Plants to the Rescue
Story by Emily Lyon | Photos by Inderjit Singh | Design by Huynh Tran
Looking for a serotonin boost to get through the rest of your day? Have you tried dirt? Certain bacteria found in soil cause a release of serotonin in the brain. The vivid colors of a blossoming flower isn’t the only way to brighten your day with plants.
Getting your hands dirty just scratches the topsoil on the list of ways caring for plants can benefit your mental health. From a single breath of fresh air to an expansive network of supportive plant lovers, reasons to start your indoor garden keep growing.
Friendly Bacteria
Physiology Professor, Christopher Lowry, has published many studies linking the exposure to certain healthy bacteria to mental health. According to the article “Identification and characterization of a novel anti-inflammatory lipid isolated from Mycobacterium Vaccae, a soil-derived bacterium with immunoregulatory and stress resilience properties” bacteria such as, mycobacterium vaccae, showed effects similar to that of antidepressants with long lasting effects that could possibly even prevent stress related disorders
Boosting the immune system with this bacteria could cause certain neurons in the brain to release serotonin which, among many other functions, controls our mood. A little dirt could go a long way given the chance.
April Rohrbach, owner of The Botany Shop in Ellensburg, has heard of this phenomenon and wants to share this joy with customers that come into her store.
“Literally potting plants makes you happy just from these bacteria in the soil,” Rohrbach says. The Botany Shop not only surrounds shoppers in foliage and nature, but also offers them a roll in the soil.
To the back of the Botany Shop in front of a wall of pots varied in size and cute designs, is a counter equipped with potting soil so that customers can pick their plant, pick their pot - or bring their own from home - and get messy!
Plant Care is Self Care
Another way plants keep us present is in the routine plants create for us. They rely on us like pets to give them what they need which so happens to be similar to things that we need explains Sabeth Jackson who works at the Wellness Center on campus.
“Learning to care for something else helps us to think about how we care for ourselves,” she explains. People and their pets or plants need good nutrients, comfortable environments, water and plenty of sunshine.
“So, are you giving yourself those things too?” Stavney asks us. As Rohrbach says, “Plant care is self care.” In that way we can see how true this is.
Making Connections
Every Friday the greenhouse on campus in Ellensburg has an open house and invites anyone to come and enjoy the calming spaces immersed in meticulously cared for nature. The person behind these open houses is Linnea Stavney, Central’s greenhouse manager.
Stavney says that as much as she loves caring for plants her favorite part is sharing them.
“Plant’s connect people,” she says. “I think one of my favorite things about the greenhouse is it just brings stories out of people. People are like ‘Oh my mom loves gardening’ or ‘Oh my cat ate this really weird plant, what do I do?’ And you just get the weirdest stories.”
Stavney goes on to tell us how some of the plants from the greenhouse come with stories of their own. Many of the plants in the greenhouse are donated either because they grew bigger than expected and need a new home to support them or because someone with a well-loved plant collection passed away.
“They are honestly some of the most beautiful plants that we have, says Stavney, “You could tell so much love went into them.” Touched by the concept of healing and growing with the plants of your loved ones, Stavney concluded, “The idea that your memory could be passed on through plants and that people have that connection to them and wanting their plants to live on, that to be their legacy, and have them be enjoyed by other people, I think that’s pretty special.”
Beyond Your Roots
That sense of connection to each other through plants is not lost in the digital age. Online groups for plant lovers create another avenue for a network of encouragement.
Daezah, a plant collector and member of several of these groups on Facebook, explains that people in these groups most often want to learn from each other.
She shares that it’s a lot of people asking for advice without judgment and comparing similar plants and differing methods; “They connect that way and make friends - build a community.”
Though no online group will be without flaws, the majority seem to suggest solutions and support one another in hopes of a thriving collection of plants “There’s a lot of people trying to pitch in [and] help rather than say ‘Ah, you shouldn't have that,’” Daezah says.
For people who are not always physically able to leave their homes or for immunocompromised people during the pandemic, indoor plant collections and online communities became invaluable when meeting and talking face-to-face is not an option.
Daezah explains, “A lot of [group members] order things online and then reach out and post things to groups and [post] like ‘hey, look at what I got in the mail today. Any tips and tricks? Who else has these?’ It’s a lot of ‘Hey, I have that. Plant Twins!’ It's kinda fun.”
The excitement of having a platform to communicate with people who you know are as passionate as you are makes all the difference when feelings of isolation are so dangerously common.
Distraction
Those close connections and community aren’t the only benefit of plants that Rohrbach has discovered at The Botany Shop. For many people, caring for plants is just the positive outlet they need. “Going around taking care of your plants allows you to engage and slowly be present which is ideal for mental health and especially [for] anxiety,” says Rohrbach. When we find our minds swirling, overthinking recent events and things out of our control, something to ground you is important and Rohrbach finds that in plants.
Inderjit Singh, a PULSE photographer, was enamored with the fresh air that filled the space. “You can definitely tell the difference between the outside air and the air in here. Super fresh,” he says. Rohrbach agreed, mentioning recent years with wildfires in our part of the country saying the fresh air of The Botany Shop became a haven to many people hiding from the smoke just outside the door.
Singh went on to describe the lush and refreshing forest behind his house in Northwestern Washington. The freedom to do as he pleased in that space surrounded by trees provided him a quiet calm that was specific to his home, and it was the fresh air of the plant shop that took him back there.
Nature possesses the power to transport our minds to some of our favorite and most grounding places.
According to a paper titled “Interaction with indoor plants may reduce psychological and physiological stress by suppressing autonomic nervous system activity in young adults: a randomized crossover study” by horticulture scientist Min-sun Lee, taking care of the plants in our lives can promote “comfortable, soothed and natural feelings,” resulting in reduced stress. Caring for our plants puts people at ease in a way other tasks do not.
There are so many ways that caring for your plants promotes mental health. Maybe you will find them to be the perfect addition to your routine or distraction from real life. Whether watering, dusting or pruning, plant care might be the example you need to turn over a new leaf in your life.
