Hilton Carter is a Baltimore-based plant expert whose passion for plant care and talent for styling greenery has fueled several popular books and a hugely influential Instagram @HiltonCarter. In his latest book, Wild Creations, Hilton shares DIY ideas - like making a plant chandelier from a model canoe - as well as deeply informative tutorials like making your own potting soil.
Hilton Carter has a new book out, and it’s required reading for plant lovers — experts and amateurs alike. Wild Creations: Inspiring Projects to Create plus Plant Care Tips & Styling Ideas for Your Own Wild Interior expands on his earlier books — Wild at Home and Wild Interiors — with a new collection of plant-centric DIY projects, from concrete planters to hanging leather holders (also for plants). The common thread between each book is Carter’s emphatic advocacy for plant health: For the Baltimore-based expert, plants are never simply Instagram props, but living, breathing (yes) companions who deserve our time, attention, and love. Wild Creations is in some ways Carter’s pandemic project. “In April 2020, so many people were suddenly at home — and I thought, You know what?
If everyone's at home, there's gonna be a lot of people trying to figure out how to make their space feel a bit better — a bit more alive,” Carter says. “And if that's the case, I thought it would be awesome to make a book that had a lot more DIY projects in it. The projects would be the focus — but of course I didn’t want to forget to do a lot of ranting.” (In fact, during our 2020 talk with Carter, he told Bloomist that at the top of his to-do list was a new book composed of nothing but rants against plant-owners who treated their purchases with disrespect.) Equally at home — alongside the DIY projects and the rants — are deeply informative tutorials on subjects like creating your own potting soil and understanding how much light your plants need. I figured a lot of the things that I had already done in my home could work as a DIY project — so I put some of those in there,” he says.
Main: Having plants in a home office is important as it helps you to be more creative. In my office, I've mixed things up by growing different but similar-minded plants, I went with two types of philodendron, 'Rojo Congo' and a 'Lemon Lime'. I also added a Dracaena 'Lemon Lime' to work the vertical space. Above: Hilton at home. Right: "It's the unexpected, the non-traditional, that can make something so normal, feel so wild. I love that! And it's one of the rules I stick to the most when plant styling a space - always do the unexpected. It was with that rule in mind that I decided to create a plant chandelier out of a model canoe."
Main: Having plants in a home office is important as it helps you to be more creative. In my office, I've mixed things up by growing different but similar-minded plants, I went with two types of philodendron, 'Rojo Congo' and a 'Lemon Lime'. I also added a Dracaena 'Lemon Lime' to work the vertical space. Middle: "It's the unexpected, the non-traditional, that can make something so normal, feel so wild. I love that! And it's one of the rules I stick to the most when plant styling a space - always do the unexpected. It was with that rule in mind that I decided to create a plant chandelier out of a model canoe." Above: Hilton at home.
“I FIGURED A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT I HAD ALREADY DONE IN MY HOME COULD WORK AS A DIY PROJECT – SO I PUT SOME OF THOSE IN THERE.” -Hilton Carter, author Wild Creations
In designing the projects for this book, Carter looked first to his own new home, which he shares with his wife Fiona, his family of plants, and an Insta-famous fiddle-leaf fig tree named Frank. (A new baby will join the household any day now.) In addition to preparing his family for its imminent expansion, Carter and his wife recently moved to a new home — and in some ways, a fresh canvas for Carter’s wildly expansive imagination.
Left: "I've always been in search of the "wow" and finding ways to sneak in a bit of greenery and tie in plant life to your gallery wall can take you there." - Hilton. Right: "What I love about propagating is that you're able to take a cutting from a plant that you've spent so much time loving and caring for and gift it to someone that you also love and care for. I call propagation the gift that keeps on giving."
“I figured a lot of the things that I had already done in my home could work as a DIY project — so I put some of those in there,” he says. “For other projects, I reached out to local artists — people in my circle, people whose work I loved. It was a no-brainer to have a book that really just focused on DIY projects because so many people love being able to utilize their space and put their own twist on things.”
