Speaker 1: Good morning, peeps, and welcome to WIKA F Daily with
Speaker 1: me your Girl Danielle Moody not So live from the
Speaker 1: Podstream Studios in Times Square. Folks, you know it. I
Speaker 1: am out on vacation this week and I am taking
Speaker 1: some much needed respite from the news, but I can't
Speaker 1: leave all of you hanging. So I'm excited to introduce
Speaker 1: today's show, which is going to be my conversation with
Speaker 1: the fantastic and fabulous Christopher Griffin aka Plant Queen on Instagram.
Speaker 1: If you are not following Plant Queen with a K
Speaker 1: W E N, I encourage you to do so. Their
Speaker 1: posts are just magnificent and beautiful. Even if you are
Speaker 1: not a plant parent like me, you will want to
Speaker 1: take note of their fashion and their love of plants,
Speaker 1: how to care for them, how to grow your indoor garden,
Speaker 1: your outdoor jungle. Christopher and I will get into a
Speaker 1: conversation today about what plants can teach us, the energy
Speaker 1: that they provide, how we become more connected to ourselves
Speaker 1: and our spirit, the gratitude that comes out of watching
Speaker 1: things grow. And I hope that all of you will
Speaker 1: enjoy my conversation with the Plant Queen Christopher Griffin that
Speaker 1: you should follow at Plant Queen, plant kwee M on Instagram.
Speaker 1: They are fantastic and I hope that you enjoy the conversation.
Speaker 1: Leave me comments in the comment section, Folks, I am
Speaker 1: so very excited to welcome to woke f for the
Speaker 1: very first time, hopefully not the last time. In my head,
Speaker 1: I plant bestie Christopher Griffin on Instagram known as plant
Speaker 1: Queen k w e e N with an immense three
Speaker 1: hundred and forty three thousand followers. Can you just talk
Speaker 1: to me first? I don't even know where to start,
Speaker 1: but I want to start with your plant journey. I mean,
Speaker 1: the photos that you post are just absolutely spectacular. But
Speaker 1: how did you get into gardening? How did you get
Speaker 1: into get in touch with with plants and begin your journey? No,
Speaker 1: of course, M. Well, first I would just say thank
Speaker 1: you for inviting me to your platform, your show, thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you, and so yeah, you know, I really started
Speaker 1: my plant parent journey when I was a little baby
Speaker 1: queen growing up in West Philadelphia and my grandmother grew
Speaker 1: up in Clayton, Georgia, and her mother had a farm,
Speaker 1: and so you know, from the beginning of you know,
Speaker 1: her childhood, my grandmother, uh was taught that nature was
Speaker 1: something to be respected. UM, that was a part of
Speaker 1: our you know, family's legacy, that it was healing. And
Speaker 1: so she brought that with her when she came to
Speaker 1: Philly to raise my mother and my uncle. And so
Speaker 1: when my um, when my mother had me, I think
Speaker 1: my grandmother knew that the magic that I had, UM,
Speaker 1: but I didn't realize at the time, right. I think,
Speaker 1: as UM, black queer, non binary folks, the world tries
Speaker 1: to m captain shadow over our power and our magic UM.
Speaker 1: And so I think my grandmother knew that I had
Speaker 1: something special. And she welcomed me into her world of
Speaker 1: gardening so willingly, so selfishly, and so we would go too.
