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Plant Trends

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Last week we visited the Maison & Objet design show in Paris, for yet another hunt of greenery. In January we spotted quite a few lush booths (read all about that here) and from reading all your messages, DMs, likes, shares and comments on our post then, we knew we had to go back for this September edition of Maison & Objet. So here we are: we found some new plant products, brands that used a lot of beautiful plants in their booth designs and we visited a lot of our favourite brands too. Let’s have a look at what we found!

First stop at the eclectic and colorful brand Ames Design that use botanical patterns in their crocheted macramé ames nido cushions, and have you seen their big black planters? They are handmade in Colombia and look so nice with the Banana, Dracaena, Aglaonema and the Rubber tree:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

How do you integrate plants in your booth (or home!) while keeping it stylish and not too wild: use rows of the same plants (Sansevieira or lavender) and line them up in a window sill, like in the beautiful booth of Danish design brand WOUD:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Wicker baskets and soft buckets can cover up simple plant pots, and these cachepots from Italian design brand Pijama do exactly that: they spice up simple planters and are made from neoprene and fabric. You do need to use a saucer, as the covers are not waterproof, but don’t they look cool? They come in metallic rose gold and funky patterns:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

The Pijama cachepots also come in a new trendy terrazzo design:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Hanging plants galore by Serax:

Light, soft and round plant pots in hand felted natural wool from Swedish brand Aveva Design that are treated with natural rubber on the inside to protect the wool. They also look really nice in a plant hanger!

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

A green wall with a dozen of Philodendron cordatum plants in glass bowls at Bolia that compliments the dark blue Posea bench in velvet.  

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Mini succulents and a dinosaur in a cluster of Favourite Things pendant lamps from Eno Studio:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

New woven bowls from recycled plastic on three sustainable cinnamon wooden feet, from Dutch brand Handedby:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

We’ve blogged about the Lucie Kaas GRO plant pots before (here!), as they are both stylish and practical. The plant pot is made of heavy ceramics in three different colourways: laurel oak, gun metal and red mahagony, and are placed on a mouth blown glass bowl in the same colour. The ceramic pot is unglazed at the bottom and has small holes which allow to soak up the water from the bowl and provide for the plant at all times. Clever!

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Maybe not the most stylish booth at Maison & Objet, but the setup of Dutch bedding brand Snurk made us laugh: a monkey bedding set screams for some tropical plants:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Our friends at Mama Petula worked at Maison & Objet while we prepared for our French #urbanjunglebook launch. They created a stunning wall of hanging plants in black macramé hangers, and also decorated the Milk Décoration café (with delicious food from Wild & The Moon!) with a large variety of plants:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris
Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Danish design brand WOUD presented their contemporary collection with a sleek use of houseplants, like ivy, Sansevieria, Boston ferns:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris
Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

The composition of 3 plants in the booth of Fest Amsterdam compliments the bright pale pink and black of the contemporary designs:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Three small and bigger Monstera deliciosa from Bolia give the flowery wallpaper an extra green vibe – plant-on-plant if you want so:

Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris
Plant Trends from Maison et Objet September 2017 in Paris

Patterns, cushions and a wild lawn to chill on, as seen at Marimekko:Not (yet) in our top eight of favourite plant stands, but we like these two cuties from Taiwanese brand Design Bite:

A lush #plantgang in big planters and on ENT plants stands at XL Boom (top image is also by XL Boom!):

We hope you enjoyed our green discoveries from the latest Maison & Objet show in Paris. What we enjoyed in particular is the fact that greens are still going strong – the plant trend is here to stay (but we all knew that, right?!).

Photography by Urban Jungle Bloggers

Categories
Event Urban Jungle Book

Urban Jungle Book Launch in Paris

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Almost one year after we launched our Urban Jungle book in English and German in the Botanical Garden in Munich, we were very happy to finally present our book in French! In the past months we received so many messages from French speaking plant lovers asking for our book in French, that we’re delighted that it’s finally here! We worked with the team of Editions Eyrolles to translate our book into French and make sure it would look pixel perfect. They did an excellent job and holding our book en français (and seeing it in French bookshops!) really makes our heart skip a beat. As you know, we both have a very special bond with France 😉

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris


Last Thursday we presented our book to French press and bloggers at the perfect Urban Jungle Bloggers location: Mama Petula, a botanical concept store in the 14th arrondissement in Paris. It’s a little bit off the beaten track, located on the site of a former hospital. Mama Petula is a green lush shop where you can find the most gorgeous selection of houseplants, plant accessories and garden plants… and our Urban Jungle book of course. If you’re lucky you may even be able to get a signed copy! 

