ARE YOU A FOLLOWER of style—houseplant style, that’s—in search of out the newest selection that everybody’s after, maybe the “it” plant that’s been splashed throughout social media? Or was every houseplant in your care rigorously chosen as a result of it’s an ideal match for the sunshine and different indoor situations you possibly can supply it?
No matter your standards, emotional or sensible or in any other case, how have you learnt what’s the proper houseplant for you? It’s a query that August Laska and his staff at The Outdated Yew Plant Store are requested on a regular basis.
August and I headed inside from the summer time warmth of the backyard to speak houseplants. He didn’t precisely intend to finish up with so many—not simply those in his home, however two entire New York Metropolis shops stuffed with them. Like lots of people, the previous company advertising coordinator bought into vegetation in the course of the pandemic, however I think few others bought in fairly so deep as to immediate a complete profession change like August’s.
His two branches of The Outdated Yew Plant Store, within the West Village and on the Higher West Aspect of Manhattan, supply retail and mail-order vegetation and pots and different gear, in addition to design companies and extra. (Picture of one of many outlets, above, by Angela Solar.)
Learn alongside as you take heed to the July 20, 2026 version of my public-radio present and podcast utilizing the participant beneath. You’ll be able to subscribe to all future editions on Apple Podcasts (iTunes) or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts right here).
speaking houseplants, with august laska
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Margaret Roach: Hello, August. It’s a superb time to be indoors, I feel [laughter], after we’re having warmth waves-
August Laska: It actually is. It actually is. Quantity what, 4 of the yr up to now?
Margaret: One thing like that. It’s koo-koo land.
August: Sure.
Margaret: Sure. So I hinted within the introduction that the pandemic and vegetation positively modified issues up in your life. And I assumed you possibly can simply give us the brief model of that: You went from working in advertising at an enormous company to uh-oh [laughter].
August: Yeah, completely. I at all times had vegetation. It was at all times a pastime of mine like so many different folks. And within the pandemic, I had a variety of free time like all people else. And so my advertising mind started working and I began promoting vegetation to my buddies, after which that become an internet site, after which that become an Instagram account. After which 20,000 followers later and two shops later and 6 years later, right here we’re. It simply snowballed for lack of a greater phrase.
Margaret: Yeah. And also you additionally do landscaping of all of the issues. I imply, in addition to the indoor, in addition to the houseplant enterprise—which is, as I stated, not simply retail in individual in Manhattan in two places, but in addition mail-order—you additionally do landscaping stuff for folks, I feel.
August: We do. And the story goes, I used to be gardening in my mother’s entrance yard in 2020 and planting some hydrangeas, that are nonetheless there as we speak. And the neighbor walked throughout the road and stated, “Oh my gosh, these are so stunning. Can I pay you to try this in my yard?” [Laughter.] And she or he was my first paying buyer.
And so it actually was born out of form. I imply, there was no skilled education. I didn’t research horticulture; I simply type of discovered on the fly. And it’s a blessing, as a result of not many individuals simply fall into one thing that they love. But it surely’s been a very superb couple of years, and I feel it was slightly little bit of the proper time in the proper place. But it surely’s superb to work with vegetation daily.
Margaret: Yeah. Properly, I think you and your workers—I feel after we spoke earlier than you advised me there have been 16 or 17 folks on the staff now between the 2 shops and the remainder of the enterprise—I think you guys are matchmakers for folks and vegetation. That individuals are available in or electronic mail or name type of asking for recommendation on “What plant is correct for me?” form of. Is that a part of the equation? [Photo above in the shop by Ngoc Minh Ngo.]
August: That’s exactly what occurs. And we do a variety of back-and-forth query and reply with folks after they are available in or after they attain out to us, as a result of I discover it so humorous: Individuals are available in they usually ask such a generic query like, “What’s the finest plant for a bed room?” And we’ve to say, “Properly, what’s the situation? What are the situations of your bed room? Is there a window? Is it north-facing? Is it south-facing?”