Speaker 1: We would have like these little and I was like
Speaker 1: a sixth year old, a five year old hanging out
Speaker 1: with my grandmother, and it felt like we were just
Speaker 1: like absolute besties. And she took me to some of
Speaker 1: her favorite nurseries in Philadelphia, and she would let me take,
Speaker 1: you know, pick out some of the plans. And there
Speaker 1: was such a light and joy that radiated from her
Speaker 1: when she was in that space that I feel, you know,
Speaker 1: really blessed that I was able to witness that and
Speaker 1: that she shared those moments with me. And so yeah,
Speaker 1: I really started with my grandmother. And my mother obviously
Speaker 1: was also a big gardener as well. So um, you know,
Speaker 1: my plant parent journey really stems from the you know,
Speaker 1: powerful black women that I had in my life. And
Speaker 1: so moved into an apartment about six years ago in
Speaker 1: New York. It was my second apartment in Brooklyn, and
Speaker 1: it had a skylight, it had south facing windows, and
Speaker 1: I was like, Darlin, this is I gotta use this
Speaker 1: Oh like, I gotta use this face and so um,
Speaker 1: I went to a little hardware store and I bought
Speaker 1: I bought my first plant. I still have that queen
Speaker 1: from Marble Queen Posthos. She's on the other side of
Speaker 1: this wall and she's about nine feet long. Now wow,
Speaker 1: And yeah, it started this journey that I didn't know
Speaker 1: that I was going to go on, a journey of
Speaker 1: exploring myself in ways that I can better care for myself,
Speaker 1: A journey of exploring what kind of nurturer I am,
Speaker 1: A journey of you know, really of tending not only
Speaker 1: to my indoor garden, but the metaphorical garden that is
Speaker 1: my you know, heart, mind, body, and soul. U. So yeah,
Speaker 1: now I have about two hundred and twenty three twenty
Speaker 1: four plants and my little Brooklyn apartment and if less
Speaker 1: you's ever Oh my god. Okay, So first of all,
Speaker 1: you have just made me. I'm gonna take that sound
Speaker 1: by it and send it to all my friends that
Speaker 1: are telling me to stop buying plants, right because I
Speaker 1: think that I think they're haters. They're like Danielle, I
Speaker 1: don't know where you're going to find room because my
Speaker 1: entire coffee table and part of my living room is
Speaker 1: an indoor jungle. Um, I I love it so much. UM,
Speaker 1: talk to me about the ways in which you because
Speaker 1: it sounds to me and I feel similarly in that
Speaker 1: Karen for Plants has really helped me get in better
Speaker 1: touch with my self care and you know it and
Speaker 1: honestly really has been a part of my alignment and
Speaker 1: understanding of like energy and how energy shifts space, right,
Speaker 1: and and I see that with my plants on a
Speaker 1: regular basis. Um, how has tending to as you said,
Speaker 1: your actual garden and your metaphorical garden? How has that,
Speaker 1: um come about? Like? How do you how do you
Speaker 1: explain that journey. Yeah, you know, it was a particular
Speaker 1: moment that I'm thinking of. And I'm a storyteller, so
Speaker 1: if I if I thought ranton, then yeah, we can
Speaker 1: pull me back. No. I love it. I love it.
Speaker 1: That's why, that's why you're here. You tell those you
Speaker 1: tell those stories on the Instagram and I'm sitting there
Speaker 1: just in rapture, so please go. Oh my goodness. Um,
Speaker 1: but yeah'm thinking about this one particular moment where you know,
Speaker 1: I had accumulated a good amount of plants and this
Speaker 1: was you know, that deck an apartment with and all
Speaker 1: that stuff. And you know, praise be to my my
Speaker 1: roommates at the time because they put up with me
Speaker 1: because my plans took over that space. We've I had
Speaker 1: plants all over this space. Um, and my roommates for
Speaker 1: patient with me, so God bless them. Um. But there
Speaker 1: was a particular moment where I had accumulated enough plants
Speaker 1: where I needed to start, Um, I needed a routine
Speaker 1: to water them. Right, It's like, Okay, I have enough
Speaker 1: of them. I have to build a routines. So I
Speaker 1: was like, Okay, Sundays is going to be my day.
Speaker 1: Sunday is going to be the day, I'm gonna, you know,
Speaker 1: take a break from everything and really just be present
Speaker 1: right now as a busybody, as an extrovert. Um. You know,
Speaker 1: I'm quick to you know, oh y'all want to hang out.
