The 'houseplant hotel’ that gives greenery the spa treatment

Different cacti growing in a clay bowl on a windowsill. At the houseplant hotel, you can treat your plants to the staycation they deserve, if you are going away. Photo: Jens Kalaene/dpa-Zentralbild/ZB

Yolanda Palmer ushers visitors through Foliage, past towering ferns, hanging ficus and monstera with leaves that look like Swiss cheese, to the 300sq ft (28sq m) greenery hotel nestled in the back of her plant boutique.

Here, close to a dozen clivia, hibiscus and succulents soak in the sun under floor-to-ceiling windows. On cloudy days, high-powered, infrared grow lights help turn stalks green and lush. Palmer repots, fertilises and sprays neem oil so bugs don’t get too comfortable. She puts all her visiting plants on strict watering schedules – too much water is worse than too little.