“Speak Kindly to the Plants… and the People!”
It’s so easy to get busy with work and home and family and all the million little sticky notes, lists and pieces of paper that are flying around. Those reminders to do something, buy something, call someone, or submit something by a deadline. Life is one BIG deadline.
The plant business has an added sense of urgency because we are working with a perishable item. Plants want to live, but they don’t like being ignored, left in a dark corner if they need sunlight or in hot sun when they want shade, not watered if they are thirsty, watered too much if they want to be dry. It requires special people like our horticultural technicians to make sure those needs are met.
Similar to the food industry, the plant business can get crazy busy and it’s easy to neglect the most important part of the business: the people. We sometimes get caught up in a project and bark out orders to work faster, work efficiently, be careful, carry more, or clean the leaves better. When we call our suppliers do we neglect to take time to say a warm hello or ask how they are? People who work in our business are special and deserve a bit of special attention.
We have a vendor who supplies us with large, acclimated green plants for interiors, Dan and Amanda at Specimen House who are dedicated to their business and to their plants. We often have last-minute additions or changes and they make it happen for us seamlessly. It’s no wonder their inventory is always lush and beautiful. Their plants reflect their caretakers’ enthusiasm
There are multiple studies that show how plants react to their environment: talking to them, playing music for them and engaging with plants by people who care can be an interesting way to encourage growth. Kind of like people. If we surround each other with kind words and thoughtfulness, imagine the outcome. We talk to our plants here at the office. I think we need to talk to each other just as often and show that same appreciation. And perhaps our own petals and leaves will be as beautiful as that plants we care for.
