A NEW, family-run, dedicated houseplants shop has opened on the Isle of Wight.

Business, Cotton & Leaf, was launched by Laura Smith back in 2021.

After an illness requiring surgery, one of her friends sent her a book on Macrame – to keep her mind occupied during her recovery.

In those early days, she made many projects, but her love of houseplants endured, and she continued making plant hangers.

Her father, David – a talented wood worker – started making shelves for Laura to weave cords through, and her mother, Rosemary, also became 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.

Laura’s new shop on Shooters Hill in Cowes houses a range of plant hangers, plant shelves and propagation units, as well as a large selection of houseplants.

The business also stocks a variety of pots and houseplant care items, together with items from DuxmoreBotanics, and cards and notebooks from The Wight Pencil.

All of its terrariums are made inhouse by Rosemary, and comprise repurposed glass purchased from Mountbatten shops.

In the new year, Laura and her team plan to refurbish the basement space of the shop so it can be used for plant hanger and terrarium building workshops, with a view to inviting other Island artisans to run their own workshops in the space.

The shop is open from 10am to 4.45pm, Monday to Friday, and from 10am to 5pm on Saturday and Sunday.