House plants are the perfect addition to any space for a number of reasons. Aside from aesthetics, you can buy a house plant to make your space healthier and improve your mental health. Plants produce oxygen, which purifies the air in your space. According to WebMD, they can help with allergies, asthma, depression, dementia, blood pressure and can help you recover from illness or trauma faster. Having a plant in your home can help with anxiety and will help you feel less alone, which is definitely beneficial if you’re trapped inside because of COVID-19.
So, buy a house plant. Then, give it a really cool name. Be purposeful with their name; make sure it is important to you and something you will remember. According to plant shop The Sill’s marketing director Erin Marino, naming your plants will keep them healthier and keep them alive longer because you will feel more compelled to take care of them.
“Giving something a name is a part of having a relationship,” said Norbert Schwarz, a professor of psychology at USC, for LA Times. “People anthropomorphize objects — products like their car or the trees in nature — mostly when they feel lonely or when they have an affiliation motive and want to be close to something. And it turns out that doing that has positive consequences.”
According to the LA Times, there are some rules to follow for naming your plant. You should give them a first and last name (to make it more similar to a scientific name), and you can’t name a plant after yourself or pick names that have characteristics similar to that plant (i.e.: Ruby for a red rose bush). But, Marino suggests that you have fun with their names. “To get your creative juices flowing, here are a few that have stuck with me over the years: Keanu Leaves, Tree Diddy, and Morgan Treeman,” she says.
You should be extra with this exercise, too. “Maybe DIY a little name tag or flag. It’s those little things that can bring you joy when you’re feeling down,” Marino says. “I also recommend taking a quick photo on your cell phone of your plant during its first week home—I love to look back months later and see how much mine have grown!” Some other fun plant DIYs are painting your planters or making macrame plant hangers to hang your plants from the ceiling.
I have a bunch of plants in my apartment. Some have been growing for almost two years (which is a big deal to me!). I’ve found that, since naming them, I’ve been checking on them more often to make sure they are well taken care of. My roommate and I recently made name tags for all of our plants, which looks so cute. I love waking up and checking on them everyday; it gives me something to look forward to and makes me happy.
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Edited by Zoë Skvarka