What the Flower! A brand new planty location has opened in Paris! Our friend Justine from Sweety Oxalis told us a while ago that she was working on a secret project: a new place where she would combine her love for plants and her job as a hairdresser. She found her ideal location in the 11th district in Paris and worked the entire summer with her team to open their new plant shop and hair salon. We followed sneak peeks on Instagram and saw a giant mirror being hoisted into the space, which made us even more curious of what it would look like. Justine teamed up with aKagreen, an online boutique for plants, and their beautiful space is now open for everyone. Join us for a virtual visit of What the Flower!
If you follow Justine on Instagram you know she loves her plants: Pilea, Monstera, Alocasia and Oxalis… as you can see: all of these are well presented at What the Flower. Two old Monstera deliciosa are the stars of the space and shine with their mature leaves that have a beautiful hole pattern. These two beauties are not for sale, but can be rented for special events. What we love at What the Flower is that you see the “plant preference” and personality of its owner so well. In Paris we’ve seen quite a few new botanical shops open their doors this year (which we listed in our French #urbanjunglebook by the way!) and they all have a completely different personality, audience and price range. We believe there is room for everyone, as long as true passion is involved. Which is clearly the case at What the Flower!
But What the Flower is not only about plants, it is also a real hair salon! The huge mirrors that were installed this summer reflect the light and visuallyy double the amount of plants you can see. And of course they reflect your “new hair” once Justine has done her magic! Justine has been a hairdresser for a over a decade and as a plant lover, she was so fed up with all the chemicals that are typically used to treat and color hair, that she started using more and more natural dies and products. For What the Flower she chose The Hairborist, a bio hair wellness brand that uses 100% natural colors derived from plants, flowers and bark. When we visited, a client just left with a fresh new look for her hair and the color looked amazing, natural glowing and healthy. Well done Justine!
Jungle reflection in the mirror:
As an extra touch of decoration, Justine decided to show off some of the hair care products, especially the ones in powder, that she beautifully lined up in Mason Jars behind the counter. Why hide these organic products when their colors fits the natural color concept of the shop so well?
The massage chair and backwash unit (and Monstera carpet) and the growing botanical curtains in front of the window:
In the second part of the shop, you can find the workshop and office of aKagreen, an online boutique for lush tropical plants, that are promoted by their cute Shiba Inu mascot aKa. Together with Sabrina and James, the team behind aKagreen, aKa selects the prettiest easy-to-care-for plants that you can order online for your home, shop or office. Delivered by bike or electric car in Paris, and in the rest of France by delivery service. All plants come with personalised care tips to keep them happy and healthy.
And where does aKagreen keep their stock of plants? At their neighbors: startup hub Le Wagon! Students, teachers and co-workers get their jobs done in a true urban jungle office with huge banana trees and ZZ plants. Tons of lush Sansevieria, ponytail palms and Calathea are lined up between office desks and computer screens. They purify the air while people code news apps and software. And it makes the industrial loft look so much better at the same time. Win-win for everyone! We hope more plant businesses will follow this clever example! Oh and if you’re worried about the plants being “destroyed” by people working here? Of course there are casualties sometimes, but everyone is rather respectful. James told us that placing all the plants together in groups (#plantgang alert!) really helps preserving the plants. And it makes plant care and watering so much easier too!
Don’t you wanna work here?
Next time you’re in Paris, make sure to make a stop at What the Flower for some plant shopping. Or book an appointment to get your hair done!
Some cats are not interested in plants at all and can be left alone in a room with toxic plants without any problems, but if you’re the parent of a furry feline that loves to nibble on fresh plant leaves, make sure to avoid these plants:
Cat Billie Jean served by @botanicalsandbillie
Did you hear that plantlady is the new catlady? Sounds funny, right? But actually, we believe that you can be both! (and pssstttt, we also believe that there are also quite a few crazy plantmen out there!). With the right tips & tricks you can live successfully with both plants and cats. But how? Every time we share a photo on our Instagram accountof a home with houseplants and one or more cats, we receive so many questions about it. How do people make sure the cats don’t destroy the plants and how do you know if plants are toxic to cats? We decided to ask some help from our fellow plantlovers and catlovers on Instagram. So here we go!
