We were talking about living in Seoul, Korean food, and home décor. And, of course, plants came up in the conversation (because they always do in our house). Seol-hui pulled out her phone to show me photos of her snake plants. She has two different kinds in her Seoul apartment. She named them by their Latin names, so I knew exactly which ones she had even before she showed me the photos.
(Side note on the amazing concept of Latin names: all plants are named using a plant-naming convention created by Dutch botanist Carolus Clusius in the 16th century and is used throughout the world as the way to identify plants. So you can talk plants with anyone, from anywhere. Botanical plant names are a universal language. So cool.)
Seol-hui likes snake plants because they require so little care and look beautiful (even while she traveling to the United States for a visit). As an art curator, she appreciates the aesthetics of items. The spiky, sculptural shape of snake plant are like objects of art.
Seol-hui displays her snake plant (Sansevieria trifasciata) in a galvanized aluminum pot on a stair case along with a poster of one of her favorite modern artists, Andy Warhol. (We both agreed that we love the quote “The world fascinates me.”)
Her other snake plant (Sansevieria cylindrica), is also in a simple galvanized aluminum container, standing next to a black-and-white image of a mountain.
Snake plants complement modern, minimalist décor because they are so modern and minimalist themselves. They are super easy care too. And they are one of the houseplants that don't need a lot of light to look great. See a list of other low-light houseplants.
I drove Seol-hui and Chance to the station where they were catching a train to Chicago—the next city on their itinerary. Here is a photo of Seol-hui in the train station standing next to (surprise!) a snake plant. The plant obviously likes where it is growing and is taller than she is!
Thanks Seol-hui for sharing your snake plants with us!
READ MORE ABOUT SNAKE PLANTS:
Check out these tips.
Written by Karen Weir-Jimerson
