330 Homes Fall 2021

w e l c o m e

by COLIN BAKER

a s u p p l e m e n t t o A k r o n L i f e m a g a z i n e

GREEN WAY Plants fill your home with vibrant life and stories.

Pub l i she r COL I N BAKER cbaker@bakermediagroup.com Cr ea t i ve D i r e c t o r WI LL I AM L . TECKMYER I I I wteckmyer@bakermediagroup.com Mana g i ng Ed i t o r KELLY PETRYSZYN kpet ryszyn@bakermediagroup.com As s i s t an t Ed i t o r ALEXANDRA SOBCZAK asobczak@bakermediagroup.com Gr aph i c De s i gne r TYLAR CALHOUN tsut ton@bakermediagroup.com

I enjoy houseplants, but my house is getting overrun with them. It started slowly. I didn’t notice at first, but eventually window ledges became alive. We have a room in our house that is incredible for plants. It’s glass all the way around, and every plant seems to love it. Every week, my wife would add a new plant. And now there isn’t a single open ledge or a shelf that doesn’t have something growing. It is cool, I must admit. I have a brown thumb. It’s my wife who keeps the plants alive. How do I know I’m not good with plants? Well, a few years ago, my wife gave me a bonsai tree and all the books and tools to take care of it. It seemed like a great idea, and I was into it. But I forgot about it and then tried to play catch up by watering. Every day, I gave it more and more water. And that’s when I realized — this thing was dead. One of my better moments with plants was a rubber tree that came with our house. The previous homeowners were employees of one of the local tire companies, so what better plant to have? After the first year of living in our house, one of my kids left the backdoor to the sunroom open during below-zero temps, and much of the tree died. Well, that is a hardy tree, and it arose from the dead. And it’s now back

to its previous splendor. It’s about 6 feet tall with shiny rubber leaves, and I love it. Another one of the plants has a fantastic story. My wife’s family has a friend who worked in the White House during former President Barack Obama’s terms, and they gave us some clippings they had from a Swedish ivy plant. That story alone would be cool, but with research, it proved even more compelling. We discovered that Swedish ivy plant had sat under a portrait of former President George Washington on the mantel in the Oval Office since former President John F. Kennedy's administration. The plant was a gift to Kennedy from the Irish ambassador to the United States in 1961 and was displayed by every president following, except for Obama, who chose to display grape ivy. Plants can add character, sto ries and more to our homes. Read our article about the benefits houseplants can have on our health on pg. 20. In this issue of 330 Homes , also find ways to enrich your house with furniture locally made from redwood trees, easy garage renovation ideas and inspira

Con t r i bu t i ng Wr i t e r s SHARON BEST MI CHAEL N I ED

Pho t og r aphe r TYLAR CALHOUN

Sa l e s BUNNY LACEY STEVE TYSON BEN D I COLA sales@bakermediagroup.com

C i r cu l a t i on circulat ion@bakermediagroup.com 330-253-0056, ext . 104

Ed i t o r i a l I n t e r ns MARCUS ANDERSON SAMUEL GROM MORGAN MCGRATH HALENA SEPULVEDA

fall 2021 | volume 3 | issue 3

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tion for holiday decor. Right now, our Swedish

ivy plant is being displayed proudly in the Baker home. I’m sure it will be clipped and passed along too.

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