🪴 Hello and welcome! I’m Abella, and I’m thrilled to launch this brand-new blog series, Plant Talks with Abella!

Every month, I’ll be inviting a wonderful guest over to my garden shed for a cozy, casual chat. We’ll sip some tea, enjoy the greenery, and, of course, share stories about our shared passion: Potted Plants. This is our chance to connect with the lovely people who make our community bloom.

I couldn’t be more honored to welcome a truly special guest for our very first Plant Talk—someone we all know, love, and admire: Nymphaea, the sweet and lively auctioneer and owner of Bakery Woods herself!

Nymphaea, welcome dear! The other day, I heard you fondly call yourself one of the “grannies” of potted plants. That makes me wonder… do you remember what your very first plant was?

I started with Ivys and I think that the very first was an Azure Dipped, while I can say with certainty that my first LE was the Pink Hibiscus.

How did your plant journey begin?

I was looking for something that would live up to the experience of the first year of Meeroos, but over the years I hadn’t found anything that even remotely fascinated me as much as they did. In short, one day I accidentally stumbled upon a place where a Potted auction was being held. That’s how I discovered the game, and I also noticed that its community was very active. However, at least three months passed before I bought my first plant: I attended the auctions daily and learned as much as I could, while I was also observing the community approach. Finally, I decided to start. At that point I was confident that Potted was a reliable and stable brand, with official affiliate markets and policies capable of preventing any hypothetical decline. Today, after almost three years in Potted, I’m happy to confirm that it’s a stable product, backed by a serious and attentive team and a very supportive community. I’ve found a hobby that truly engages me.

What inspired you to start collecting plants?

Before starting, I learned a lot at auctions. I felt inspired by observing the beauty of the softly or floreal patterned plants. Today I collect only Limited Editions seeds, especially Philodendrons and Succulents. I still have some particularly rare Ivy plants, while as for Karnivores, I only collect the very rare ones that really match my personal taste in colors and patterns.

Before coming over I asked you to bring some of your favorite plants from your collection. Can you tell us more about them? Which one is your absolute favorite?

LE Love Bomb – A gift form Cort. Among my all-time favorites there are also: LE Viola, LE Bee Kind, LE Tiny Steps in its LE Ballerina Music Box pot, and LE Alora, which was a gift from Cat. Finally, LE Easter Morning is incredibly precious to me: it was a very difficult drop that lasted only a few days. It came out on Easter morning 2024, and my grandmother had passed away that night. That seed reminds me of her, and I’m very attached to it.

If your plant collection represented your personality, what would that say about you?

As I mentioned before, I mainly collect plants with nature / floral patterns, especially colorful ones. Even my personality is “colorful”: despite many flaws, I’m a cheerful and positive person. There are no creepy or dark-themed plants… just color and good vibes. And this perfectly reflects my approach to life.

If you had to pick just one plant to represent your personality, which would it be?

Probably the LE Roses ‘R’ Pink. It’s pink and it spreads good vibes!

Do you like a wild, overgrown look or a tidy plant shelf?

For sure a 100% tidy shelf!

What’s your most memorable plant fail or disaster?

It was October 2023, and everyone was only harvesting high-level plants. I wanted seeds right away, so I harvested a level 2 Ivy, which gave me a beautiful and rare LE Autumn Alchemy. However, I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I clicked on the pot “OktoberFest Ale – LE Pretzel Mug” and it ended up in there. It looks terrible, but that pot is a cloning machine, reason why I kept the seed in there… So the failure was only aesthetic!

What’s your dream plant you’d love to own one day?

As of today, I think I already have everything that was on my wishlist (LE Viola, LE Alora, LE Rosabella, LE Mama Emma, LE ​​Easter Morning, LE Bee Kind, LE A Little Bird Told Me, LE Roses ‘R’ Pink, LE Autumn Song, LE Superstar Seed 2024, LE Forever in Time, LE Honestly Beautiful, LE Mother’s Day Tea, LE Cardinal Rules, LE Tiny Steps).

Watering day: relaxing or stressful?

Depending by the day! Generally, for me it’s relaxing.

How many plants do you have right now (or is it too many to count)?

About 250 (approximate calculation, It could be +/- 5-6 plants)

If you could cross two plants together, which ones would you pick?

Great question. Perhaps a Philodendron that’s a cross between LE Forever in Time and LE Autumn Alchemy. Essentially, with the clock of Forever in Time and the flowers of Autumn Alchemy.

Nymphaea, thank you so much for coming over and have this wonderful chat. ♥