If you can't have a pet at your rental property, opting for an indoor plant is the next best living thing.
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Taking a leaf from her cultural background, Marea Ruddy started her Pianta Boutique business in the middle of COVID-19.
"In Italian, pianta mean plant and it felt good having that as the name for the business," she said.
"Since starting in May, I have had a good response from plant lovers in Orange because having plants is an escape for them and they're able to tune out from the craziness going on at the moment."
Mrs Ruddy said she has made two trips down to Sydney and one to Melbourne to hand-select indoor plants to be sold on her online shop.
"I had plans to go down to Melbourne in the next couple of weeks but the border lockdown has put a damper on that," she said.
"I have been able to find a wide variety of plants that I can't get in Sydney and it's definitely worth the long drive."
According to Mrs Ruddy, the snake plant or Mother-In-Laws' tongue, Devil's Ivy and Fiddle Leaf Fig are the most popular plants.
"The best advice I can offer to new planters, depending on the type of plant, not over water the plant during cool weather," she said.
"As the weather changes, move the plants around to make sure they have enough exposure to sunlight and don't sit them near a heating vent."
Anything Grows owner Clare Bremerkamp said she has noticed during COVID-19 people have more time on their hands to look after plants.
"We have a range of unique and rare indoor and perennial plants," she said.
"The most popular plants people are buying are the Mother-In-Laws' tongue, Monstera, Zanzibar and Fiddle Leaf Figs."
Mrs Bremerkamp said she takes a monthly trip down to Sydney to bring up a trailer load of hand selected plants.
"We want to be able to help with your new green addition and have received a few orders to pick up particular plants, especially roses," she said.
Mrs Bremerkamp added she has seen her fair share of weird but wonderful plants.
"We had a gherkin plant which was quite popular and trendy because it was something you see every day," she said.
"My personal favourite is the Zanzibar plant because it has glossy green leaves and it's easy to maintain but I find ferns and String of Pearl plants to be temperamental."
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