Mama Petula opened their doors just for us! We were so excited to welcome our guests at this planty location, and see them impressed by all the greenery. Definitely a must-visit when you are in Paris. Please note that Mama Petula is only open on Saturdays and Sundays (check their Instagram to find out more about opening hours, as they may open during weekdays soon!). 

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris
Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

We spoilt our guests with delicious plant-based food from Wild & The Moon. Wild & the Moon is based on the simple belief that food should be good for you, good for the planet, and delicious. They go for wild, local, gluten-free, ethically sourced, seasonal and plant-based ingredients, that bring a little bit of nature in our busy lives. We took a few photos before the guests arrived, because this disappeared quickly, it was so yummy!

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

With the plant-based treats come plant-based drinks: all night we sipped evian fruits & plantes and their new evian x kusmi tea. For these new evian fruits & plants recipes, the world-renowned evian mineral water is mixed with lemon & elderflower, raspberry & verbena and raisin & rose, that create light and fresh drinks. The evian infused x kusmi is a remarkable mix of 95% evian mineral water with infusion kusmi tea and fruity, botanical and floral aromas. These new evian drinks are not too sugar-y, but have interesting flavours that come in cute little bottles:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Look how well our Urban Jungle book blends in with the planty decor at Mama Petula:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris
Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Our friends at Lovely Day Botanicals sponsored the event by providing some of their wonderful beauty products (that we wrote about earlier here), like the Coco Gloss hair serum and Mermaid After-Sun Spray. Lovely Day uses premium botanical oils and essences and fruit acids for their small but refined product range. Their beauty products are not only natural, they are also vegan. No animal products whatsoever find their way into their products, neither do perfumes, alcohol, nor any other synthetic ingredient.

Plantshelfie perfection:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

A few months ago we found out about GreenMa, a young French lifestyle brand that proposes organic and herbal teas and recently launched a range of artisanal soaps and candles with organic essential oils. And besides making delicious products that make you feel better, GreenMa also focuses on packaging with a low environmental impact. The teas and candles come in fumé glass bottles that are anti-UV as well, and refills are wrapped in craft paper. All our guests left with an artisanal GreenMa soap and the RELAX, DREAM and MAGIC candles made Mama Petula smell heavenly all night long!

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Lovely Day Botanicals Coco Gloss and Mermaid spray:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris
Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Yep, we are two very happy and proud authors:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Always happy to sign a copy of the Urban Jungle book:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Wild Dutch clover:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris
Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris
Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Mama Petula is open on Saturday and Sundays, but make sure to check their Instagram for updates!

On Saturday we had a second event in Paris for everyone that wanted to join: we hosted a plant hanger workshop at the beautiful Welcome Bio Bazar. A shop that specialises in bio and organic products for home and kitchen, in the same street as their organic grocery shop and restaurant. They also have a small café with the best chocolate cake we ever tasted and in the back you have a large corner with a selection of plants from Mama Petula. This is where our workshop took place:

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

In two rounds of workshops we knotted dozens of plant hangers and had a lot of fun. Plant hangers are such an easy way to decorate your home and create a nice dynamic in the room without taking up precious floor space. You can find the DIY instructions of the plant hanger (and more DIYs!) in our Urban Jungle book!

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris
Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

A big thank you to our publisher Eyrolles (and particularly to Julie, Géraldine, Camille and Eric) and Mama Petula for the dreamy location (merci beaucoup Zoé, Masami et Caroline !), GreenMa, Lovely Day Botanicals and evian for the planty products, Wild & The Moon for the delicious food, Welcome Bio Bazar (particularly Galyord, Rebecca and Julie) for hosting our workshop and to all the press and bloggers and plant lovers that made the launch of our French Urban Jungle Book into such a joyful celebration! Merci beaucoup !