Some background info about our Instagram Panel of 31 plant & cat lovers:
They come from all around the world: different states in the US, Sweden, Hungary, Spain, Holland, Brazil, France, Germany, Turkey, Canada, Belgium, Indonesia and Denmark. 35% of them own between 16 and 40 plants, 35% between 41 and 75 plants and 20% have more than 100 plants! Half of the respondents has 1 cat and most of the others have 2 cats (one even has 5 cats). More than half of the respondents have cats that check out the plants every now and then but mostly leave them alone. 35% Have a cat that is obsessed with some specific plants and likes to nibble on the leaves. Two respondents have true plant destroying cats.
Cat Yuki served by @aentschie
TOXIC PLANTS
Never assume that cats instinctively know what plants are toxic for them. Our cats are domesticated animals and knowing what is good or bad for them is not necessarily part of their experience. Some cats are not interested in plants at all and can be left alone in a room with toxic plants without any problems, but if you’re the parent of a furry feline that loves to nibble on fresh plant leaves, make sure to avoid these plants:
• Sago Palm and other Cycads • Any bulb plants, like Lillies, Hyacinth, Daffodil, Amaryllis • Asparagus fern • Dieffenbachia • Oxalis triangularis • Azalea • Dracaena • Aloe • Sansevieria • Anthurium • Monstera deliciosa
This list is not complete and please always check if your plants are toxic! Also note, that for most plants your cat would have to ingest a substantial amount to become ill.
25% of the cats from our Instagram Panel once ate a toxic plant. For most of them nothing happened (fortunately!), but most cats did throw up the ingested leaves. Sad stories of cats eating plants and dying do exist (we receive messages about that very often), so be careful. Better be safe than sorry!
Cat Bodhi served by @callieharrisonn
CAT-SAFE PLANTS
Plants recommended by the plant- and catlovers from our panel: • Spiderplant • Hanging plants (out of reach, if your cat can reach it, they are attractive because of the movement) • Kentia palms (some cats love to eat juicy sweet palm leaves, which destroys them) • Olive trees • Cacti (although they can hurt the cats with their spines!) • Echeveria and Haworthia succulents • Zamioculca • Peperomia (the cats don’t like the taste!) • Ferns • Calathea • Tillandsia air plants • Grasses • Strelitzia (mildly toxic) • Plants with big leaves (less tempting) • Staghorn ferns (can be mounted and hung out of reach) • Lemongrass • Maranta
Cat Bowie served by @katinkafeijs
SUCCESS TIPS
We asked our Instagram Panel about their tips on how to live successfully with plants and cats. These are their best tips and tricks:
• Start with plants that are non toxic to cats and observe how your cats behave with them. Make certain rooms off limits to the cats to keep more toxic plants. • Put your plants in a place where the cats can’t reach them, for example on a fridge or plantshelfie. Or in a room that you can close when you are not around to watch your cat’s behavior. • Use plant hangers to hang plants from the ceiling where your cats can’t reach it. Or use wall-pots (only works if your cats are not too acrobatic!) • Make sure if you put a plant up high, that there is no way for your cat to jump up there. No empty space for your cat on the #plantshelfie or he or she may tip over a planter. • Use plant pots that have enough weight, so that your cat can’t tip them over. • If my cat was more of a curious taste tester I would suggest putting the plants on higher shelving with no snuggle room for cats. Make another perch spot, as I like to call them, for your kitty so they’ll still feel like they own the house instead of you. • Teach them when young not to bother them! Behold the power of a spray bottle. • Find an essential oil scent that your cat hates. Most cats dislike citrus. Place a citrus essential oil around the area where you keep your plants, or on each individual pot. This should deter your cat from wanting to play with, eat, or otherwise destroy your plants. • Give your feline friends their own cat grass, catnip, edible foliage or wheat grass! Place this close to your (non toxic) plants at ground level, so that they have easy access (before they reach your expensive houseplants). • Prune growing plants regularly so they don’t get too long and turn into play toys for your cats. • Keep your more delicate plants inside a terrarium. • I keep my plants that I’m propagating in water safe for her too, otherwise she will take the plant out of the water so she can drink it! • I also try not to leave any water on my plant trays because my cat loves to play with water. • Play with your cats and tire them out. A happy and tired cat will leave your plants alone. • Cut chicken wire and lay it flat on top of the soil. This will prevent your cat from digging up the soil and making a huge mess or using it as a litter box. You can also use some larger stones or gems to (partly) cover the soil. • Provide a clean litter box and a nice scratching pole, so that they have everything they need and doesn’t use your plants as a litter box or pole. • Accept that your cats will nibble on (some of) your houseplants and that they won’t look its best with some cat scars. Learn to live with your imperfect plants. After all, it’s your cat’s home too!