And so we find yourself asking the shopper many extra questions than they ask us, as a result of it’s so situational. Not each room is similar. And as , vegetation require such completely different fundamental components of care, like mild and water and even humidity. And so we’re discovering out the life-style and the surroundings of the shopper to make it possible for the plant that they in the end go dwelling with is correct for them.
After which there’s the added aspect of the design aspect, which I feel we’ll get to. However the very first layer is, is that this plant going to reside? [Laughter.] In order that’s the place we begin with the shopper.
Margaret: Yeah. And I think about that lots of people are drawn, and as I stated once more within the introduction, they’ve seen such-and-such on Instagram or no matter, they usually’ve bought to have one, however they don’t know something about it.
August: Sure. That occurs typically. And a few of these vegetation that we see on Instagram are happily or sadly staged. They’re put there for {a photograph}, and that’s completely positive. It makes for stunning artwork, stunning pictures. And it may be troublesome and difficult generally to confess that info to prospects who need that look without end of their front room.
And so we’ve developed a pair methods to assist. We provide automated develop lights that activate at evening in order to not disturb you in the course of the day, that preserve vegetation which may want much more mild in a room that has no home windows. So there are methods that we’ve found out the right way to put one thing the place it might not often need to be, with automated watering methods like a sub-irrigation liner or these automated develop lights. So we’ve developed through the years a pair methods to counteract that staged picture form of plant factor.
But it surely’s an funding. How many individuals have you learnt have develop lights and watering methods on timers of their New York Metropolis residence? I imply, it’s not so widespread.
Margaret: Proper. Or need to go that far.
August: Proper. For the look.
Margaret: As a result of there’s a dedication, there’s an expense, there’s all these completely different layers. And the opposite factor I might think about is that, as an illustration, one plant that involves thoughts in recent times, Monstera with their huge, often-variegated, Swiss-cheesy form of fabulous leaves and so forth, they have been like all over the place. However does anyone know who craves one what its eventual progress behavior and measurement is of that plant? That plant doesn’t need to be tiny, does it? [Laughter.]
August: No, it doesn’t. And it’s named like a monster for a cause. [Laughter.] We get numerous inquiries from individuals who have had Monsteras for years they usually say, “Oh my gosh, what did I do to this plant? Why does it look so loopy lopsided? Why doesn’t it look so cute and fairly prefer it does on Instagram or prefer it did once I purchased it? ” And we push again to the shopper and say, “You’re doing superb. Look how extremely this plant has grown. It simply must be staked up, as a result of it desires to develop upwards. It’s falling over out of the pot that you’ve as a result of it’s truly not meant to develop in soil within the floor. It’s meant to climb up a trunk of a tree in a rainforest.”
There’s fairly a little bit of training that we do to those who we work with, as a result of vegetation are offered commercially to be in pots in your own home, however within the wild, that’s not precisely what they need.
Margaret: Yeah. No, it’s actually true. So then in addition to folks coming in and saying, “I desire a plant for my bed room,” and you then say, “Properly, what’s your bed room like?” and people kinds of particulars of constructing a superb match, how a lot does trendiness—like what we’re speaking about with folks have seen the Monstera or have seen one other stylish plant—how a lot does trendiness determine in? Do you hear loads about, “Oh, I noticed this,” or, “Oh, I’ve bought to have that.” Is {that a} huge factor? And do you comply with plant tendencies? I imply, you will need to comply with plant tendencies.
August: Completely. I imply, it’s form of humorous, and I discover it to be actually attention-grabbing. Crops completely with certainty undergo tendencies in the identical manner that music and style and tv and movies undergo fashionable tendencies and tradition, decade over decade. And within the 2010s, within the millennial houseplant increase, it wasn’t simply the Monstera, it was the fiddle-leaf fig. Each single individual wanted to have a fiddle-leaf fig. [Laughter.] It was like that was the plant.
And I’m positive many individuals do not forget that as a result of that type of crept exterior of the plant world. It was like should you have been only a individual with a room or the place you lived, you wanted to have a fiddle-leaf fig. And in order that pattern has type of pale slightly bit. And I feel what all people’s saying now’s we wish a plant that’s simpler than a fiddle-leaf fig, as a result of I bear in mind so many individuals saying, “I purchased my fiddle-leaf fig and 30 days later it had no leaves on it as a result of it bought burdened and it dropped each single leaf.” And so now there’s this concept that that plant was too arduous.
