If you want to bring some of the outdoors in and perk up your kitchen table, office, or bedroom, four of our favorite plant shops can help. Now’s the time to step up your greenery game.
Philo
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Specializing in local pottery and tough-to-find and tropical plants, Philo is your stop for rare and exotic treasures. Owner Savannah Chambers, who started collecting years ago, is a self-proclaimed “foliage person.” “I wanted to make harder-to-find species available at a local level,” she says. “I love the leaf differences, sizes, and species available.” Recently, customers have been on the lookout for rare aroids (some of which feature spiky, colorful flowers) and hoya (a climbing or sprawling evergreen shrub), which Chambers says are incredibly popular. And, of course, there are those that require not-so-much care, like pothos or hanging philodendron. “Both sell as soon as they hit the store,” she says. In early June, she moved her shop from Over-the-Rhine (shown here) to Newtown, taking over the former home of Just Q’in. 6901 Valley Ave., Newtown
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Leaf & Limb
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Looking for an eye-catching houseplant? An interesting tabletop cactus? Maybe a quirky planter in the shape of a head? For all of the above and more, look no further than Leaf & Limb on the Levee, which opened in May 2020. Cofounders Leah Couch and Jessica Sullivan are childhood besties whose mutual love of plants started as a casual hobby before evolving into a small business idea. “I had been into houseplants for many years,” Couch says. “I killed a lot, bought some more, and got better.” Couch used to dream of opening her own plant shop in the far-off future—maybe when she retired. But when she saw the perfect spot open up at Newport’s Bridgeview Box Park, her timeline quickly changed. At Leaf & Limb, shoppers can find indoor plants and goods from artists both local and global. Some of Couch’s favorite items in the shop are the “head planters”—especially the one shaped like Juno, the Roman goddess of love and marriage. With the right plant, the sprouting leaves or blooms can look like hair. 1 Levee Way, Bridgeview Box Park, Newport, (513) 886-7052
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Forage
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Sustainability and education are at the heart of Forage, a downtown plant shop with a simple motto: Plants for the people. “Through the building of our community, we also realized that there was a piece of the plant life that seemed to be missing: plant education,” says owner Jamie Fairman. “So we filled that void and made it part of our core values to always educate our community through our own experience with plant care.” Forage—which is connected to its sister store, sustainable goods and refillery shop Koko—specializes in houseplants and planters. It also creates custom projects, including large-scale rentals for conferences, festivals, and other events; home and office plant installations; and living walls for homes and offices. Those living walls, typically filled with moss or tropical foliage, vary in size from large-scale installations to smaller DIY projects. Pothos walls, Fairman says, are especially popular. 320 W. Fourth St., downtown, (513) 287-7867
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Photograph by Chris Pasion
The Budding Florist
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Bridal bouquets may be Ellie Wilke’s first love, but there’s plenty more in store for plant parents at the OTR florist’s brick-and-mortar location. While Wilke, who owns The Budding Florist, specializes in bountiful boho arrangements, she also has plenty of the standard house plant offerings in store, from easy-to-care-for ZZ plants to notoriously tricky fiddle leaf figs. Looking for flowers in a pinch? The Budding Florist also offers grab-and-go bouquets and a by-the-stem flower bar where you can let your creativity run wild. 1817 Elm St., Over-the-Rhine, (513) 562-7185
Photograph by Chris Pasion
Photograph by Chris Pasion
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