About

THE PERSON BEHIND THE QUESTIONS

I am Jessica. I am Dutch, based in Denmark, and I work within the world of microbiology — specifically gut microbiome. I spend my days thinking about bacterial communities, and apparently I cannot stop doing that when I get home either.

My plant collection is mainly Orchids like Lepanthes, Bulbophyllum, Cattleya’s but also velvet anthuriums, carnivorous plants including a Darlingtonia californica.

The blog started because I kept asking a question nobody in the hobby seemed to be asking: why? Not what to do — the hobby has plenty of that. But why we do it, what the science actually says, and whether the confidence with which advice is delivered is justified by the evidence behind it.

Usually it is not.

Houseplants — The Unwritten is where I work through those questions. Sometimes I find answers. Sometimes the research does not exist and the question has never been seriously asked. Both outcomes are interesting.

If you are tired of confident advice and would rather read honest uncertainty grounded in real science, you are in the right place.

— Jessica, Denmark