The Garden Museum’s annual Houseplant Festival is back! And this year we're delving into the world of propagation; with workshops, talks and more so visitors can master the hack for growing new houseplants on a budget.
Whether you’re a cactus collector, an alocasia admirer, a fern fan or partial to a pilea, you’ll find something special to add to your houseplant hoard at this weekend-long celebration of the indoor jungle.
Meet your favourite online houseplant experts, pick up tips for propagating your precious greenery in daily workshops, bring an offering for the free plant swap hosted by London Terrariums, attend a talk given by the Barbican Conservatory’s Head Gardener, or just enjoy some plant shopping from our curated selection of stalls.
Stalls will include a curated selection of plant shops for all your urban jungle needs – from sustainably grown plants of all sizes, succulents, cacti, flowers and orchids, to design-led handmade pots, terrariums, planters and hangers, artisan horticultural ephemera, tools and more.
Programme
Saturday 22 October
11am – Free Plant Swap hosted by London Terrariums
Bring along your potted plants, propagations and cuttings to swap with fellow houseplant fanatics. Sign up and label your plants from 10am, ready to start swapping at 11am. It’s free to sign up, all we ask is that you bring a plant.
2pm – Propagation with Jane Perrone | £35
Book tickets
Learn the basics of houseplant propagation in this hands-on workshop, including the basic botany of vegetative and sexual reproduction in plants, and how to increase your collection via cuttings and sowing seed.
3.30pm – Terrarium making with Plant Designs | £60
Book tickets
The Plant Designs terrarium making workshop will teach you all the tips and tricks to make your own beautiful miniature garden within a glass jar.
Our plant experts guide you through the process step by step with detailed demonstrations before helping you to create a mini biome, complete with layers of earth, stone, and greenery. Make it your own style using the choice of materials and take it home to enjoy for years to come.
Sunday 23 October
11am – Marta Lowcewicz, Head Gardener at the Barbican Conservatory | £6
Book tickets
Join Marta Lowcewicz, Head Gardener at Barbican Conservatory, on an exciting journey through the eccentric world of rare and unusual houseplants. Discover the challenges of growing houseplants in a glasshouse conservatory, find firm favourites, or long forgotten gems.
Marta has an MSc in Horticulture, and more than 15 years of horticultural experience behind her. Alongside the gardening team, Marta has been creating and developing the unique and quirky plant collection at Barbican Conservatory for past 13 years.
2pm – Propagation with Fay Davies | £35
Book tickets
Growing a whole new plant from just a section of leaf or piece of stem has got to be one of the most fascinating things about plants. In this propagation crash course, we will show you how to turn your plant shelfie into a full indoor jungle – covering lots of fascinating intricate techniques and secrets of plant propagation, Fay will show us how to take leaf petiole, leaf lamina and node cuttings and the best tools to use.
3.30pm – Indoor Ecosystems with James Wong | £10
Book tickets
Join botanist and award-winning garden designer James Wong as he reveals how understanding the Victorian colonial origins of terrariums, and the biology of rainforests, can make you a terrarium-design pro. Busting social media myths and explaining some straight-forward plant science, James will be sharing all his secrets behind making mini ecosystems indoors.
Film Screening – Home Plant House Movie
Various times
Home Plant House Movie is a short film by West Midlands based artist Adele Mary Reed. The work was commissioned in-between lockdowns in 2020 by mental health organisation and cultural hub The Pod, part of Coventry City Council, through their evolving ‘Dialogue’ programme. Using a home-movie style camcorder, the films sets out to explore the magic of living with houseplants.
Stalls
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Happy Place Homewares
Happy Place Homewares
Happy Place Homewares was born when a new hobby quickly got out of hand.
Combining a love of colour, design and plants we love to bring a little bit of joy from our happy place to yours.
We will be bringing a curated selection of homewares, planters & plants to the houseplant festival this year and can’t wait to see you all!
@happyplacehomewares -
Harriet's Plants
Harriet's Plants
Hello,
I’m Harriet and I founded Harriet’s Plants whilst studying plant science at the world-famous Eden Project in Cornwall. My passion for plants started with sowing and growing seeds, foraging hedgerows and getting my hands dirty. It really was that simple. It wasn’t long before I knew that I wanted to take this further and turn my dream of growing plants full-time, into a reality.
Since setting up my glasshouse in Lichfield, I am proud to say the business has flourished. I am a passionate, environmentally friendly grower and have put all my efforts into growing peat free, pesticide free, and plastic free houseplants for people all over the UK.