“I find that larger leaf plants, like the fiddle leaf are good because they are too large for a cat to really care for. Some plants are good for cats! I actually have an indoor herb garden for them to chew on. It’s good for their digestive systems!”
Cat Ramona served by @plantshapescat Wally served by @joelixjoelix
“I was home from work for hours, relaxing, hanging out with my cat when suddenly her ears perk up and we both hear a rustling in my plant collection in the living room. Somehow the neighbour’s cat had gotten in before I went to work and had been hanging out in my plants for hours without us knowing! You never know what’s lurking in the jungle.”
cat Curry served by @casaprotea
“Sometimes my cats really just like to snif and go through the leafs. I have also had some cat grass and other plants that’s good for the cats to eat from. It’s in the cat’s nature to be outside and wild so I try to have plants and pine cones, to trigger their nature side.”
cat Witte Poes served by @line_vanvoorden
“Whenever I bring a new plant home, which happens quite regularly, my cat looks at it for a bit, and then looks at me, as if to say “Really? Another one?”“
Cat served by @frozentezzzCat Fia served by @fryfold
“I put the cat grass in front of a mirror. My cat usually puts his whole head in the plant to show his love and affection, but once scared himself to death when he saw a cat emerging from his plant in the mirror! Poor thing!”
Cat Belle served by @ladradorite.boyCat Snow served by @pernillllllee
“At first we grew a cat lawn for our cat to eat the grass, therefore we didn’t think of the size of the low pot. One day when the grass was almost fully grown, we found him sleeping on it, and he sleeps there for a little while everyday! It was just hilarious to see him change the purpose of his gift.”
Cat Milo served by @avalonbotaniqueCat Archimedes served by @JulieAndrsn
*“My boy cat is quite a rebel. He love the “punch” the leaf on plants. He sits by the plant and with one paw he starts beating the leaf (forcing the leaf down), and he does this over and over and over and over until I get mad and take him away from the plant. He knows so well that I don’t like when he does that, he always makes eye contact when he starts beating. Lol.”
Cat Hanna served by @personalcheesusCat Fantastic Mr Fox served by @is_adorable
“I was so proud of my first ever Spider plant baby. It finally rooted after a couple of busted attempts. I put it in his own little pot. And the next morning I woke up with my cat Moos sitting above my head, who brought me a present. Yup! My baby spider plant. Ripped it right out of the pot and wrecked the roots with his teeth. Sigh*. Ever since then Moos loves to rip tiny plants out of the ground. So all of the baby plants are safely in an Ikea Socker greenhouse.”
Cat Moos served by @unieque_nlCats Tissla and Lilith served by @alexandra.broman
“Our cat Simba had a favorite spot for a long time, a pot with old soil in it. There used to be a Bromelia in there but he crushed it with his butt. We didn’t think to throw it out yet, and Simba kept his spot. After a long time my husband said to me, I think Simba is breeding something, we lifted his tail and a new Bromelia was coming up from the pot under his butt.”
Cat Simba served by @anne_kohnkeDog and cats Mowgli, Dilla and Cricket served by @jordoncloud
Last week we visited the Maison & Objet design show in Paris, for yet another hunt of greenery. In January we spotted quite a few lush booths (read all about that here) and from reading all your messages, DMs, likes, shares and comments on our post then, we knew we had to go back for this September edition of Maison & Objet. So here we are: we found some new plant products, brands that used a lot of beautiful plants in their booth designs and we visited a lot of our favourite brands too. Let’s have a look at what we found!
