How are Beyoncé, SZA and Dolly Parton doing?
That’s the question on Louis Easton’s mind. But he’s not an assistant or a stylist to the stars — instead, his charges are a monstera, a silver satin pothos and a prayer plant named after the singers. Mr. Easton, better known as the Plant Mon in Los Angeles, is part of a new crop of plant minders who help clients curate and care for their botanical babies.
“Plants are the new pets,” said Brandon Barnett, a founder of Nerdy Plant Co. in Atlanta, a full-service firm that offers design, care and troubleshooting for plant collections on a weekly, biweekly or monthly basis. Mr. Barnett propagated his first plant, a heartleaf philodendron — still his favorite — at 10 years old and has been helping care for other people’s plants since college.
Louis Easton, better known as the Plant Mon in Los Angeles, is part of a new crop of plant minders who help clients curate and care for their botanical babies. Credit…Anna Williamson
He and Cameron Dotson, a co-owner, saw a significant uptick in demand for their plant ministrations during the coronavirus pandemic.
“People were buying a lot of different plants, but they were having a hard time with them,” Mr. Barnett said. What started primarily as a retail business has morphed into a home-and-office service that includes watering, mitigating pests, optimizing lighting and more, for $50 an hour, excluding materials. (In the Plant Mon’s case, basic services begin at $50 per visit, but Mr. Easton said he would adjust rates for those on a budget.)
Mr. Barnett will go the extra mile to nurture his charges, he said, from polishing leaves by hand to leaving tap water out overnight to evaporate minerals before watering finicky plants such as calathea.