As the pandemic has raged over the last year, it isn’t just sourdough that’s been getting Instagram closeups. Thriving gardens and show stopping houseplants have been a common sight on social networks as people all across the country show off their newfound green thumbs.
But what is it about those activities in particular that people turned to? Why would growing carrots or filling your apartment with so many house plants it resembles the Amazon rainforest be an attractive thing to do during a pandemic? That’s something experts in psychology are trying to figure out, but they have some theories.
A blossoming interest in plants
The evidence that people have been more interested in plants and gardening over the last year is everywhere.
Seed companies sold out of many varieties that they normally offer and packages that might ship over a period of days took weeks as companies were overwhelmed with orders. Some websites even had to shut down for a period of time to focus on fulfilling their current seed orders.
It wasn’t just seeds that were quickly snapped up, but also nursery stock.
Plants such as echeverias, cacti, calatheas, ferns and air plants are much harder to find, said Brian Thorson, the Botanical Curator for California State University Long Beach who runs the greenhouses where plants are grown for research and instructional purposes at the university.
He said that many of the plants he would normally be able to find at nurseries are increasingly difficult…