First stop at the eclectic and colorful brand Ames Designthat use botanical patterns in their crocheted macramé ames nido cushions, and have you seen their big black planters? They are handmade in Colombia and look so nice with the Banana, Dracaena, Aglaonema and the Rubber tree:
How do you integrate plants in your booth (or home!) while keeping it stylish and not too wild: use rows of the same plants (Sansevieira or lavender) and line them up in a window sill, like in the beautiful booth of Danish design brand WOUD:
Wicker baskets and soft buckets can cover up simple plant pots, and these cachepots from Italian design brand Pijamado exactly that: they spice up simple planters and are made from neoprene and fabric. You do need to use a saucer, as the covers are not waterproof, but don’t they look cool? They come in metallic rose gold and funky patterns:
The Pijamacachepots also come in a new trendy terrazzo design:
Light, soft and round plant pots in hand felted natural wool from Swedish brand Aveva Design that are treated with natural rubber on the inside to protect the wool. They also look really nice in a plant hanger!
A green wall with a dozen of Philodendron cordatum plants in glass bowls at Bolia that compliments the dark blue Posea bench in velvet.
Mini succulents and a dinosaur in a cluster of Favourite Things pendant lamps from Eno Studio:
New woven bowls from recycled plastic on three sustainable cinnamon wooden feet, from Dutch brand Handedby:
We’ve blogged about the Lucie Kaas GRO plant pots before (here!), as they are both stylish and practical. The plant pot is made of heavy ceramics in three different colourways: laurel oak, gun metal and red mahagony, and are placed on a mouth blown glass bowl in the same colour. The ceramic pot is unglazed at the bottom and has small holes which allow to soak up the water from the bowl and provide for the plant at all times. Clever!
Maybe not the most stylish booth at Maison & Objet, but the setup of Dutch bedding brand Snurk made us laugh: a monkey bedding set screams for some tropical plants:
Our friends at Mama Petula worked at Maison & Objet while we prepared for our French #urbanjunglebook launch. They created a stunning wall of hanging plants in black macramé hangers, and also decorated theMilk Décoration café (with delicious food from Wild & The Moon!) with a large variety of plants:
Danish design brand WOUDpresented their contemporary collection with a sleek use of houseplants, like ivy, Sansevieria, Boston ferns:
The composition of 3 plants in the booth of Fest Amsterdam compliments the bright pale pink and black of the contemporary designs:
Three small and bigger Monstera deliciosa from Bolia give the flowery wallpaper an extra green vibe – plant-on-plant if you want so:
A lush #plantgang in big planters and on ENT plants stands at XL Boom (top image is also by XL Boom!):
We hope you enjoyed our green discoveries from the latest Maison & Objet show in Paris. What we enjoyed in particular is the fact that greens are still going strong – the plant trend is here to stay (but we all knew that, right?!).
Almost one year after we launched our UrbanJunglebook in English and German in the Botanical Garden in Munich, we were very happy to finally present our book in French! In the past months we received so many messages from French speaking plant lovers asking for our book in French, that we’re delighted that it’s finally here! We worked with the team of Editions Eyrolles to translate our book into French and make sure it would look pixel perfect. They did an excellent job and holding our booken français (and seeing it in French bookshops!) really makes our heart skip a beat. As you know, we both have a very special bond with France 😉
Last Thursday we presented our book to French press and bloggers at the perfect UrbanJungle Bloggers location: Mama Petula, a botanical concept store in the 14th arrondissement in Paris. It’s a little bit off the beaten track, located on the site of a former hospital. Mama Petula is a green lush shop where you can find the most gorgeous selection of houseplants, plant accessories and garden plants… and our UrbanJunglebook of course. If you’re lucky you may even be able to get a signed copy!
Mama Petula opened their doors just for us! We were so excited to welcome our guests at this planty location, and see them impressed by all the greenery. Definitely a must-visit when you are in Paris. Please note that Mama Petula is only open on Saturdays and Sundays (check their Instagram to find out more about opening hours, as they may open during weekdays soon!).
We spoilt our guests with delicious plant-based food from Wild & The Moon. Wild & the Moon is based on the simple belief that food should be good for you, good for the planet, and delicious. They go for wild, local, gluten-free, ethically sourced, seasonal and plant-based ingredients, that bring a little bit of nature in our busy lives. We took a few photos before the guests arrived, because this disappeared quickly, it was so yummy!
