Do you have a houseplant or two in your home? If so, you are not alone, the popularity of houseplants has grown in the last few years. But have you ever wondered how long people have been enjoying houseplants?
Probably not! Most likely you simply just enjoy them and all the benefits that they bring.
We know the joys of owning a houseplant, and to help you learn as much as possible about them here is a quick guide to the history of houseplants.
Why We Love Houseplants
Whilst taking care of potted plants has been around since Ancient Egypt, and China times, the idea of bringing them into your home to take care of them came from the early Greeks and Romans. They wanted to have something indoors that they could take of and treated their indoor plant choices as ornaments and decorative items that they loved to have in their home.
The idea of keeping houseplants seemed to take a dip during the Middle Ages, although that doesn’t mean that they didn’t make an appearance in some form. Monasteries seem to be the main place that you would see plants being kept, and then they were there for food and medicine rather than for enjoyment.
However, as the Renaissance came around, cultural transformations came with it, and houseplants started to become more about style than anything else.
A History of Houseplants
During the Victorian era, homes started to become more like the homes that we live in nowadays. Not only in style, but also because they were much warmer, primarily due to central heating, be that from coal or iron furnaces. This meant that they became the ideal place to cultivate houseplants, especially large, dense in their foliage and impressive in their look.
This trend carried on until the late 1920s when potted houseplants became more readily available, which meant that more and more people wanted to own a plan, especially those concerned about getting it to grow from a bulb or a seed - it became quite a trendy hobby!
This meant that the idea of owning a plant grew, and houseplants became a popular addition for many people to have in their homes.
Swinging Sixties and Houseplants
The sixties were a big growth time for indoor plants as nature was starting to be appreciated more, and interior décor was wild and exciting. More and more people wanted houseplants and they because a popular fashion statement in many homes.
We follow this sixties trend, as a combination of interior trends, an awareness of the benefits of living with nature, internet communities of plant lovers that are easy to connect with and the sheer joy of caring for a houseplant has made them more popular than ever.
In our modern, international world, the reasons we have houseplants has not changed, but the plants themselves have become more exotic as we are able to source plants from much further afield. For an amazing range of modern houseplants, visit our online store at www.plantcollective.co.nz