Carter assembled a “test kitchen of sorts” to try out all the projects in the book — and weed out those that disappointed, like a DIY water spike. “It was really cool — I wanted people to be able to make a really cool, unique water spike for themselves,” he says. After going through the development process, he checked the project costs against what he found online: “I looked and found a set of three that you could buy for $5 — and I said, ‘We’re done.’” (Unique water spikes didn’t make the cut.)
Hilton shares step-by-step instructions on how to make your own leather plant hanger.
Hilton shares step-by-step instructions on how to make your own leather plant hanger.
“IT WAS A NO BRAINER TO HAVE A BOOK THAT REALLY JUST FOCUSED ON DIY PROJECTS BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE LOVE TO UTILIZE THEIR SPACE AND PUT THEIR OWN TWIST ON THINGS.”
His favorite project in the entire book is the jungle-by-numbers wall mural — truly a project for everyone. “The reason why I love that most is because maybe you don't have a green thumb, or maybe you don’t have any space or a lot of light,” he says. “This gives everyone the opportunity to create a lush environment in your home — it’ll be something that will live and remind you of the outdoors. And it'll never go brown on you unless you decide to use brown as your main color.”
"I reached out to my good friend Drury Bynum, a painter, director, and just an all-round great artist, and asked him to help me design a jungle-themed mural that plant lovers could create at home themselves. For the mural here, we decided to go with a green color scheme, so we selected a medium-hue green, a dark green, and, of course, white"
"I reached out to my good friend Drury Bynum, a painter, director, and just an all-round great artist, and asked him to help me design a jungle-themed mural that plant lovers could create at home themselves. For the mural here, we decided to go with a green color scheme, so we selected a medium-hue green, a dark green, and, of course, white"
“THIS GIVES EVERYONE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A LUSH ENVIRONMENT IN YOUR HOME -- IT’LL BE SOMETHING THAT WILL LIVE AND REMIND YOU OF THE OUTDOORS.”
GET TO KNOW
HILTON CARTER, GARDENING GURU
AND AUTHOR OF WILD CREATIONS, A NEW BOOK OF INSPIRING
PLANT-CENTRIC DIY PROJECTS
Hilton Carter is a Baltimore-based plant expert whose passion for plant care
and talent for styling greenery has fueled several popular books and a
hugely influential Instagram @HiltonCarter. In his latest
book, Wild Creations, Hilton shares
DIY ideas - like making a plant chandelier from a model canoe - as
well as deeply informative tutorials like making your own potting soil.
Hilton Carter has a new book out, and it’s required reading for plant lovers — experts
and amateurs alike. Wild Creations: Inspiring Projects to Create plus Plant
Care Tips & Styling Ideas for Your Own Wild Interior expands on his earlier
books — Wild at Home and Wild Interiors — with a new collection of
plant-centric DIY projects, from concrete planters to hanging leather
holders (also for plants). The common thread between each book is Carter’s
emphatic advocacy for plant health: For the Baltimore-based expert, plants
are never simply Instagram props, but living, breathing (yes) companions
who deserve our time, attention, and love.
Wild Creations is in some ways Carter’s pandemic project. “In April 2020, so many
people were suddenly at home — and I thought, You know what?
If everyone's at home, there's gonna be a lot of people trying to figure out how
to make their space feel a bit better — a bit more alive,” Carter says. “And
if that's the case, I thought it would be awesome to make a book that had
a lot more DIY projects in it. The projects would be the focus — but of
course I didn’t want to forget to do a lot of ranting.” (In fact,
during our 2020 talk with
Carter, he
told Bloomist that at the top of his to-do list was a new book composed
of nothing but rants against plant-owners who treated their purchases
with disrespect.) Equally at home — alongside the DIY projects and the
rants — are deeply informative tutorials on subjects like creating your
own potting soil and understanding how much light your plants need. I figured a
lot of the things that I had already done in my home could work as a DIY
project — so I put some of those in there,” he says.
Main: Having plants in a home office is important as it helps you to be more creative.
In my office, I've mixed things up by growing different but similar-minded
plants, I went with two types of philodendron, 'Rojo Congo' and a
'Lemon Lime'. I also added a Dracaena 'Lemon Lime' to work the vertical space.
Above: Hilton at home.