Speaker 1: We gotta you know, social gathering. I wouldn't and b um,
Speaker 1: but I realized that, you know, extra virgin and intra
Speaker 1: virgin is on a spectrum, right Um. And just because
Speaker 1: I'm an extrovert doesn't necessarily mean that I don't appreciate
Speaker 1: shape and need my solitude. Right. So it sundays with
Speaker 1: like my solitude moment. And so as I'm watering my plant,
Speaker 1: you know, I was like, oh, I say, this is
Speaker 1: this is the work. Okay, you don't have a small amount.
Speaker 1: It takes you through brunch like it. It's what I'm
Speaker 1: thinking about. I'm like, you're starting at twelve o'clock, you know,
Speaker 1: free mimosas, and by by four o'clock you're still out
Speaker 1: there boring you better know my life? Who that is hilarious. Um.
Speaker 1: But yeah, So there was a moment I was like, whoa,
Speaker 1: this is work. And then as I'm you know, um,
Speaker 1: you know, giving my plants water, I was like, oh,
Speaker 1: I was like my I was like, I'm a little thirsty,
Speaker 1: and I was like, why haven't I drinking water yet?
Speaker 1: I was like, I haven't been outside yet, but I'm
Speaker 1: concerned about the sunlight and where their place. And there
Speaker 1: was a moment that switched in my head and I
Speaker 1: was like, oh, my goodness, like the same. You know,
Speaker 1: sometimes it be a simple things, right, just things will
Speaker 1: be right in front of our faces and it takes
Speaker 1: its time to realize them, right, um, And so the moment,
Speaker 1: I was like, wow, you know, I'm always worried about
Speaker 1: the amount of water and that my plants are hydrated.
Speaker 1: I need to do that for a body too, right,
Speaker 1: And then you know, I'm gonna I fertilize my plans
Speaker 1: for a schedule and I'm very intentional about that. And
Speaker 1: I was like, well, I do for the nutrients that
Speaker 1: my body needs to So I think that moment, and
Speaker 1: you know, that day, my mother actually called me and
Speaker 1: I was like, yeah, I'm just having had some music on,
Speaker 1: I had my memosa and I was having my moment,
Speaker 1: and you know, my mom called me and we had
Speaker 1: like a little moment and she was showing me some
Speaker 1: of her plants. I was showing her some of my
Speaker 1: plants and you know, you remind me of your grandmother.
Speaker 1: And then you know, the ootional moment and she was like,
Speaker 1: you're growing your garden, and so it was like, only
Speaker 1: was that growing a green girl that I love in
Speaker 1: a door, um, but I think she also meant like,
Speaker 1: you're taking care of yourself and that's that's beautiful. So
Speaker 1: so that was that was that was a moment um
Speaker 1: and then yeah, it kind of just took off from
Speaker 1: there where I was like, you know what, I have
Speaker 1: to be protective of my energy, have to be protective
Speaker 1: of um. You know how I navigate this world in
Speaker 1: a way that um just feels good for me, you know,
Speaker 1: you know it's so it's so important. I think it's funny.
Speaker 1: I feel that the older I get, the more that
Speaker 1: my my both of my grandparents have passed away. But
Speaker 1: the older I get, the more I realized that I'm
Speaker 1: becoming like them. Right how people say you become your parents,
Speaker 1: you become and God willing, you had good people around
Speaker 1: you to emulate. But you know the care that you know,
Speaker 1: my grandfather took with his outdoor garden, with the with
Speaker 1: the food garden, the care that my grandmother took with
Speaker 1: you know, the indoor garden. I'm, you know, a child
Speaker 1: of immigrants. My family came to the United States from Jamaica,
Speaker 1: and you know, to create that essence of like tropics
Speaker 1: and you know and greenery. Um, they did so by
Speaker 1: bringing in so much beauty into the home, but then
Speaker 1: also really teaching us to slow down as well. Um,
Speaker 1: what are some of the things that came up for you, Christopher,
Speaker 1: because for a lot of folks, a lot of people
Speaker 1: became plant parents during the pandemic, you know, during twenty twenty. Um,
Speaker 1: I know that I did. It was when you know,
Speaker 1: you're inside and you're like, I need to create the
Speaker 1: beauty inside. Um that I used to go after outside.
