I borrowed the name Plantasia from Mort Garson’s 1976 album Mother Earth’s Plantasia – electronic music created for plants and the people who grow them.

The collection was inspired by the way my relationship with plants has changed over time. I grew up watching my mother’s love for plants, and around 2020 I started building a collection of my own. Looking for new and rare species quickly became an obsession – I simply wanted more and more.

While looking for parallels to this phenomenon, I came across pteridomania, the fern craze that swept through 19th-century Britain. Ferns were collected and grown at home, while fern motifs found their way into textiles, ceramics and other household objects.

Today, my relationship with plants is different. Instead of searching for new species, I spend more time taking care of what I already grow and experimenting with balcony gardening. I’m also interested in people who spend years creating their flower beds and gardens, photographing them and sharing what they have grown. I see a connection with knitting here – knitters also spend a long time working on a single project, watching it take shape and sharing the finished piece with others.

My obsession with collecting plants has passed, but the tendency to become intensely interested in something hasn’t gone anywhere. Right now, knitting has taken its place. I want to try new techniques, yarns and constructions, start new projects and knit more. I still don’t know where this obsession will take me.