Lynn: “As an artist, I look at plants as living sculptures. As you cultivate them, they grow into something big and beautiful.” What Bark Vine looked like in June. Now, gone are the plants, gone are the pots, gone is the couch. Credit: Alexandra Martinakova file photo Fair Haven Heights resident Bindu Vanapalli’s many hoyas, pothos, succulents, and other indoor plants in need of TLC were the last plants that Bark Vine store manager Olivia Lynn repotted Wednesday — as the much-loved Ninth Square shop marked its last activity on the last day of 2025. Born as a pop-up online operation by Ralph Saldi at the start of the Covid pandemic in 2020, and after a successful five-year run that also saw it grow into an important community hub and gathering spot, especially for the queer community, the 49 Orange St. store closed its doors Wednesday afternoon. Lynn said the decision was taken due in large part to the economic effect of the Trump tariffs, diminishing foot traffic along Orange Street, and a devoted clientele who simply over time have had less disposable income for gifts like a Hindu rope plant or a “Bloody Mary” philodendron or a workshop on how to build a terrarium. “We’ve had a rough last year,” said Lynn, a freelance artist who began as a part-time intern at Bark Vine when it transitioned from online to physical store, “starting especially this summer with slow foot traffic and a lot of people can’t afford to buy presents.” While the store’s amazon of often unusual and beautiful plants largely were unchanged pricewise, Lynn said that it became increasingly difficult to find — let alone stock and pay for — the many other tasteful plant pots and accessories that customers also were looking for. She pointed in particular to the collection of Momma Pots and other plant-focused ceramics that often drew customers to the cozy establishment, with its signature yellow sofa surrounded by chairs where customers and friends chatted or did their email in a warm, stylish atmosphere While the pots were purchased from American companies, those companies in turn had been importing largely from China. The price Bark Vine ultimately had to pay steadily increased. “Depending on the [size and scope of] each purchase, the increase could be a hundred dollars or a thousand dollars,” Lynn recalled. “I don’t feel confident [or feel it’s] right to put that extra cost — even five or ten dollars — on the customer who has already chosen to support a local store.” So as time went on and as the shelves had fewer pots and accessories, Lynn made what she called the “pivot” to have more plants, which because they come from Connecticut or New York and are un-tariffed, remained generally at the prices people expected. “However, if people came to the store expecting pots and all I have to offer is plants, then I lose a customer.” That combined with a serious diminishing of foot traffic, which Lynn described as a general trend among the other businesses on the Orange Street, tipped the decision to close the store. Lynn added, even though the store is now closed, Bark Vine will continue as the “Studio” — that is, a plant care consulting business that maintains installations it has put in at around ten locations, including Yale buildings and architectural firms, throughout the Elm City. Still Lynn’s attitude was upbeat and at times even joyous – like the atmosphere in the store during its heyday. Is that what happens when you hang around plants? It seems to be the case with Lynn. Working on the fish bone cactus, and the bloody mary philodendron An artist who knew zero about plants when she began, she’s now a confident expert and exudes satisfaction both in how she’s grown with the experience and at the many positive experiences that have emerged. “When Ralph announced the closing, everyone shared condolences and thoughts about the impact” of the store, Lynn said. Through Bark Vine so many people started what Lynn called their “plant journeys.” Those included Vanapalli, who said for her Covid was the trigger. She could no longer travel, she was at home, in a large Fair Haven Heights house with many high windows — a perfect place, Lynn said, as she unpacked Vanapalli’s plants, for hoyas. A hoya heaven. “Each person has their own vibe” for the plant type they connect to, Lynn said. In her own case it’s philodendrons and monsteras, which turn her digs, in Guilford, into a kind of much loved jungle. And there were others who connected to the store, Lynn added, immersed a little, and then convinced their businesses to install plantings. Many of those plantings were installed by the third Bark Vine employee, Jack Smith, who will continue to maintain them, as a business. Within a day or two of last week’s announcement of Bark Vine’s closing, all the plants, accessories, pots, the yellow couch, and other furnishings were all sold. “I look at this space now,” Lynn said, gazing up from the plants she had begun to examine, “and it does make me feel sad. They [plants] bring life.” “As an artist, I look at plants as living sculptures,” she said. “As you cultivate them, they grow into something big and beautiful.” While there’s that sadness for the place, Lynn also said she feels good to have seen the business through from the beginning. “Five years for a small business is awesome,” and for it to close down definitively on the last day of the year just seems right and rounded to her. “I feel very positive about 2026. A fresh beginning feels good.” On a personal note, Lynn says, “I learned a lot here and I feel equipped for the future.” “Artists have to be entrepreneurs,” she added. They have to be flexible and, to earn a living, be able to move on to the next thing and the next. As a freelance illustrator and artist, she’s going to be moving in that direction for now, although one day she hopes to create and own her own version of Bark Vine. For now, after finishing repotting Vanapalli’s hoyas and fish bone cactuses, Lynn planned to take the potting table home, a new platform for the art project that comes next to her. In the meantime, what might be her single indoor plant care wisdom for the ages? “Never pot directly into a non-draining pot! People do. I’ve seen everything.” For those interested in Bark Vine’s ongoing plant care services, the contact is Jack Smith at [email protected]. The post 9th Square Indoor Plant Shop Closes appeared first on New Haven Independent. ...read more read less