- An indoor house plant you never see in person that is packed into a cardboard box and shipped across the country to your door sounds like a recipe for disaster, but it's something online startup Léon & George pulls off surprisingly well.
- Its collection is full of indoor house plants ($74+) that are easy to care for and each order comes potted in a stylish ceramic planter.
- I first tried the service in the summer of 2018 with some initial hesitance but found it lived up to its mission of making shopping for beautiful plants convenient and enjoyable.
- I still own and take care of the original plant I ordered, and I continue to recommend Léon & George for its smooth customer experience and robust plant selection.
- Read more: The easiest houseplants you can buy online
Home and interior design magazines frequently espouse this simple trick for refreshing your space: add a house plant. It's not only a strategic aesthetic move — research has found exposure to nature improves emotional well-being, making you happier and even more creative.
I'm no scientist, but plenty of anecdotal evidence has also confirmed that shopping for and taking care of these beneficial house plants isn't as easy as the magazines make it out to be.
After hearing similar feedback from friends, plant enthusiasts Ron Radu and Nico Bartoli wanted to show people that owning plants can actually be hassle-free and thus created Léon & George, a full-service online startup that delivers potted, responsibly sourced plants right to your door.
How Léon & George began
Radu and Bartoli started in 2016 by partnering with local growers who were looking for a change from big box stores and nurseries, which often placed unrealistic demands on crop growth or didn't store plants in optimal growing environments.
Though the company has now scaled to a point where the founders don't need to turn their own homes into mini-greenhouses, the level of care and attention remains: they source the highest-quality greenery from US growers, and all plants are stored under conditions that imitate their native climates.
Plant selection and what to expect
Customers can choose from a collection of attractive plants, like the dense Little Hope philodendron or the summery Parlor Palm, then pair their selection with a simple and stylish ceramic planter. You can also shop by "Benefits" (easy-care, air purifiers, safe for pets) and "Light" (medium-to-bright, low). Everything except shipping is included in the price: the plant, pot, wood stand, and care instructions. Shipping is only free on orders of $100 or more.
I ordered the Zanzibar Gem, namely because the website told me it's "near indestructible" and can "handle long periods of neglect"— music to the ears of traditionally terrible plant owners like myself. It can also handle low-light environments, so I could plan to keep it right at my office desk instead of a distant window sill.
The potted plant arrived upright in a box, and thanks to layers of cardboard support and bubble wrap, it emerged from the shipping journey fresh and unscathed.
Plant care
Caring for my Zanzibar Gem has been a breeze. I basically water it whenever I think to (which is really not often) and it's still thriving two years after I first got it. I've been pleasantly surprised about the plant's resiliency. Despite many desk moves and imperfect care, my plant has held up.
If you're worried about plant care falling by the wayside, Léon & George sends Weekly Plant Care Reminder emails to nudge you to pay a little more attention to your plant. You can also email a "plant doctor" at plantdoctor@leonandgeorge.com if you have specific questions and need personalized attention.
The bottom line
My experience with the service couldn't have been easier. Since I live in a big city, it's inconvenient and tiring to visit a nursery and haul a large plant onto the subway, so having it delivered (the company delivers nationwide) instead was a major boon.
The potting was already done for me, and the site offers a lot of support if you run into any trouble while caring for your plant. Buying greenery from Léon & George is also an investment back into the Earth because the company plants one tree in a US National Forest through the National Forest Foundation for every plant sold.
Léon & George's selection of high-quality plants will appease plant parents of all types. If you're new to plant care, the site offers guidance and low-maintenance options, and if your room is already filled with greenery, Léon & George's all-in-one service makes it that much more convenient to add to your collection.