Urban Jungle Bloggers #urbanjunglebook in French booklaunch at Mama Petula in Paris

Photography by Madame Love (photos 16-17-18-19) and Urban Jungle Bloggers

Categories
Botanical Art Planty Inspiration

Botanical Garden in Munich & Sweet Memories

botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book

Pretty much exactly one year ago the adventure kicked off: We launched our first Urban Jungle book in both German and English. The location of our book launch was perfect and dreamy: the botanical garden in Munich. Only one day before we launch our Urban Jungle book in French (tomorrow in Paris), we want to take you on a trip down memory lane and stroll the magic botanical garden in Munich with you. Our dear friend and fellow blogger Anastasia Benko recently revisited the botanical garden and took some magical photos for us. Come in and get enchanted!

botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book

The botanical garden in Munich is located in a leafy and beautiful suburban area called Nymphenburg. Adjacent to the namesake castle, the botanical garden stretches over more than 22 hectares and features 16 different sections. A vast outdoor garden invites the visitor to stroll and take a break on one of the benches, and a variety of greenhouses ignites botanical dreams the moment you step in. 

botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book

Anastasia has an incredible eye to capture details, light, moody moments. Through her lens you are truly transported into an enchanted botanical garden where plants thrive among fairytales, mysteries, and myths. Anastasia was also our guest during the book launch (and she hosted a flower workshop) and we all share the same dear moments of being there and celebrating the beauty and bounty of nature. 

botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book
botanical garden, Munich, Munich botanical garden, urban jungle book

The celebration will continue tomorrow and on Saturday in Paris: We will launch the French Urban Jungle book in one of our favorite plant concept stores in Paris, Mama Petula, and present it to the French press and bloggers. And on Saturday we are doing a second book event and plant hanger workshop in the cool Welcome Bio Bazar concept store – if you are in Paris on Saturday, join us. All details HERE

Photography by Anastasia Benko

Categories
Planty Product

Our Top Eight favourite Plant Stands

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Top 8 plant stands

Let’s be frank and clear: We all love our houseplants. No matter if it is a small one, a big one, a crooked one, an oblong one. They are all beautiful the way they are. Still with a few accessories we can always accentuate the plants’ beauty and incorporate them seamlessly into our interior style. Plant stands are one way of playing with the plant’s height and visual appearance. Ranging from DIY plant stands like in our Urban Jungle book over mid-century plant stands to contemporary options – the choice is all yours! We have curated 8 favorite plant stands (not to mention that we love the DIY plant stand from the Urban Jungle book). Here we roll:

1 – Plant Stand magician Eric Trine welded this rad stand!
2 – Iris planter and chevron stand by West Elm
3 – Plant stand by Søstrene Grene (available as of September 7th 2017)
4 – Cibele Plant Stand by OK design
5 – Wire Pot by Norm Architects for MENU
6 – Malia Plant Stand by Ivy Muse
7 – Triangle leg Metal Plant Stand by MrKitly
8 – b. for up plant pot and stand by Elho

This is not a sponsored post. We genuinely <3 the products above!

Categories
Houseplant Planty Inspiration

How can plants survive your holiday?

Urban Jungle Bloggers - I will survive

Summertime! Time to leave our urban jungles and go on a well-deserved holiday or visit friends or family. You packed your sunglasses, beach towel and a few books? Then it’s time to prepare your urban jungle for a few days or weeks without your care. Don’t stress, we have some tips so that your houseplants will survive your holiday!

Urban Jungle Bloggers - I will survive

• Find a plant sitter. Ideally, ask someone you trust to take care of your plants. Maybe a neighbour or friend can come visit once a week and give your plants some water and fresh air by opening the windows? Make it easier for him/her by providing some information about how much water your plants need and other specific plant care instructions. Be creative: you can use little flags or stickers to mark plants that need a lot of water, or plants that need extra fertiliser or misting. Even easier: Just make a little video with your smartphone and send it to your plant sitting friend! Also explain what “a lot of water” or “very little water” means: is it one cup per week, or an entire watering can per plant?

• Make sure your plants are healthy. Some plants may need some fresh potting soil or some air in the potting soil (by making small holes into the soil with thin stick, so that water can run through it). Also check your plants for bugs or illnesses. Treat accordingly before you leave. Or place the infested plants in quarantine.

