Text by Lindsey Mather, AD Clever
For some of us, houseplants are unsolvable mysteries despite having every tip on the internet logged in our Notes app. Leaves wither, stems wilt, and eventually our determination to be a cool plant parent dies. Trying over and over and over again gets depressing fast. We're here to offer a different, much more enjoyable route. The fluorescent cacti route, to be exact. Industrial and spatial designer Nobel Truong's Cactus collection features prickly plants big (e.g. a two-foot-tall saguaro) and small (e.g. a four-inch-tall Echinocereus)—and they're all made out of indestructible acrylic. When we saw them, we had a major lightbulb moment: This is the end of watering too much/too little, pruning too much/too little, and generally worrying too much/too little about the greenery in our apartments.
This is about owning the fact that you're never going to have a traditional #jungalow. Nobel's cacti are the fakest of fake houseplants. Really, they're pieces of art designed, engineered, and manufactured in California. It's true, they didn't use photosynthesis to grow, but they can have the same happy effect in your apartment as the real thing. Take Nobel's word for it: "I like to display the sculptures by the window where they can catch the afternoon sun," she says. "The long exaggerated shadows the sculptures cast under the sun really liven up my modestly furnished space." Sounds magical, right? Snatch up a few pieces on Nobel's site (www.no-bel.com) or if you're in the New York City area, the collection will be available at the 10 Corso Como New York.
Images: Courtesy of Nobel Truong
Nobel's fluorescent 24-inch saguaro cactus sells for $220. Live ones at the same size were hard to find online, but the ones we did see ranged from $75 to $150. Considering the former requires zero potting materials or care, we're calling it even.
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