The Morning: Meet the hot new houseplant

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April 16, 2022

By Melissa Kirsch

Good morning. A new "It" plant is here, if you can keep it alive.

Pamela Guest

Garden varieties

The nine trailing succulents hanging in my living room are doing fine, not as well as I'd have hoped given the amount of time I spend watering, not watering, pruning and gazing at them. They were supposed to be easy plants: lovers of light, and if not impervious to neglect, then certainly not so fussy that I, a yardless and clueless city dweller, couldn't keep them healthy.

And yet. I don't attempt to grow succulents because they're trendy, although they are, but because they're the only plants I've been able to keep alive over multiple seasons. Is my head turned by the latest "It" plant, the purple-black lacquered stunner Geogenanthus ciliatus, known as Geo, that's allegedly poised to grace the hottest (but not too hot — Geos prefer indirect sunlight) windowsills near me? Sure it is. But when your horticultural résumé is littered with as many fiddle-leaf fig carcasses as mine, you'll think twice before going all in on the next big thing.

Successfully cultivating a garden of impressive plants accords bragging rights. "It's like your kids got accepted to an Ivy League college — they're doing well," one plant blogger told my colleague, Katie Van Syckle.

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree!" a proud "It"-plant cultivator might gloat. But what does a plant collection charitably described as "alive" say about the gardener, the "plant parent"?

If any home décor scheme is worth aspiring to, then the indoor jungle, the frond-heavy and sun-bleached tableaux that proliferates on Instagram and in design magazines, has always seemed the most virtuous, the most life affirming. I try not to see my plants' failures to thrive as proof that I'm insufficiently nurturing. The pursuit of a home garden, no matter how anemic the plants, seems generative unto itself. To be oriented toward growing, to populating space with living things, is to declare an intention for abundance, for a lush and fruitful life.

Have tips for keeping houseplants healthy? Drop me a line.

For More

Meet the TikTok plant-fluencer Garden Marcus.
Wirecutter staff members' favorite plants (and how they keep them alive).
From 2016: "How the Fiddle-Leaf Fig Became the 'It' Plant of the Design World."

WEEKENDS ARE FOR …

👯 Dance: Catch the finale of the Dance Salad festival in Houston.

🎭 Theater: American power brokers are onstage in London.

🍿 Movies: "Paris, 13th District" is a Times critic's pick.

THE WEEK IN CULTURE

The band Sparks has asked its fans to wear masks at concerts.Emma Mcintyre/Getty Images

The Coachella festival is back for the first time in three years, kicking off an uncertain concert season.
Simone Ashley, who plays Kate Sharma in the second season of "Bridgerton," spoke to The Times about chemistry on set and representation onscreen.
Gilbert Gottfried turned shocking jokes and "Howard Stern" appearances into something of an art form. He died at 67.
Britney Spears announced that she was pregnant with her first child with Sam Asghari, whom she referred to as her husband.
Netflix fired the actor Frank Langella, 84, from the mini-series "The Fall of the House of Usher" after a misconduct investigation.
Mentions of a gay relationship were cut from the Chinese release of the new "Fantastic Beasts" movie — impairing the plot, the Guardian reports.
Chloë Sevigny, Cory Kennedy and others honored downtown poets at a gala in the East Village.
The "Saturday Night Live" star Colin Jost took a ride on the Staten Island ferryboat he bought with castmate Pete Davidson.

THE LATEST NEWS

Ukrainian forces pulled an abandoned Russian tank from a field west of Kyiv on Friday.David Guttenfelder for The New York Times

Russia warned the U.S. to stop supplying advanced weapons to Ukraine or face unspecified "unpredictable consequences." Follow our updates.
The war's shift to more rural eastern Ukraine will change the nature of the combat, the weapons and the strategies that might bring victory.
The sinking of the Russian vessel the Moskva was the most significant loss for any navy in four decades.
Twitter countered Elon Musk's takeover attempt by carrying out a "poison pill" strategy invented to repel corporate raiders.
The New York subway shooting suspect had racked up disputes and petty offenses over decades of drifting between the East Coast and the Midwest.

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REAL ESTATE

Clockwise from left: Showcase Photographers; Andre Van Rensburg for Ocean Sotheby's International Realty; Courtesy of Richard Vizzini

What you get for $2.2 million: A Victorian owned by an HGTV host in Nashville; a house in Key West, Fla.; or a log cabin in East Durham, N.Y.

The hunt: Two first-time buyers took a budget of up to $700,000 to Queens. Which option would you choose? Play our game.

The holdout: How a lone tenant is holding up a $70 million condo deal in Manhattan.

Market cooling: Mortgage costs have jumped. With higher rates come fewer offers.

In the garden: Wasp-friendly plants are a good idea. (Really!)

FOOD

Aloo anday, spicy scrambled eggs and potatoes.David Malosh for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.

Easter brunch: These 16 recipes require little fuss.

Veggie pasta any way: Five techniques can create many produce-based meals.

A zippy take: Tangy salsa verde works magic with leeks and mild fish fillets.

Brunch cocktails: Venture beyond the Bloody Mary.

Closing time: Forlini's, a beloved red-sauce restaurant in New York's Chinatown, has served its last clams casino.

LIVING

Dolly Faibyshev for The New York Times

Over it: Some Peloton fans are done with the home bike workout.

Coveted invitation: Some Jews are still looking for a Passover Seder to join.

Who needs a nightclub? Some New Yorkers are socializing with shuffleboard and Guess Who.

A pink parade: The rise of LoveShackFancy.

Safe sex: S.T.I.s are on the rise. Here's what to know about tests and prevention.

GAME OF THE WEEKEND

Kevin Durant, right, and the Nets face a tough defense in Boston.Steven Senne/Associated Press

Brooklyn Nets vs. Boston Celtics, N.B.A. playoffs: When the season started, the Nets' three superstars seemed destined for a championship. But one, Kyrie Irving, missed much of the year because he wouldn't get vaccinated, and another, James Harden, left the team in a trade. The Nets barely made the playoffs. The Celtics have had the opposite trajectory, starting the season poorly but finishing as the league's hottest team (with its best defense). Now that Irving is back, there's a chance this playoff series becomes another memorable entry in the New York-Boston sports rivalry. Game 1 is at 3:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday, on ABC.

NOW TIME TO PLAY

The pangram from yesterday's Spelling Bee was actuality. Here is today's puzzle — or you can play online.

Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines.

Here's today's Wordle. If you're in the mood to play more, find all our games here.

Before You Go …

Did you move to New York during the pandemic? Tell us about it.
Listen to Maggie Rogers's latest single, "That's Where I Am."
Cirrostratus or cirrocumulus? Check out the International Cloud Atlas.

Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa

Claire Moses, Ian Prasad Philbrick, Tom Wright-Piersanti, Ashley Wu and Sanam Yar contributed to The Morning. You can reach the team at themorning@nytimes.com.