Right: "It's the unexpected, the non-traditional, that can make something
so normal, feel so wild. I love that! And it's one of the rules I stick to
the most when plant styling a space - always do the unexpected. It was
with that rule in mind that I decided to create a plant chandelier out
of a model canoe."
Main: Having plants in a home office is important as it helps you to be more creative.
In my office, I've mixed things up by growing different but similar-minded
plants, I went with two types of philodendron, 'Rojo Congo' and a
'Lemon Lime'. I also added a Dracaena 'Lemon Lime' to work the vertical space.
Middle: "It's the unexpected, the non-traditional, that can make something
so normal, feel so wild. I love that! And it's one of the rules I stick to
the most when plant styling a space - always do the unexpected. It was
with that rule in mind that I decided to create a plant chandelier out
of a model canoe."
Above: Hilton at home.
“I FIGURED A LOT OF THE THINGS THAT I HAD ALREADY DONE IN MY HOME COULD WORK AS A DIY PROJECT – SO I PUT SOME OF THOSE IN THERE.”
-Hilton Carter, author Wild Creations
In designing the projects for this book, Carter looked first to his own new home,
which he shares with his wife Fiona, his family of plants, and an
Insta-famous fiddle-leaf fig tree named Frank. (A new baby will join
the household any day now.) In addition to preparing his family for
its imminent expansion, Carter and his wife recently moved to a new
home — and in some ways, a fresh canvas for Carter’s wildly expansive
imagination.
Left: "I've always been in search of the "wow" and finding ways to sneak in a bit of
greenery and tie in plant life to your gallery wall can take you there." - Hilton.
Right: "What I love about propagating is that you're able to take a cutting from
a plant that you've spent so much time loving and caring for and gift it to
someone that you also love and care for. I call propagation the gift that
keeps on giving."
“I figured a lot of the things that I had already done in my home could work as a
DIY project — so I put some of those in there,” he says. “For other projects,
I reached out to local artists — people in my circle, people whose work I loved.
It was a no-brainer to have a book that really just focused on DIY projects
because so many people love being able to utilize their space and put their
own twist on things.”
Carter assembled a “test kitchen of sorts” to try out all the projects in
the book — and weed out those that disappointed, like a DIY water
spike. “It was really cool — I wanted people to be able to make a really
cool, unique water spike for themselves,” he says. After going through the
development process, he checked the project costs against what he found
online: “I looked and found a set of three that you could buy for $5 — and
I said, ‘We’re done.’” (Unique water spikes didn’t make the cut.)
Hilton shares step-by-step instructions on how to make your own leather plant hanger.
Hilton shares step-by-step instructions on how to make your own leather plant hanger.
“IT WAS A NO BRAINER TO HAVE A BOOK THAT REALLY JUST FOCUSED ON DIY PROJECTS
BECAUSE SO MANY PEOPLE LOVE TO UTILIZE THEIR SPACE AND PUT THEIR OWN
TWIST ON THINGS.”
His favorite project in the entire book is the jungle-by-numbers wall mural — truly
a project for everyone. “The reason why I love that most is because maybe
you don't have a green thumb, or maybe you don’t have any space or a lot
of light,” he says. “This gives everyone the opportunity to create a lush
environment in your home — it’ll be something that will live and remind
you of the outdoors. And it'll never go brown on you unless you decide
to use brown as your main color.”
"I reached out to my good friend Drury Bynum, a painter, director, and just
an all-round great artist, and asked him to help me design a jungle-themed
mural that plant lovers could create at home themselves. For the mural
here, we decided to go with a green color scheme, so we selected a
medium-hue green, a dark green, and, of course, white"
"I reached out to my good friend Drury Bynum, a painter, director, and just
an all-round great artist, and asked him to help me design a jungle-themed
mural that plant lovers could create at home themselves. For the mural
here, we decided to go with a green color scheme, so we selected a
medium-hue green, a dark green, and, of course, white"
“THIS GIVES EVERYONE THE OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE A LUSH ENVIRONMENT IN YOUR HOME -- IT’LL
BE SOMETHING THAT WILL LIVE AND REMIND YOU OF THE OUTDOORS.”
