Wild Fern And All Her Friends

It’s more like Wild Fern and all her wannabes, but no disrespect to those on this list of Wild Fern wannabes. I wannabe her too. At least I want to share in her authenticity, passion and talent. If you don’t know who she is, keep reading.

This year, I took a deep dive into the fascinating world of houseplants. Stay with me, the people I want to write about are anything but boring.

In July of this year, I launched a plant shop called House of Agave. In my endeavor to learn anything and everything I could about houseplant hobbyists, I turned to YouTube, where else?

One of the first videos that blew me away was created by a young guy in L.A. who calls his channel BenjyPlant. His video, Inside JiaHao’s Plant-filled Home is self-explanatory, it’s a walk-through of his friend’s tree-top loft with thriving tropical plants climbing nearly every inch of the walls. The video has 2.5M views. He’s got jungles growing in cabinets with tropical frogs, and a patio that might have more plants than your city’s botanical gardens. To call JaiHao, or anyone mentioned in this article eccentric is an understatement. I can’t put my finger on the word… plant junkie, prodigy, hoarder, biophilic maverick?

I think I like that one, they’re biophilic mavericks. If you’re not familiar with the word biophilia is the innate human tendency to connect with nature. Biophilic design is about creating spaces that foster this deep connection, reducing stress and enhancing mental health.

Let me introduce you to a few of these biophilic mavericks. I’ll start with the sweetheart of the group. Peachy, from Plant and Style with Peachy who has the most soothing planty YouTube channel around. If all the world leaders watched Peachy for an hour a day, we’d have peace on earth, and beautiful gardens. She brings Hawaiian vacation vibes to her listeners, and she loves to talk about her Hoya collection. If you ever have insomnia, watch her two-hour video, My Hoya Collection – 100+ Species, and you’ll drift off to dreamland floating on a Hoya leaf.

Jungle Haven, a channel hosted by a cheerful-smiley British woman named Claire is another one I turn to. She’s got a massive collection of plants, all flourishing in her home in the U.K. Claire, as she says in every episode, is here to teach you some tips and tricks she’s learned over the years. She’ll teach you everything you’ve ever wanted to know about every genus and species on earth. Her collection is never-ending.

I’ve heard some of these creators mention that they have a touch of OCD or ADHD, and I thought…really? Don’t we all? Isn’t that an assumed personality trait of anyone living in mainstream society in 2025? My 11-year-old taught me the word hyperfixation. I asked him to use it in a sentence and he said, “Mom is hyperfixated on plants.” Fair enough, but at least it’s a healthy fixation.

Maybe it’s a reaction to the times we’re living in. We’re all a little desperate for something positive to shift our attention to. Fifteen minutes of the news is about all I can process most weeks, and I’m bored of Netflix and Hulu. Saint Planthony, the owner of the Big Gay Plant store in Seattle put it best when he said, “We might not have answers, but we’ve got distractions.”

The plant-fluencers I found in Dallas, Texas are awesome too. I’m based in Austin, where we have a lot to brag about - from music and film festivals to great food and natural springs. But when it comes to cool plant people, Dallas is winning. There’s sweet Steve, from I-Lift-Plants, who shares his passion for tropical greens and plant-care as a path to positive mental health. I also love Richie from GrowFolds, who shares his love for Aglaonema and teaches us all about the process of importing plants from Indonesia. Finally, there’s Janee Simone, who keeps her home so beautifully green, it sets planty-goals for all her viewers. And all of them have great content on PlantCon, an amazing houseplant showcase event that takes place a few times a year at places like Dallas Market Hall.

Next, Oh The Places You’ll Grow is a channel created by a former teacher and school principal named Michelle. From her, I’ve learned all about Alocasia and repotting corms, treating plant pests, building Ikea cabinets and adding grow lights.

And I can’t forget Wild Fern. Fern’s name is actually…Fern, at least I think that’s her real name. If it is, we have evidence that her story was written in the stars. She shares videos from her modest home in Canada that’s filled with hundreds of gorgeous potted plants and colossal leaves. With a cute little nose ring and tattoo-covered arms, Fern shows off her creativity and obvious intelligence on every episode. Her seemingly effortless ability to remember the full Latin name, genre and species of every plant in her care as she casually chatters on about plant chores is impressive. I’ve learned so much from Fern.

So, if you’ve seen everything you want to watch on the same old apps, and can’t stand another minute of the news, come on down into this rabbit hole. There’s so much to learn. And when you’re done watching and ready to create your own biophilic design, stop by my shop at Houseofagave.store and buy yourself some plants!