Photo:Phoebe Cheong Photography
Phoebe Cheong Photography
Plant Kweenis teaching all nature lovers how to care for plants in any space, one “green gurl” at a time!
PEOPLE chatted with the “plantfluencer” — whose real name is Christopher Griffin — about their ever-expanding love for growing all things green and how they came to be the Plant Kween they are today.
“Plant Kween has become an opportunity for me to share my journey as a Black, queer, non-binary person who’s passionate about nature,” they tell PEOPLE, “And geek out and share the different things that I’m learning.”
Their expertise in plant care all started with a marble queen pothos houseplant that Griffin picked up after moving into a sunny apartment in Brooklyn back in 2016. That same plant still brings life into their apartment today, along with 230 other plants they have artfully arranged around their home.
Since that first marble queen pothos, Griffin has enjoyed spreading their knowledge of plant care to their 397,000 followers onInstagramand in their 2022 book,You Grow, Gurl!which is filled with tips and tricks on how to have the most lush garden.
Their grandmother, Andrell Griffin, was raised on a farm in Georgia where she developed her love for all things floral and green from her own mother. She later moved to Philadelphia and passed down her love of plants to Christopher’s mom, the “flower queen,” and eventually Christopher.
Phoebe Cheong
“She ended up moving to Philadelphia where she raised my mother and my uncle, and actually bought a house for $1 through a program back in the day,” Griffin says. “She fixed it up. Then once the house was ready to go for her children, she started working on her garden.”
“That was her little oasis,” they continue. “And that was something that allowed her to be the author of her own joy.”
Seeing as their grandmother grew up on a farm filled with gorgeous sunflowers, Griffin is well-versed on the tips and tricks of caring for the summer bloom. She passed all her knowledge of her favorite flower down to Griffin — who is sharing their sunflower secrets with PEOPLE.
“Generally, sunflowers are pretty easy to grow because they’re heat tolerant, they’re pretty pest resistant and they’re fast-growing,” they explain. “They begin to bloom in midsummer and can usually last until about early fall. And these flowers are annual, meaning that they complete their growth cycle in one year.”
A big issue gardeners face are droopy sunflowers because they are “heliotropic” plants — meaning their flower heads follow the sun — so Griffin advises that they get six to eight hours of direct sunlight in order to grow straight.
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In terms of watering, they recommend keeping an eye on the soil and being mindful of moisture.
“If the sunflower is drooping and the soil is dry, then that means that they need water,” Griffin tells PEOPLE. “Now, if the sunflower is wilting and the soil is wet, that means that the root system is damaged.”
For more backyard beautifying tips, pick up this week’s issue ofPEOPLE, on newsstands Friday.
source: people.com