• Group your plants. This makes watering easier for your plant sitter and slightly increases the air humidity if you decide to go for a self-watering option. And bonus points: a #plantgang looks very stylish too!

Urban Jungle Bloggers - I will survive

• Some plants don’t like to be moved, like Ficus plants, so don’t move them just for your holiday. If you really want it to be grouped with your other houseplants, move it gradually during the weeks before your holiday.

• Plants need light and water to stay alive, even more so in the summer when they’re growing. So don’t place your plants in a dark room with the shutters closed! Prefer a fresh room with medium light, without direct sunlight to avoid sunburn.

• Remember: more plants die of overwatering than not enough water, so placing them in a bathtub filled with water is not always ideal!

• Useful tools. There are quite a few tools on the market that can help your plants survive a few days or weeks without care. For example: you can find automatic watering systems at any garden center, that give your plants little drops of water. These automatic irrigation systems often have programmable settings that can be customised to provide for your plants when you are away. But there are also some reliable non-electric, more stylish solutions for your plants. Below you find some of our personal favorites:

Urban Jungle Bloggers House of Thol waterworks

Waterworks is a natural hydration system, consisting of a partially glazed terracotta cone and a glass bulb with a cork stopper.

Wetpot by Bjorka Design selwatering plant pot

Bjorka Design WET POT uses the same idea of glazed and unglazed terracotta and glass as the Waterworks bulb above. The terracotta plant pot basically bathes in the glass water container and soaks up water according to its needs. We love using it for water-loving plants like Pilea peperomioides. Works like a charm!

Urban Jungle Bloggers Parrot Flower Power
Urban Jungle Bloggers Parrot Flower Power

• Parrot FlowerPower is a Y-shaped connected device that keeps track of water, sunlight and fertiliser and uses Bluetooth to send you information on your smartphone. Parrot also launched a self watering plant pot earlier this year, called the Parrot Pot which integrates this technology directly into the plant pot.

Urban Jungle Bloggers shoelace watering method

• Shoelace method: All you need for this is a glass, mug or any other vessel filled up with water and an old shoe lace. Fill the glass with water, place one end of the lace into the glass and the other end in the soil of your plant. The shoe lace transports the water slowly from the vessel to the plant pot and secures a constant hydration without overwatering your plant. Perfect and easy! A simple method for smaller houseplants.

Urban Jungle Bloggers - Lucie Kaas Gro plant pot

Lucie Kaas GRO pots are both stylish and practical. The plant pot is made of heavy ceramics in three different colourways: laurel oak, gun metal and red mahagony, and are placed on a mouth blown glass bowl in the same colour. The ceramic pot is unglazed at the bottom and has small holes which allow to soak up the water from the bowl and provide for the plant at all times.

Urban Jungle Bloggers Elho Aqua Care waterbubble

Elho Aqua Care is a very simple and easy tool to water your plants. Simply fill the water reservoir and plant it in the pot to give the plants the correct level of water required.

Urban Jungle Bloggers x IKEA UK x At Mine

IKEA PS selfwatering plant pot set. It’s a big plant pot that works really well for larger plants that require water regularly like Calathea plants, Marante or palms. You simply fill the large white pot with water before you leave on holiday and it will be enough for at least a few weeks. The terracotta pot inside will soak up the water and keep your plant happy and a live. It comes with a large plant stand that adds some height to your plant.

• Water retaining gel, plant water crystals, or Hydro gel. This is a not an organic method, as the crystals contain polymers, so it’s not a method we use very often. The gel or crystals contain up to 3 weeks worth of water. You simply pose them on the soil, or mix them with the upper layer of the soil if you don’t like how jelly they look. They absorb and release water throughout your holiday. We advise to test this before you go on holiday, so that you find out the exact amount of gel that your plants need.

Urban Jungle Bloggers - the Lander Planter Kickstarter

The Lander Planter, just launched on Kickstarter. It’s a stylish self-watering plant pot with a mid-century vibe with its plant stand in walnut or maple. Support this project by purchasing your Lander Planter now and you’ll be fine for the next holiday.

Now head off towards the horizon and enjoy your holiday! Your plants will live!

Please note this is NOT a sponsored post, we genuinely like and use the products featured in this post.