ISLAND’S FIRST DEDICATED HOUSEPLANT SHOP OPENS ITS DOORS IN COWES

A new houseplant and homeware shop has opened up in Cowes. Cotton & Leaf was started by Laura Smith in 2021, who after an illness that required surgery, was introduced to Macrame by friends and family. In those early days, Laura made many projects but her love of houseplants kept on bringing her back to making plant hangers. Her father David, a talented woodworker, was soon involved in making shelves for Laura to weave cords through. Rosemary, Laura’s Mum, became heavily involved as they began to sell her plant hangers and shelves alongside an array of houseplants at many of the Island’s fairs and markets. Their new shop on Shooters Hill in Cowes houses their range of plant hangers, plant shelves, and propagation units plus a large selection of houseplants all cared for by their expert knowledge. They also stock a large variety of pots and houseplant care items. Passionate about supporting other Isle of Wight-based businesses they are stockists for the ever-popular Duxmore Botanics and wonderful cards and notebooks from The Wight Pencil. All their terrariums are made in-house by Rosemary and use repurposed glass that has been purchased from Mountbatten shops. In the New Year, the Smiths plan to refurbish the basement space of the shop so that it can be used for plant hanger and terrarium building workshops with the intention of also inviting other Island artisans to run their own workshops in the space. Cotton & Leaf is open Monday-Friday 10:00-16:45 and Saturday/Sunday 10:00 – 17:00.