With the plant-based treats come plant-based drinks: all night we sipped evian fruits & plantes and their new evian x kusmi tea. For these new evian fruits & plants recipes, the world-renowned evian mineral water is mixed with lemon & elderflower, raspberry & verbena and raisin & rose, that create light and fresh drinks. The evian infused x kusmi is a remarkable mix of 95% evian mineral water with infusion kusmi tea and fruity, botanical and floral aromas. These new evian drinks are not too sugar-y, but have interesting flavours that come in cute little bottles:
Look how well our UrbanJunglebook blends in with the planty decor at Mama Petula:
Our friends at Lovely Day Botanicals sponsored the event by providing some of their wonderful beauty products (that we wrote about earlier here), like the Coco Gloss hair serum and Mermaid After-Sun Spray. Lovely Day uses premium botanical oils and essences and fruit acids for their small but refined product range. Their beauty products are not only natural, they are also vegan. No animal products whatsoever find their way into their products, neither do perfumes, alcohol, nor any other synthetic ingredient.
Plantshelfie perfection:
A few months ago we found out about GreenMa, a young French lifestyle brand that proposes organic and herbal teas and recently launched a range of artisanal soaps and candles with organic essential oils. And besides making delicious products that make you feel better, GreenMa also focuses on packaging with a low environmental impact. The teas and candles come in fumé glass bottles that are anti-UV as well, and refills are wrapped in craft paper. All our guests left with an artisanal GreenMa soap and the RELAX, DREAM and MAGIC candles made Mama Petula smell heavenly all night long!
On Saturday we had a second event in Paris for everyone that wanted to join: we hosted a plant hanger workshop at the beautiful Welcome Bio Bazar. A shop that specialises in bio and organic products for home and kitchen, in the same street as their organic grocery shop and restaurant. They also have a small café with the best chocolate cake we ever tasted and in the back you have a large corner with a selection of plants from Mama Petula. This is where our workshop took place:
In two rounds of workshops we knotted dozens of plant hangers and had a lot of fun. Plant hangers are such an easy way to decorate your home and create a nice dynamic in the room without taking up precious floor space. You can find the DIY instructions of the plant hanger (and more DIYs!) in ourUrbanJunglebook!
A big thank you to our publisher Eyrolles (and particularly to Julie, Géraldine, Camille and Eric) and Mama Petula for the dreamy location (merci beaucoup Zoé, Masami et Caroline !), GreenMa, Lovely Day Botanicals and evian for the planty products, Wild & The Moon for the delicious food, Welcome Bio Bazar (particularly Galyord, Rebecca and Julie) for hosting our workshop and to all the press and bloggers and plant lovers that made the launch of our French UrbanJungleBook into such a joyful celebration! Merci beaucoup !
Photography by Madame Love (photos 16-17-18-19) and UrbanJungle Bloggers
Pretty much exactly one year ago the adventure kicked off: We launched our first Urban Jungle book in both German and English. The location of our book launch was perfect and dreamy: the botanical garden in Munich. Only one day before we launch our Urban Jungle book in French (tomorrow in Paris), we want to take you on a trip down memory lane and stroll the magic botanical garden in Munich with you. Our dear friend and fellow blogger Anastasia Benko recently revisited the botanical garden and took some magical photos for us. Come in and get enchanted!
The botanical garden in Munich is located in a leafy and beautiful suburban area called Nymphenburg. Adjacent to the namesake castle, the botanical garden stretches over more than 22 hectares and features 16 different sections. A vast outdoor garden invites the visitor to stroll and take a break on one of the benches, and a variety of greenhouses ignites botanical dreams the moment you step in.
Anastasia has an incredible eye to capture details, light, moody moments. Through her lens you are truly transported into an enchanted botanical garden where plants thrive among fairytales, mysteries, and myths. Anastasia was also our guest during the book launch (and she hosted a flower workshop) and we all share the same dear moments of being there and celebrating the beauty and bounty of nature.
The celebration will continue tomorrow and on Saturday in Paris: We will launch the French Urban Jungle book in one of our favorite plant concept stores in Paris, Mama Petula, and present it to the French press and bloggers. And on Saturday we are doing a second book event and plant hanger workshop in the cool Welcome Bio Bazar concept store – if you are in Paris on Saturday, join us. All details HERE!
Photography by Urban Jungle Bloggers
