Christine Lawn

ASHBURTON

After a nasty injury working in the outside garden a few years ago, Christine was “banned” from working there by her family.

But missing her plants, she decided to buy a few more to grow inside her Ashburton home.

She doesn’t know quite how many houseplants she has since acquired, but hoyas, peperomia, philodendrons, pothos, monstera, rare foliage anthuriums and more are packed into all suitable growing spaces. The light in the kitchen is particularly good for plants, she says, so much so that her benches and table are now completely colonised by greenery. “Luckily I can still access the kettle for cups of tea!”

A wheelchair user for the last 20 years, she appreciated the fact she could buy plants online and have them couriered to the door, although as she was on a tight budget, she focused on baby plants and cuttings. “Some of these were not cheap either! But I enjoy researching what plants like and what they don’t. With plants you are always learning something.”