities in tree canopy coverage affect the health and well-being of residents in lower-income and/or previously redlined areas. Thanks to that class, I’ve become particularly interested in Miyawaki forests and how they might help us mitigate deforestation and climate change.