We Listened For Plant And Indoor Gardening Tips From Nadine Lustre, The Coolest Plantita Of Them All

Enter, the coolest plantita of them all—Nadine Lustre!

The 27-year-old artist is a big fan of plants and flowers. In case you missed it, she's not only a talented songwriter, a singer, and a crazy good dancer, but she also channels her energies into making living things thrive. Everyone knows she loves her corgi, Calcifer, but lesser known is her super green thumb. 

She likely gets it from her mom who, like so many in the last year, have invested a ton of time in developing their knack for indoor gardening. In fact, the mom and daughter duo launched Betty Blooms together last year, a small plant business that caters to the cool plant-loving chick (a plantchica, if you will). 

Karen Davila interviewed Nadine all about it in her latest YouTube channel episode, and we share some of the highlights of their conversation below. Pick up new plant takeaways from Nadine, plus check out our suggestions for how to recreate the Betty Blooms aesthetic in your very own homes. 

A backgrounder on Betty Blooms

It's actually her mom's business that she launched in June 2020 as a pop-up. They celebrated their first anniversary just a couple of days ago! Nadine still helps out when she can though, especially with branding and online promotion (she jokes that her mom isn't techy at all and needs help in that department). When Nadine conceptualized Betty Blooms—name and aesthetic and all—it was definitely going to be something fun. She says, "I was imagining parang '70s na hippie na girl who loves plants." 

Nadine's plant favorites

Among Betty Bloom's offerings, her favorites have to be alocasia (a.k.a. elephant's ear) for its shape and caladium for its different variegations. But no matter what plant you choose to take home with you, she advises that you pay attention to each plant's sun and water requirements. They're like people and have individuals wants and needs! (Start with the "impossible to kill" snake plant if you're a gardening rooke=ie, she advises).

Complementary purchases 

Aside from plants, Betty Blooms also sells pantita-must haves to elevate her space. They have dried mugwort bunches (which is aromatic when fresh, but when dried and lit like incense, supposedly makes dreams more vivid), as well as palo santo and cinnamon sticks (but not for eating! You use them cleanse a space, or in other words, move energies around). They also have different incense sticks that feature unique and local scents (think ylang-ylang) that are great for meditation or just making your home much more pleasurable to all senses. 

Meaningful tattoos 

Way before Betty Blooms became a thing, Nadine has already loved plants, or flowers to be more specific, plus all the beautiful things they symbolize. Out of her 14 tattoos, she has three flora-inspired ones (that we know of), and they include a vine crawling up her finger (to represent growth), a rose on her wrist (to remind her to never stop loving and giving to herself), and a lotus on her upper arm (to show her journey of finding herself, the light, and arriving at the destination she's supposed to be at now after all the challenges she's faced). 

Building from Nadine's idea of the figurative "Betty" behind Betty Blooms that she thought up, we thought of we might recreate the same vibe in our own spaces. We imagined her to be a boho chick who's free-spirited, a seeker of one of a kind experiences, unafraid to express her individual taste, close to nature, plus definitely stylish! 

With this kind of gal in mind and creating a mental image of the kind of home she might live in, we share a list of plants to help you achieve the look.

1. Ferns 

They're often undervalued because of common they are, but what a good house fern really needs is a pretty pot or planter to make it stand out. Full-grown, they're wonderfully voluminous, and when new buds sprout, how they start as little unfurled curls is adorable!

The best thing about calatheas is that you can fill your house with them and still end up with a ton of combinations because of there are a hundred and one calathea varieties. They differ in terms of leaf size, leaf shape, and color, plus they don't always come in just varying shades of green. You can find ones that are pink, reddish, purple, and light yellow, and depending on the plant, these colors can mix together in different patterns, too!

3. Philodendron Florida ghost 

The plant is incredibly interesting. Aside from its catchy name, it earned that nickname because it actually starts out white in color, then gradually turns green as it matures. Who doesn't want a color shifting plant as part of their indoor boho plant collection? An added bonus is its unique shape, too.

4. Succulents and cacti

The way to go with these plants is by arranging them in a dish or an open-air terrarium to create a really pretty mini cactus garden. You can do it yourself or purchase readily arranged ones from sellers that specialize in them. Put them in shelves, counters, or on your work desk, and they're sure to add some life.

5. Pothos 

They're found in many gardens and homes in the Philippines because of their ease of propagation and relatively low maintenance, but to make your presentation of them stand out, don't pot them—hang them! Many specialty plant shops sell pots specifically meant for suspension (from the ceiling or from walls) and accessories to match, so go crazy imagining all the fun arrangements and leveling you can do. 

In Nadine's interview with Karen Davila, she also talks about more personal matters to show how she's essentially grown into a whole new person. 

Watch Nadine's full interview and learn from what she has to say in the video below!

Opening images from @nadine @bettyblooms