And so there’s a better model of the fiddle-leaf fig that’s in all probability certainly one of our best-selling vegetation. It’s known as a Ficus ‘Audrey’ [photo below, by Ngoc Minh Ngo] and it’s a cousin of the fiddle-leaf fig, it’s what we are saying. And it’s a lot simpler. It doesn’t drop all of its leaves in a disturbing interval.
Margaret: And it’s form of like Audrey like a girl’s title or-?
August: Yeah, Audrey like Audrey Hepburn. So should you’re available in the market for an enormous Ficus tree, I might advocate a Ficus ‘Audrey.’
In order that they actually undergo tendencies. I might say within the 2020s it’s nonetheless the black olive tree that’s the plant that we get requested essentially the most, which is form of counter to what I simply stated about folks wanting a better tree, as a result of the black olive tree has a popularity for being very, very, I don’t need to say troublesome, however excessive upkeep. If it’s in the proper situations, it thrives. But when it’s not, you’ll find yourself with a stick. So there’s actually tendencies.
Margaret: So the black olive, and I don’t know the right way to pronounce the genus as a result of I’ve by no means heard anybody say it: Bucida.
August: Yeah, Bucida. Yeah.
Margaret: So it’s not an olive olive. It’s known as black olive, but it surely’s not an olive.
August: Appropriate.
Margaret: I noticed in your web site, I feel it was, I feel you truly do have some actual olive timber although, don’t you? [Laughter.]
August: We do. Sure. And we advocate that true Mediterranean olive timber are exterior for the summer time after which inside for the winter. That’s actually how they’re going to thrive the most effective, form of like a lemon tree or a lime tree. However truly we do have some purchasers who preserve them indoors year-round they usually truly reside. Once more, with the proper situations, the proper spot, something will reside, but it surely’s very depending on the surroundings.
Margaret: So going again although to the black olive [photo above, by Ngoc Minh Ngo], which isn’t an actual olive, it’s develop into fashionable, or wanted; it’s not fashionable as in it’s not on the huge field retailer kind of fashionable; it’s alternative. And so it has a really… I don’t know, how would you describe it? It has a particular look as soon as it’s grown.
August: It does. Yeah. At any time when anyone asks about it and their care and what it even appears to be like like, I say to them form of cheekily, “Overlook the whole lot about houseplants. This factor is totally completely different from something you’ve ever had.” It has this unbelievable geometric progress behavior. Should you have a look at the department construction from beneath, it appears to be like like a calculus; I imply, it appears to be like like a math components. The best way that the branches develop are zigzag, they develop horizontally out from the trunk. It’s nearly like an enormous bonsai tree and the leaves are-
Margaret: I used to be going to say it has a bonsai really feel to it, as if somebody had prompted it to make this take this form, but it surely does it naturally.
August: Appropriate. Yeah. It does it totally naturally, particularly when it’s very younger. When it’s a mature tree planted within the floor and it’s 50 ft tall, it type of loses that form. However as a younger tree, like a stem, it has this very horizontal progress behavior. And what I feel folks love about it’s that the leaves are so small and delicate that whenever you put it in entrance of a window, which is the place it actually desires to be, you possibly can nonetheless see by way of it, and the sunshine nonetheless comes by way of it into the room. Whereas should you put an enormous Ficus tree with large leaves within the window, it soaks up all the sunshine, which is what it desires, and that’s why the leaves are so huge, however it could detract from the valuable mild that comes right into a New York Metropolis residence. And so there’s this very, very delicate aspect to the tree that I feel is what persons are after.
Margaret: Attention-grabbing. And so it positively desires a variety of mild, much more mild than lots of our residences or in lots of instances generally properties have. Yeah, you possibly can’t put that one in a nook of the bed room with slightly north-facing mild. [Laughter.]
