Familiar Faces, U.S. Sen. Stop By Queer-Owned Plant Shop

Janay Prim makes the half-hour drive from Bridgeport to New Haven at least once per month, just to visit Bark & Vine Indoor Plants shop at 49 Orange St.

“This is my second time here this week,” Prim said on Friday afternoon, her basket full of plants to add to the ​“Jacklyn” plant she bought the day before. ​“I get a cute little dopamine hit every time I come here. It’s like my therapy. It’s so cute and homey. I’m obsessed with it.” 

She’s not the only one. Yazmin came all the way from Thomaston, about 45 minutes away. 

“I’ve been coming here for like two, three years maybe,” she said on Friday. ​“Me and my best friend used to come here all the time on little dates. I like going to Home Depot, but I feel like here they have more rare plants and more diversity and newer things.”

Bark & Vine carries plants from all over the world so there is definitely something for everyone. On Friday, the shop saw visits not just from regular customers like Prim and Yazmin — but also from U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, who stopped by the proudly queer-owned business to celebrate Pride Month, talk about tariffs, and buy a bouquet of flowers.

“We’re really lucky to get such a loyal following,” said Olivia Lynn, who’s been working as a store manager for about nine months. ​“I get deliveries of fresh plants every Wednesday and people know. I have a very loyal following of people who watch the Instagram story or I have a list of names and numbers of people who are collectors and expect our high quality plants and products when we get them in.” 

Bark & Vine first started as an online shop during the Covid-19 pandemic, before moving to its current location in the Ninth Square in 2021. 

The store is not only full of indoor plants and everything one might need to take care of them, but also a variety of other products, including soaps and shirts and tote bags and different pottery. 

“We try to source in Connecticut and New England but we also carry based on vibe, based on what we wanna buy and wanna see,” Lynn explained. ​“We also just love to curate the vibe. The store being a very specific atmosphere, we carry products that align with our views.”

Even though most of the products are locally sourced — including the plants, most of which come from a greenhouse in New York — certain products such as fun-colored ceramic pots come from afar and currently are nowhere to be seen in the shop.

“They’re based out of California but they outsource their manufacturing and we haven’t been able to order from them at all because they don’t have any stock,” Lynn said in response to a question from Blumenthal about the tariffs President Donald Trump has put into place on various products and countries. 

“We are absolutely affected by tariffs,” Lynn told the senator. ​“It’s been not affecting our plants that much but more our accessories.” Thankfully, it has not affected their prices yet. 

Blumenthal posed this question during his brief and fashionably late visit to the shop as he was learning about Bark & Vine and picked up some flowers to show his support of the business.

“Like 24 hours ago I was just coming into the shop to grab my stuff to teach a terrarium class at Yale and I picked up the phone and it just so happened to be the office of Richard Blumenthal,” Lynn said. ​“The recognition is nice, it’s great to see a senator on the ground wanting to see these places.” 

Not only a recognition, but the presence of a senator attracted a small crowd into the shop, most of which also snapped a photo or two. 

“Pride month is about celebrating what people do and who they are,” Blumenthal told Lynn. ​“Your success here is [a] really great example to other people.” 

“All of us are queer and here,” Lynn said. ​“It’s really important to be present, not only during the month of June but during all twelve months and have people acknowledge that.”