The Fake Plant Trend: Should You Jump On Board?

How can there be a fake plant trend?

I remember when I was growing up fake plants to me were so dorky. Also, everyone, I knew that had fake plants, did not take good care of them. 

So they ended up covered in dust and just looking like a hot mess. 

Then, suddenly, it seems like a fake plants were out of fashion. 

It was only cool to have real plants. 

Only grandparents had fake plants anymore. 

But fake plants are having a revival, and the trend this time around, seems to be much more manageable. 

The History of Fake Plants 

The reality is that fake plants go way farther back then just the 80s. 

That’s right. My childhood was not the beginning of artificial flowers. 

In fact, the first artificial flowers are thought to have come from China over 1500 years ago. 

And when it comes to replicating flowers and plants, this trend seems to go back pretty much to the beginning of time. Ancient Egyptians made re-created flowers and leaves using thin slivers of horn. And archaeologists have found other evidence of fake flora from cave sites. 

But it was in China, when fake flowers became a commercial good. Noblewomen would order silk flowers to be worn in their hair, and the trend spread from there out into the community of China, and then into Japan and Korea. 

Eventually, the practice of using fake flowers and fake plants spread to the western world. By the 12th century Italian merchants started crafting fake plants using silk worm cocoons. 

A century later, the French began making artificial flowers using better quality silk, which created more realistic, looking plant life. The French reputation for fake flowers, and plants grew in favor, and by the 15th century they were considered the best. 

The trend spread then from France to England and by the 1800s to the New World. 

Bus, by the time I was a kid in the 1980s, fake plants were old hat. 

Modern Day Fake Plants 

Finding good fake plants today can be challenging. Poorly made, and poorly cared for, fake plants can look tacky. 

But because of how in fashion, they are now, they are in high demand, which means prices are driven down. 

So while you don’t want “cheap“ fake plants, you can still find some that are reasonably priced and look real. 

The trick is knowing where to buy your fake plants, and how to figure out whether they are high-quality if you are buying online. 

Some of the best sites online for buying fake plants include wayfair,. nearlynatural.com, a floral.com, shop, terrain.com, and of course, Amazon. 

If you buy your fake plants online, be sure to read the reviews. Photographs can be extremely deceiving. 

Another option for buying your fake plants are used to walk into an actual store, where you can touch the plants and see them in person with your own eyes.  

Stores like cost plus world market, Home Depot, and Lowe’s carry a good variety of fake plants of high-quality. 

You also want to be sure that you get fake plants that makes sense. 

Some fake plants will just look tacky no matter what. 

Some of the best artificial plants, trees, and flowers that won’t actually look artificial, include a bamboo plant, a philodendron silk plant, a fiddle leaf tree, a bird of paradise plant, a banana leaf plant, a monstera deliciosa plant, and a ficus tree. 

If you’re looking for flowers, consider a fake bougainvillea, baby’s breath, an anthurium, or even lavender. 

And of course, succulents and cacti make great fake plants, because they already look plastic and rubber, even when the real. 

What to Do with Fake Plants? 

The key to success with fake plants, is the pots and the planters, and integrating them into your overall decor. 

Especially if you decide to go out mostly with plants rather than flowers, you can get really eclectic and go for a bohemian vibe that ranges from modern to country to rustic. 

You can find great monotone colors, and exciting, vivid hues, patterns, and textures. 

Visit your local, flea markets, and antique stores, and swap meets in search of tarnished, metal, canisters, and containers that you can turn into flower pots by simply drilling holes in the bottom. 

Emphasis here is on the holder in which you have your plant, rather than the plant itself. The plant accident like more of an accent. 

Fake plants are great if you have not found success yet with maintaining house plants, or even if you just travel a lot. 

Shame around Fake Plants 

Like I said, when I was a kid, fake plants for super dorky. Only grandmas had them. And not the cool grandmas. 

But today, I said, from the fact that you can find a really well-made fake plants for good prices, we’ve also entered an era where people have started to understand that we shouldn’t really care what other people think. 

In fact, our fashion and our style become even cooler and more trendy to others when we don’t care about those other’s opinions. 

No matter what era, the misfits always end up being the coolest people that everybody else is trying to emulate. 

So while I can tell you that fake plants are actually very in right now, and you can look all over the internet to see the same evidence, it’s also important that you decide for yourself if you want fake plants, if you want this aesthetic in your house, and if you’re willing to not really care whether or not it’s “in.” 

Should You Invest in Fake Plants? 

So, should you invest in fake plants? 

Look, as someone who has killed dozens and dozens of real plants in an attempt to get good at maintaining house plants, I say go for it. 

As someone who has watched numerous plants die on land in my own dirt, no matter how hard I try to keep them alive, I say, why not? 

As someone who has made a lifetime reputation out of not caring what other people think, I say, if you feel like fake plants are good for you, and your aesthetic, invest. 

And the nice thing about fake plants, is that they really are an investment. You don’t have to spend a ton of money. 

You can bargain shop for pots and planters, even for hangers and shelves, or wire racks, or a little end tables. There is no end to the number of cute accessories. You can find for your fake plants at really good prices. 

And you can get the plants themselves for a good bargain as long as you shop around. 

And the wonderful thing about it is, you can’t kill fake plants. So as long as you’re taking care of the plants, it’s a great investment. 

You can even make your plants seasonal – swapping out flowers when spring and summer over and swapping in darker, leafier greens. 

There really is no downside here. 

How to Invest in Fake Plants 

So, now you’ve decided you’re ready to invest in fake plants, how do you invest in fake plants? 

Keep it natural 

When you start buying fake plants, you may be tempted to get some really crazy looking off colors, with shapes and textures that aren’t very realistic. 

Don’t. 

Those kinds of wild colors, shapes, and textures in plants get old very fast. 

Think of the neon trend. 

For a real investment in fake plants, look for plants that have a realistic shapes, textures, leaves, and stems, in natural colors. 

And this includes the color green. 

Sometimes fake plants might look like a realistic green online, but in reality, their oversaturated or, scarily, neon. 

So be sure to check your reviews. 

Keep them clean 

The worst possible thing you can do, the number one way to ruin your investment, is to let your plants get dusty and grimy. 

While you are likely to kill real plants from overwatering, under watering, or some other mishandling, you are likely to ruin your investment in your fake plants, if you don’t clean them regularly. 

So, while I advise, watering your real plants at least once a week, with fake plants I advise wiping them with a damp cloth just as regularly.  

Plant in “dirt”  

If you’re going to go to all the trouble of investing in fake plants, in picking out cute pots, and choosing your appropriate location, you also want to make sure you invest in “dirt.” 

You can find options like peat moss, fake dirt, straw, and branches, all with artificial options, that you can talk into your pots and planters around your fake plant to make it look more real.  

Incorporate real plants 

Finally, if one of the reasons that you’re getting fake plants is that you’re struggling to keep it real plants, alive, don’t quit. 

Your fake plants will look even more real surrounded by and incorporated with real plants. 

Choose plants that are hard to kill. My favorites include succulents and cacti, ivy, jasmine, and snake plants, as well as spider plants. 

Then, when you plan to care for your fake plants with your damp cloth, take the time to check the soil of your real plants 

Turn it into a ritual of sorts, this caring of your plants. 

Before you know it, you’ll be that cool bohemian chick with a house full of plants, and no one will know which ones are real or fake. 

Happy manifesting!