August: Appropriate. You’ll be able to’t. However going again to what I stated slightly bit earlier, we’ve some folks and a few inside designers who’ve devoted the darkish nook of the room for a tree. And so what can we do? We’ve to both discover a tree or a plant that may tolerate that restricted quantity of sunshine, or if it must be a black olive tree or one other plant that requires a variety of mild, we’ll arrange a develop mild from beneath. And so we’ve to search out the best way to make it work.
And the opposite factor concerning the black olive tree is it’s extremely thirsty. It grows alongside riverbanks. It’s mainly a swamp plant. I imply, it could tolerate being in standing water. And so for this reason I say to folks, overlook the whole lot a few houseplant as a result of another plant for essentially the most half that’s sitting in standing water won’t prefer it.
Margaret: The roots rot. They’d rot.
August: This plant, that’s what it desires. It’s so thirsty. It would simply drink and drink and drink. And so the opposite consideration for this tree is do you’ve gotten the time to dedicate to watering it nearly daily? And in order that’s one other aspect to consider when selecting not simply this plant, however any plant, is how a lot time will I’ve to spend caring for? What do I’ve to do to maintain it alive?
Margaret: In order that one’s form of trending in the mean time, would you say?
August: It’s.
Margaret: That’s one which’s fascinating in the mean time?
August: It’s. And it’s throughout “Architectural Digest.” I’ve seen it within the Restoration {Hardware} catalog, when it’s staged for furnishings or picture shoots. So it’s actually all over the place. It has this look to it. And we’ve it. We’ve them in our retailer. We promote them typically and we’re very forthcoming concerning the look after them. We’re not going to maintain that info from any person who desires this tree. We’ll say, “Hey, it’s excessive upkeep. It could not work in your area.” And many individuals are O.Ok. to only attempt, see what occurs.
Margaret: I don’t have any stylish houseplants. I’m so old-fashioned. I’ve grandma vegetation, ones I actually inherited from my grandmother, so vegetation which are, I don’t know, 80 years outdated or one thing that she had for 1,000,000 years. So I’ve Clivias, as an illustration.
August: It’s superb. I really like that.
Margaret: Oh yeah. No, they’re nice. And the one huge plant that she had is now many, many huge vegetation truly in pots so huge and so heavy that they in all probability weigh as a lot as I do [laughter]. They’re giants.
However at any charge, after which the opposite vegetation that I’ve by no means have been stylish, as a result of they’re type of uncommon issues. They’re uncommon issues that, as a result of I used to be within the garden-writing enterprise and no matter, uncommon plant buddies and different plant nerds would say, “Oh, you’ve bought to do that.” One thing that’s obscure. So I’ve by no means had a fiddle-leaf fig when it was in, or a Monstera when it was in or, what I imply? So it’s attention-grabbing to me.
August: Properly, I feel that the vegetation that folks have been cultivating for 80 years and longer, they’re a testomony to the vegetation which are just like the staples, the foundations. For instance, a Christmas cactus or an Easter cactus or any of these blooming cacti that they do.
Margaret: And people are ones that may keep without end in your life.
August: Precisely, precisely. In order that they’re a testomony to vegetation that simply work which are timeless. They don’t go out and in of favor, they simply reside. Sure. It’s attention-grabbing.
Margaret: It’s attention-grabbing. And Sansevieria are nonetheless round. These have been houseplants “without end,” it looks like.
So I needed to transition slightly bit and say among the questions I wager you’re requested, identical to I’m as a backyard author. I’m requested the identical questions again and again. Are there best hits of houseplant questions? And particularly proper now, are there those that you just hear over and once more that you just need to get throughout the reply to folks to assist them essentially the most type of?
August: Yeah. Properly, a pair issues. I might say daily I get requested the next query: “I’ve a toilet with no home windows. What plant can I put in it?”
And I simply need to remind those who vegetation reside issues they usually survive off of daylight and water. And if you will put a plant someplace with no home windows, it’s not going to reside. There are some vegetation that may take longer to die than others, like a snake plant or a ZZ plant or a cactus, however they are going to die in a room with no home windows.
