An Aspiring Botanist

Zoe Swartley, Student Writer

It turns out it doesn’t take embarking across an ocean to another country to find yourself immersed in a tropical jungle. On the outside, the Swartley household may seem like your average house for a family of five, but inside you’ll find that it is home to over 250 plants— many of which are not your typical houseplants. Melissa Swartley, an avid tropical plant hobbyist, likes to push the limit with what she can grow in her middle-sized house in eastern Pennsylvania, and takes great pride in her work. “Exotic plants are rather enchanting to me, and I love experimenting and seeing the different species I’m able to grow,” she remarks.

Melissa believes her interest in botany stems from her grandparents, who had an extensive outdoor garden and grew a number of indoor plants as well. Attracted to the varying colors and other unique characteristics, Melissa developed an admiration for the diversity of plant life. “I’m fascinated with the uniqueness that each plant holds and have a strong curiosity for the other exotic plants in the world. My first plant, a trailing purple-leaved perennial called a Wandering Jew, really sparked this curiosity.” Though she didn’t go to school for botany, Melissa is proficient in her work due to considerable independent research and other useful experiences. She has done everything from reading books and online articles, watching informational videos from professionals, joining online plant groups, and experimenting with different plants and growing styles herself. She’s even learned quite a bit from her boss at Main Street Orchids, the greenhouse she works at. Over the years, Melissa has learned a great deal on tropicals, and has developed great skills in caring for them.

“It’s incredible how you’re able to grow plants from virtually anywhere in the world right in the comforts of your own home and climate… assuming you know what you’re doing,” she says. Growing exotic plants can be extremely difficult, especially when dealing with limited space and an environment that’s foreign to the species. If not grown under proper conditions and treatment, the plants could easily die. Melissa has made numerous changes to her household in order to accommodate the needs of her collection, and has constructed a strict care schedule for each plant. Some of her daily tasks include watering, re-potting and adjusting growing conditions, mixing up custom fertilizers, and inspecting for pests. Mixing up the fertilizers is a whole job in itself, as the pH and chemical components for each mixture must be exact, and each plant requires different amounts of varying supplements. Caring for such unique plants has taught Melissa everything from the chemical makeup of fertilizer and the chemical processes that occur in plants, to the different types of organisms— whether that be foreign plants or common pests— that many people don’t even know exist. 

When asked what goals she has as an aspiring botanist, she gave a rather surprising response. “I actually plan to cull my collection in efforts to specialize in orchids. Not to say I’ll be ridding of all non-orchids, but I do hope to focus my interests more on this intriguing family of plants.” Melissa also plans to keep her favorites in bloom, some of which include the Brugmansia (a fragrant night-blooming tropical tree), the Hoya lacunosa (a fragrant blooming epiphytic vine), the Rhyncholaelia glauca (nighttime fragrant white orchid), and the Nepenthes Miranda (a cultivar of a man-made hybrid pitcher plant).