Editor’s Letter: Room to Grow

While we were making this issue, we added two peace lilies, an Aglaonema silver bay, and a particularly handsome snake plant to our New York office. From where I sit, they immediately improved the vibe in the space where our East Coast team (optionally) works. It has been years since, as a culture, we hit peak Monstera and the term plantfluencer first left a bitter, leafy taste in our mouths. But, accelerated by a pandemic, plant life now has deep roots in our feeds, our homes, and our brains. With a simple reason: Having some greenery around feels good.

The stories in this issue show the many possibilities for what verdant living can look like—all creative, some a little extreme. In Buenos Aires, we visit a once-dusty turn-of-the-20th-century house that has been sliced open to allow in light, air, and exuberant vegetation. A Los Angeles backyard has paths that are perfect for wheelchairs but don’t compromise on their sense of wildness. And did you know that there is a Swedish subculture of people who have built homes inside greenhouses in an effort to construct their own small ecosystems? (If you’re a dedicated Dwell reader, you might be more likely than average to say yes.) In this issue, we meet the devoted inhabitants of these private biospheres and find out why they chose life under glass.

Whether you have a biosphere of your own, a backyard, a balcony, or just a nearby park, you probably need something to sit on and take it all in. For our Modern World section, we decided to look away from the trend toward outdoor furniture that copies its indoor counterparts—chic and comfy as that new waterproof sectional may be—and instead celebrate the playfulness and color of classic, casual outdoor seating. From the Acapulco chair to the mighty Monobloc, we chose a few outdoor staples, asked experts what gives them their stylistic endurance, and gathered a few contemporary counterparts that pay homage to these icons.

If you’re not quite ready to build a greenhouse around your house, we also have tips for growing a more typical garden. We turned to five gardeners for advice about what to grow and how to plant it. From chasing away weeds with native plants and learning from traditional irrigation strategies to making your own organic fabric dye, they cover a lot of ground and underscore the social, historical, and ecological roots of everything we cultivate. A once-reluctant gardener talks about learning to grow medicinal plants that heal people physically, while an author and TikTok creator draws a connection between gardening and mental health. They approach gardening from different perspectives, but all bring to light one thing: what it means to tend to something.

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