And so I feel, once more, it goes again to only the training of this enterprise. I discover it humorous that I’ve to remind those who vegetation are alive they usually want daylight. So simply do not forget that even… I say typically, even when there’s a sliver of a window in a room someplace, there’s a plant that may tolerate that quantity of sunshine. But when there’s nothing, then sadly we’re out of luck right here.
Margaret: And we might arrange, as you stated, one of many lights, however someplace like a toilet, which may not be the factor to be doing.
August: Proper, precisely. And the opposite factor in the same vein is persons are so enthusiastic about succulents and cacti as a result of they’ve this popularity that they’re really easy they usually’re so hands-off they usually don’t want something. And whereas which may be true by way of water, I feel it’s gotten slightly bit misplaced as a result of folks say, “Oh, a succulent or a cactus doesn’t want something. I’m going to place it within the room with no home windows.” So it form of will get mistaken for one thing that simply lives prefer it’s like a statue. However I remind folks succulents and cacti develop within the desert the place there’s no shade. They like full daylight.
Margaret: Tons of sunshine.
August: And tons and tons of sunshine. And it’s so humorous as a result of folks’s eyes widen they usually say, “Oh my gosh, I by no means considered that. ” And it’s simply humorous to me how typically that occurs. I feel generally the advertising of houseplants will get in the best way of the particular origins of them.
Margaret: And we’ve seen them nearly like floral preparations offered alongside them. It’s like, “Right here’s slightly present for a centerpiece. Use this succulent.” Have you learnt what I imply? Completely. And as soon as they grew to become equated or parallel to that, a hostess present or a centerpiece, we expect it’s disposable. We don’t take into consideration aftercare, proper? [Photo above in the shop, by Ngoc Minh Ngo.]
August: Proper, proper. Completely.
Margaret: Yeah. Yeah. So another questions that you really want simply within the final minute or two that you just need to share?
August: I feel what I’m about to say might in all probability be a subject of its personal totally [laughter]. However the different factor that comes together with plant care isn’t just daylight and water, however pest management and pest care, which isn’t simply distinctive to indoor. It after all is an out of doors backyard challenge as nicely. However indoors, there’s no climate, there’s no rain, there’s no pure components, there’s no different helpful pests that may management these. So it’s on us because the caretakers for vegetation to do some pest management.
And we’ve folks are available in on a regular basis who get very upset that their plant has fungus gnats or the plant has aphids or scale or mealybugs. And we remind those who this can be a regular a part of plant care. You’ve a dwelling factor and pests are drawn to vegetation. And so it’s a pure a part of having a plant is eliminating these pests, and there’s a variety of methods to do it.
Margaret: And staying out forward of being observant and vigilant in order that it doesn’t develop into infested with scale bugs, however that you just see the primary ones taking place and go, “Uh-oh, I’m going to get forward of it. I’ve to get out forward of it.”
August: Sure. And I feel particularly right here in New York Metropolis the place all people lives in confined small areas for essentially the most half, every time there’s a bug of any form, all people will get upset [laughter]. And so there’s slightly bit of injury management that we’ve to do.
Margaret: Properly, August Laska of The Outdated Yew Plant Store, or outlets, as a result of there are two of them—as I stated, you do mail order and stuff too, so uh-oh. However thanks for making time. And let’s positively within the fall do a houseplant pest factor, as a result of that may very well be type of a preventive and vigilance factor; that might be actually useful for lots of us. Thanks.
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MY WEEKLY public-radio present, rated a “top-5 backyard podcast” by “The Guardian” newspaper within the UK, started its seventeenth yr in March 2026. It’s produced at Robin Hood Radio, the smallest NPR station within the nation. Pay attention regionally within the Hudson Valley (NY)-Berkshires (MA)-Litchfield Hills (CT) Mondays at 8:30 AM Jap, rerun at 8:30 Saturdays. Or play the July 20, 2026 present utilizing the participant close to the highest of this transcript. You’ll be able to subscribe to all future editions on iTunes/Apple Podcasts or Spotify (and browse my archive of podcasts right here).