@harriets.plants -
L'Appartement
L'Appartement
L'Appartement is a specialised indoor plant business and shop in Peckham run by Franky and Symmy, two creatives who bring character and atmosphere by combining unique indoor plants with furniture, design and architecture, creating the ultimate green/urban lifestyle.
@lappartement.london -
London Terrariums
London Terrariums
London Terrariums started in 2014 as a terrarium making studio in South East London. Today they have a store on Tottenham Court Road as well as their original New Cross space, they specialise in bespoke terrariums and terrarium workshops, running these all over London and the South East.
@londonterrariums -
Niwaki
Niwaki
Niwaki brings the very best in Japanese design and craftsmanship, inspiring gardeners, chefs and craftsmen to do the stuff they love, even better.
We source and manufacture an extraordinary range of fine garden and woodworking tools, kitchen knives and outdoor gear, priding ourselves not only in the pleasure it brings our customers, but also the knowledge and enthusiasm we share with them.
Over the last ten years Niwaki has built up a loyal following, based ultimately around our core products: The Niwaki tripod ladder, hand forged secateurs and shears, the mighty Hori Hori, and our range of kitchen knives.
So raise your Hori Hori to the skies and join us, embracing Japanese craftsmanship, design and culture.
Find out more at www.niwaki.com @niwaki.hq
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Plant Designs
Plant Designs
Plant Designs is a Farringdon-based shop selling a beautifully curated range of indoor plants, pots, and accessories. Whether you want to transform your home into a jungle or are looking for a thoughtful gift, Plant Designs is the perfect place to browse, seek inspiration, and get helpful advice from our team of expert horticulturists.
@plantdesignsldn -
Succulent Garden
Succulent Garden
Succulent Garden specialise in rare and unusual varieties of succulents. We grow succulents and create bespoke succulent arrangements.
@succulentgarden_uk -
Travel Cafe
Travel Cafe
The Travel Café is a small independent coffee shop with a carefully curated houseplant collection. We also provide a variety of unique small group workshops for travellers.
Our easy-to-care-for houseplant collection in the cafe initially began on a small scale in early 2016 to bring a calm and relaxed atmosphere into our space. Over time, more and more customers started to ask if our plants were for sale.
Our team decided to go with the flow. Redesigned our cafe space into an urban jungle and introduced a diverse range of indoor plants. Our greenery collection has gained its popularity quickly and is much loved by our local customers.
We now have a dedicated team of indoor plant specialists and they are helping new plant parents to bring nature into their urban home and share the daily rituals of caring for plants.
If you live or work in our neighbourhood, The Travel Café is a perfect hideaway from the hustle-and-bustle of London and reconnect yourself with nature for a moment. You are always welcome to pop in, take a coffee break, wander around and get inspired.
We also provide small group botanical workshops, email us at hello@travel.cafe, if you’d like to join the creative retreat.
Instagram @thetravelcafe @urbanplant.store
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Ugly Plantling
Ugly Plantling
"Jewel orchids" (occasionally also called marble orchids or filigree orchids) are a collective term used for terrestrial orchids that tend to grow on the forest floor throughout the tropics and sub-tropics at various levels of elevation, depending on the species. They are generally known and kept for their gloriously dark and sparkly leaves (like little jewels really!), with veins that look like streaks of lightning or gold/rose gold filigree.
There are literally hundreds of jewel orchid species, selected cultivars and hybrids these days, although most people wouldn't know this. Many of these types of jewel orchids need special conditions to grow well and thrive, and so not all of these are suitable for cultivation.
At Ugly Plantling, we trial a LOT of jewel orchids ourselves first before we offer to you the ones that can thrive in their forever home with only a little bit of extra care. All our jewel orchids are uniquely selected cultivar or hybrids or clones propagated through tissue culture and never taken from the wild in any part of the world.
As passionate indoor gardeners ourselves, we want to enable houseplant enthusiasts to discover the joys of growing some seriously unusual and rare low maintenance jewel orchids that with only a little extra care can absolutely thrive in your home! -
Yolly
Yolly
Yolly is a tiny but beautiful flower shop in south east London selling illustrations, pressed flowers, plants, terracotta pots, dried flowers, bespoke seasonal British grown flowers, botanical books, ceramics. Haeckels products and soon to stock Japanese scissors.
@yolandachiamarello
