For housemates Melanie Umbaugh and Sarah Root, a 4-by-3 foot poster of a cactus in the middle of their living room was not enough to create the green space they desired. After obtaining about 45 plants, however, they are feeling more at home.
Though some students do successfully care for a few plants in their dorm room as underclassmen, the freedom of living off-campus inspires many students to explore their green thumb.
Emily Pauley, a junior studying linguistics, said she maintains between 35 and 40 plants, mainly succulents or desert plants, which stem from the same family as cacti.
But if people step into her home, they will also find some unusual grows not normally seen in an Ohio climate. Pauley is attempting to grow a naranjilla tree, which is similar to an orange tree, but so far the tree has not produced any fruit, Pauley said. Pauley said she is more interested in the thrill of experimentation.
Other varieties in her collection include a jade plant, multiple aloe plants, a tea plant and an especially peculiar plant — a “sensitive plant” called mimosa
(My home is) certainly less boring than it would be. It just makes me happy,” Pauley said. “I love all the green.”
Pauley said her roommate is now getting into collecting plants as well, picking up plants that catch her eye from various local growers.
“Plus it’s a good conversation piece whenever guests come over,” Pauley said. “They have a lot of questions or I just force knowledge on them — which is fun for me.”
Jeff Risner, Athens City Council 2nd Ward, enjoys the challenge of growing carnivorous plants that require a little more care. Growing both temperate and tropical carnivorous plants, Risner has figured out ways to replicate the specific environments that the 60 different species he grows need to flourish.
“Just because they’re tropical doesn’t mean their conditions are steamy-jungle,” Risner said. “Some are mountain forests, others are low-level, near the equator valleys where the temperatures are much higher. So, they vary quite a bit.”
Using glass tanks under grow-lights or his 8 by
“I’ve always been interested in natural science, nature, evolution and just the whole idea of (plants) sort of acting like an animal, it’s something that attracted me,” Risner said. “It’s a pretty fascinating subject so the more I got into it, the more I got into it.”
Umbaugh, a junior studying theater, and Root, a junior studying environmental geography, like Pauley, also keep mainly succulents because of the
“People walk by all the time and they tell us, ‘We love your plants!’ and it’s just a cool thing,” Root said.
Having such a display on their porch, however, has left Root and Umbaugh vulnerable to plant-theft recently.
“I had a garlic plant that was hanging up there, (and) someone completely stole it last night,” Root said. “I mean, I guess people are drunk and stupid.”
Madeline Stecz, an alumna living in Athens who graduated in the spring and studied sociology, loves keeping plants, many of which she displays in front of her home. She also experienced an ongoing problem with a neighbor messing with her plants. This time, however, the culprit had four paws.
“There was this cat around here that was coming up to my plants and taking them out of the pots,” Stecz said. “I was like ‘What is going on? Leave my plants alone!’ So sometimes I’ll bring them inside just because of that.”
Feline thieves have not stopped Stecz from lining her porch with her plants, though.
“I think it just, like, makes you appreciate nature so much,” Stecz said. “There’s so much that goes into it that you would never think about. … They just make me really happy.”
