The L.A. plant lovers who caught our eye in 2021
This year was supposed to be better.
And yet, despite collective fear and exhaustion surrounding surging coronavirus variants, supply chain issues and weather disasters, many residents of Los Angeles were able to pivot and persevere, united by their connection to plants.
Before the coronavirus pandemic, Meadow Carder-Vindel opened her family’s garden to others for ceremonies, classes on regenerative gardening, after-school activities and weddings. Recently, she started leasing the garden through Healing Gardens, an online marketplace that allows homeowners and caretakers to list their organic gardens for rent. It’s similar to the way Airbnb lists rooms and homes for guests.
Sandra Mejia transformed an auto body shop in West Adams into the Plant Chica, an urban greenhouse and plant shop where she now hosts yoga, free plant clinics and children’s events (for example, Santa was there in an effort to create a safe space for the community). “The kids who are from this neighborhood, it’s so important for them to see that the owners look just like them, whether they’re Black or brown, it can happen, you can be a business owner,” Mejia said.
The Plant PPL series debuted in June 2020 in an effort to highlight plant people of color in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement.
This year, we profiled nearly 30 plant disciples in Los Angeles, from small business owners and urban farmers to clothing designers and TikTok influencers. The group reflects the diversity of Los Angeles — Black, Latino, Korean, Vietnamese and Filipino, among them — and underscores the fact that plants are about more than just botany. They connect us to one another.
“Houseplants mean growth,” designer Jon Perdomo told us. “Houseplants mean love. Houseplants mean togetherness. Houseplants mean happiness. Houseplants mean peace. Houseplants mean belonging.”
Here’s a look at some of the Plant PPL we profiled in 2021. If you have suggestions for people to include in our series, tag us on Instagram @latimesplants.
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At Pippi + Lola plant studio in Long Beach, Dynelly del Valle strives to amplify women and BIPOC vendors and artists. “There are all these talented women out here,” she says. “Why not show their work?”
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When Shawna Christian turned 50, she left her IT job and invested all her money in Tansy, a Burbank plant store. Then the pandemic hit.
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Meadow Carder-Vindel knows the healing effects of gardening firsthand. That’s why she opens her Mt. Washington garden to others.
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Courtney Warwick amplifies people of color and fashion in the plant community. You may know her from her “I Rap to My Plants” merch or photo series “Sneakers and Plants.”
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Jamiah Hargins wants microfarms to feed Los Angeles one front yard at a time.
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Indigenous cultural and plant educator Nicholas Hummingbird is on a mission to spread his knowledge of native plants through the traditional and ongoing knowledge of Indigenous peoples.
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The designer and author is known for her bohemian decorating sense, with a strong emphasis on plants as a living and ever-changing part of the home environment.
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Artist Nelson ZêPequéno founded @blackmenwithgardens, an Instagram community that amplifies the voices and stories of Black men who garden and care for and enjoy plants.
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Siri Lorece Hirth turned the front lawn of her tiny house rental into a densely planted microfarm. Here, she shares how she created a bounty for her community.
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Meet Sheryl Calipusan Ung, Janessa Molina Maquindang and Melissa Limbago, the Filipina American cousins behind L.A.’s effortlessly cool FlyPlant Shop.
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Founders of Ol’ Dirty Planters Karissa Allen and Justin Cox repurpose basketballs into chic planters. Their products land firmly at the intersection of basketball culture and horticulture — sporticulture, if you will.
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Meet La Nola Smith, founder of South Central Succs, a succulent arrangement business in L.A.’s Leimert Park Village that has become a community hub.
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Through a collaboration with Las Fotos Project, a Boyle Heights nonprofit, we partnered with nine high school students to work on mini Plant PPL profiles.
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Jasmine Nicole cofounded the Nice Plant with a mission to show young people of color the importance of self-care and mindfulness through plant care.
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Inspired by her grandparents’ fruit-filled tea garden in Iran, Sorina Vaziri started a grassroots movement to improve and increase the number of public parks in L.A.’s Mid-City neighborhood.
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‘I’m discovering who I am in my new garden,’ says Chantal Aida Gordon, co-founder of the Horticult and co-author of “How to Windowbox.”
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Plant Creative Co. sells handmade macramé plant hangers along with locally sourced plants in Highland Park.
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Jon Perdomo and Jerrilyn Peralta are an L.A.-based couple who have decided to take their houseplant passion to the next level.
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At one time, Mipa Shin roomed with more than 100 houseplants in her Koreatown apartment. She now creates ceramic planters to “dress up” plants in the garage of her Cypress Park home.
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TikTok’s Black forager Alexis Nikole Nelson and Instagram gardener Kamili Bell Hill share how their love for plants connects to Black joy. Plus: Their most joyful plant picks.
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Tammy Ha sold rare plants for fun at her family’s water store in Santa Ana. Now she has two plant stores of her own.
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Forget low-maintenance pothos and trendy fiddle-leaf figs. Yunice Kang’s plant designs will dazzle you like works of art in a museum.
