In my last blog I mentioned one of my favorite corners in our apartment is by our living room window, where we have a small shelf full of plants. After Bucks County’s social distancing guidelines started being enforced in March and we started spending more time at home, we noticed we needed to lighten up the ambiance of our space.

Between an interstate summer move, work, the holidays and, well, life, we hadn’t made the time to focus on how we wanted our home to look and feel. We’re still figuring out the look part, but the feeling is there. and that’s in part due to our babies … plant babies, that is.

In early April my boyfriend showed up with a gorgeous, indoor majesty palm from what was supposed to be a grocery run. My first thought was, “Do I need to disinfect it?” followed by “This is great; he won’t even remember to water it.” Although I’ve always loved plants, I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of a tall, standing plant in a fully carpeted apartment; however, I was sold after we repotted it, ha! After some suggestions from an Instagram poll, we named her Bridgette — yes, we are those people who name their plants. #SorryNotSorry

Fast-forward to late May, a trip to Home Goods for a new pot and some wood for a plant stand turned into a plant shopping trip. Full disclaimer: I did not know the first thing about house plants — I killed an office cactus once. I’m still learning. As soon as we got home, we repotted all of them and put them in different places around the house.

I’ve always known there are great health benefits to having house plants, but I was pleasantly surprised when I connected the dots and noticed I was reaping benefits from our plants by simply taking care of them. Just to list a few:

— My mood was better. I felt less boxed-in and more in touch with nature although I was barely going for walks at that point.

— I felt more productive and focused while working from home. Perhaps it was simply the routine of waking up to mist them, to talk to them and to start my day by taking care of something other than myself.

— I used to have constant nose bleeds and scabs due to how dry my nose was, which I attributed to the dry, arid heat of a New York City radiator and then to our central air in our new apartment. However, after we got plants and a little fountain to help with their humidity levels, I noticed I could breathe better and my nose didn’t feel super dry.

Now, while Bridgette is struggling a little bit, the rest of our babies (10 and counting) are thriving and bringing the coziest feeling to what we call our indoor oasis. I will save the introductions for my next entry, but for now here’s a sneak peek of Angel, Catalina, Figaro, Spikey and Lil Uzi.

In the meantime, what are some of your favorite house plants? Send me your answers to yasser.ogando@globaltravelerusa.com.

— Yasser Ogando, production & advertising coordinator