Baltimore Yoga Teacher Shares His Plant Collection in Ep. 4 of 'In the Weeds'

When you meet Justin Timothy Temple you’re also going to meet Kuhio, Diana Prince, Trixie, The Twins, Manny, Jory, Lafayette, Manny III, and many more. Who are all of these people? Well, they’re actually Justin’s plants. He says, “naming plants actually helps us better take care of them. It gives them a sense of identity in the space. Also it helps us kind of keep them straight too.”

In This Episode

Temple, a plant collector and yoga teacher, takes us on a tour of his Baltimore apartment and his 30-plus plants that live there. Enter his living room and the giant windows will make you understand why this room is the main oasis. Living next to them is his most treasured plant, a Bird of Paradise that he got as a birthday present from his partner. Temple takes advantage of all of that streaming light to cultivate his collection.

His first plant purchase was ten years ago, an aloe plant, named Alvin, that he still has today. Justin’s most unique plant is a Philodendron Birkin, cleverly named Jane. Birkins have the most striking leaf patterns, which he says “look like energy almost spewing out from the center.” His trickiest plant he says is a snake plant (and all plant parents are shaking their heads right now). Temple acknowledges that while this is usually an easy plant to care for, him and his partner just can't seem to get it right. They have had one survive, Celine.

And every plant parent needs a rehab station to nurse those plants that just don’t do well in your home back to health. Temple's can be found on a bookshelf. It’s where he places the plants that need to be repotted, propagated, or saved if it was overwatered or placed in a less than desirable light source.

Plant collections can be pretty pricey, but Justin’s biggest expense is on his planters. He loves  “fancy planters that don’t look fancy.” They allow the plant to be the star of the show (which let’s be real isn’t hard to do when you have a gorgeous indoor jungle). He chooses a lot of muted tones like cream and black in cool designs to let the plant’s beauty show off.

As you move through his home you may spot one of his cats getting curious with his jungle. In fact, one of them used to use his Bird of Paradise as a litter box, and tiny little mushrooms began sprouting in the pot. Hey, it’s better than one of the cats eating the plants. Moving right along you’ll end up in Temple's office area. He works at his desk but he also teaches yoga from there. His plants help keep him company while he’s practicing, but don’t worry he isn’t afraid to part with them either.

Temple says that he and his partner love to gift plants. They aren’t looking to be plant hoarders so they enjoy sharing plant babies with friends and family. It’s a great way to help a new plant parent fall in love and start their own collection.

We couldn't agree more.