EMS for House Plants
Britain’s have a unique hospital is now open—where the “patients” are houseplants. Some are “put on drips” and some may go into quarantine, but all get the same loving care from Rosanna Costello, who started the business to help customers keep their indoor plants alive. The Hilda Houseplant Hospital allows horticulturalists, whatever the level of expertise, to drop off their plants for ‘surgery’, which may include repotting, pest removal, or even a liquid drip. Rosanna remembers going into plant shops where she could buy compost and repotting accessories for doing it yourself. Even though she knew how to do it, she still wanted advice and someone who knew better, to help avoid pitfalls. “I’d had this hospital idea from when I first got into houseplants, because that was what I had wanted, feedback to learn how to do it myself, which is why we run workshops – but the majority of people wanted it done for them and then aftercare advice.”
The Hospital’s most commonly treated plant is the monstera—a large, tropical plant which is notoriously tricky for new gardeners to maintain. “They are such a popular houseplant, but they can very easily go a bit wild if you don’t have them trained up a pole, or give them a good feeding,” she said. “We put them onto a moss pole to get them trained up—rather than out—so they’re not taking over people’s living rooms. We’re also giving them a really good cleaning, because they’ve got such beautiful big leaves.” Rosanna believes that houseplants are a key part of experiencing nature while living in cities, and she hopes to eventually open a second branch of Hilda somewhere new, helping more people to have happy plants. “I always think back to the pandemic, I think city living in flats makes people really need their houseplants to have a healthy home life.”
Rosanna says customers bring the plant into the shop and describe the issues they’re facing at a consultation, with care prices based on the size of the plant. She then quarantines the plant if pests are involved and repots and trims according to the client’s needs and living space, giving the plant one final clean before contacting the owner to let them know the ‘surgery’ has been a success. “They bring their plant in and we take a ‘patient history’ – essentially find out how long they’ve had it for, what they think might be wrong, and what they want to happen with it,” said Rosanna. “A lot of the time, people have pests and either don’t know they’ve got them, or they don’t know how to deal with them, so we’ve created our own unique quarantine and treatment system. “Once they’ve been repotted and trimmed, we feed them, give them a really good cleaning, and let the customer know they’re ready to collect. “There’s an awful lot of feelings and emotions attached to the houseplants that we see. When they come to collect them there’s so much relief and joy.”
House Plant Humor
The number one reason house plants die is OVER watering.
The number two reason is under watering.
Why do plants use photosynthesis?
So they can have a light snack.
I accidentally planted the wrong flowers in my garden:
Oopsie daisies.
It’s kind of silly we’re trying to turn plants into burgers.
Haven’t cows been doing that for like, forever?
September 21st Birthdays
1967 – Faith Hill, 1991 – Christian Serratos, 1981 – Karina Kapoor, 1981- Nicole Richie
1963 – Nick Knowles, 1950- Bill Murray, 1957 – Mark Levin, 1947 – Stephen King