Speaker 1: And so for you, you know what came up for
Speaker 1: you during during the during the pandemic. And I'm certain
Speaker 1: your phone was probably ringing off the hook, people texting
Speaker 1: me off the hook talking about child come over here
Speaker 1: and help me because I needed to do something. I'm
Speaker 1: about to lose my mind. No, um. Yeah, So you know,
Speaker 1: the pandemic was a very interesting time. I so there
Speaker 1: was definitely more plants. I came into my space and
Speaker 1: actually I had moved into this sphase in January, and
Speaker 1: so there was still a lot for me to do
Speaker 1: in this space and it kind of just became like
Speaker 1: a little project. I was like, I need something to
Speaker 1: think my mind into, um, and it became decorating and
Speaker 1: greening up and making this space feel like home. And
Speaker 1: you know, I kind of used my Instagram to like
Speaker 1: kind of document that journey. And so yeah, that was
Speaker 1: a lot of the pandem MAC for me, honestly, just
Speaker 1: decorating my space and making myself feel you know, it
Speaker 1: was I think it was me doing a lot of
Speaker 1: reflection and giving myself the time to just sit still
Speaker 1: and learn how to enjoy my own company. I think
Speaker 1: that was a big you know, and I think there's
Speaker 1: been you know, parts of my life where I've been
Speaker 1: you know, allowed myself to explore that, um, but it
Speaker 1: had been a while since I've explored that with myself
Speaker 1: and you know, this current time, in this current space
Speaker 1: and where I was in my life at that particular time.
Speaker 1: So yes, my phone was blowing up, both you know,
Speaker 1: personal friends and loved ones being like, girl, like I
Speaker 1: need to make this space better for me. How can
Speaker 1: I do that? And I was like, well, there's a
Speaker 1: multitude of different ways, right. Um, you know, plants is
Speaker 1: just one of the avenues that um, you know, you
Speaker 1: can you know go down in terms of you know,
Speaker 1: making a space feel like yours. Um. But I did
Speaker 1: a lot of meditation. I started working out at home
Speaker 1: and trying to craft that for myself. UM. I bought
Speaker 1: a bike and started biking. UM. Started writing a lot
Speaker 1: more um perst for myself. UM. And I'm a plantner,
Speaker 1: so did a lot of like plant research. Started buying
Speaker 1: a lot of plant books. UM, started doing some reading. UM.
Speaker 1: So yeah, but I think the core of the pandemic
Speaker 1: was a lot of what you said in terms of
Speaker 1: just learning to slow down and just reanalyzing, um, you know,
Speaker 1: the things that were you know in my life, UM,
Speaker 1: dreams that I had, you know, put aside, and being
Speaker 1: like let me dust those all and like, let's revisit
Speaker 1: some of those dreams to see if those are ones
Speaker 1: I'm ready to embark one now. Analyzing my own fears
Speaker 1: and anxieties and you know, just really coming to peace
Speaker 1: with where I was and enjoying and appreciating the journey. Right.
Speaker 1: And there was a quote that I read that we
Speaker 1: need to appreciate, we need to appreciate how temporary things are. Yea,
Speaker 1: So it was I was trying to like really just
Speaker 1: exist in the moment and honestly just let my my
Speaker 1: being guide me through what I needed. That is it
Speaker 1: for today's wok F Daily podcast. To hear more from me,
Speaker 1: including five full hour long shows every single week, exclusive
Speaker 1: guest interviews, and more, support me on Patreon at patreon
Speaker 1: dot com. I'm slash woke AF. Power to the people
Speaker 1: and to all the people. Power, get woke and stay
Speaker 1: woke as fuck.