Plant Heart Art, 2022

In case you haven't noticed, we (still very much) LOVE plants!

Plant Love Stories (PLS) began on February 14th, 2018 as a way to collect and share stories about the plants that shape our lives. To celebrate Valentine's Day and our fourth birthday, we bring you another year of original plant-y valentines, also known as #PlantHeartArt.

This year we are so excited to feature a new bouquet of plant artists. These artists are super-plant lovers who participated in a Plant Love Story Challenge hosted by the Phipps Conservatory and Botanic Gardens in Pittsburgh, PA this winter. The PLS Challenge asked students to tell a story–using prose or poetry–about a plant that has meaning to them or that has impacted their lives and attach an original photograph or piece of artwork depicting the plants. We have picked out some (but not all!) of our favorite pieces of original art to feature in this year’s #PlantHeartArt. Stay tuned and we will be sharing more of our favorite stories and submissions in the coming months as well. We want to thank Jennifer Torrance, the Science Education Coordinator at Phipps, for her vision and efforts to create the Plant Love Story Challenge as part of Phipp’s year-long Fairchild Challenge, as well as all the teachers and students who participated in this year’s challenge.

We hope these valentines make you smile, and we hope that you will share them with the people and plants in your life. And, because we know you have a lot of people to spread plant love to, we welcome you to go retro and also use our 2019, 2020, or 2021 valentines! To find printable PDFs of all the valentines, click here!

Happy Valentine's Day from Team PLS!

[Student art, stories, names, and grades used with permission.]

Artist: Sydney Maegle (grade 7)

Bio: Sydney is a seventh grader at Keystone Oaks Middle School and this original artwork accompanied the story “The Strawberry Plant”. Sydney and Keystone teammates earned third place for their submission to the Plant Love Story Middle School Challenge.

Artist: Leela Norman (grade 5)

Bio: Leela is a fifth grader at Edgewood Elementary STEAM Academy and this original artwork accompanied the story “Huckleberries are Grrrrrrrrrrrate”. Leela and teammate Adelaide Scott (grade 2)--who submitted the story ‘My flower garden’--earned a Judge’s Choice prize for their submission to the Plant Love Story Elementary School Challenge.

Artist: Paul Everson (grade 3)

Bio: Paul is a third grader at Wilkins Elementary STEAM Academy and this original artwork accompanied the poem “Lots of fruit”. Paul’s submission earned a Judge’s Choice prize in the Plant Love Story Elementary School Challenge.

Artist: Adithri Pingali (grade 8)

Bio: Adithri is an eighth grader at Penn Middle School. Adithri and teammates Caeley Simon and Ethan Goldsworthy (also both grade 8) earned second place for their submission to the Plant Love Story Middle School Challenge.

Artist: Kate Malley (grade 11)

Bio: Kate is an eleventh grader at Penn-Trafford High School and this original artwork accompanied a story written by teammate Mark Harris (grade 11). Kate, Mark, and their teammates Kristina Heins and Delena Steimer (grade 11)--who drew artwork (Kristina) and wrote (Delena) the story ‘Austrocylindropuntia subulata f. cristata’--earned first place for their submission to the Plant Love Story High School Challenge.

Artist: Anthony Longo (grade 6)

Bio: Anthony is a sixth grader at Queen of Angels Catholic School and this original artwork accompanied the story “Aloe” that was submitted as part of the school’s submission to the Plant Love Story Middle School Challenge. Plant Love Stories wants to give Anthony a special PLS Shout Out for this adorable and loving aloe plant!

Artist: Adrienne Morgan (grade 3

Bio: Adrienne is a third grader at Tenth Street School and this original artwork accompanied the story “Michigan Days”. Adrienne and teammate Riley Matson Graham (grade 3)--who submitted the story ‘The Woods So Beautiful--earned a Judge’s Choice prize for their submission to the Plant Love Story Elementary School Challenge.

Artist: Delaney Race (grade 7)

Bio: Delaney is a seventh grader at Penn-Trafford High School and this original artwork accompanied a story written by teammate Addie M. Delaney, Addie, and their teammate Julianna Eshman (grade 7)--who submitted a poem about blueberries--earned a Special Merit for their submission to the Plant Love Story Middle School Challenge.