Photo by Austin Carey for The Lafayette

The Banana Tree seeks to welcome all plant lovers, regardless of plant experience.

The Banana Tree, a botanical shop in Easton’s West Ward that specializes in tropical plants, is expanding, blossoming and will soon be seeing a new owner.

As tropical plants become commonplace at brand-name stores like Aldi, incoming owner Karen Waters wants to be sure The Banana Tree can branch out and offer unique options, like coffee plants, monkey puzzles and miniature pomegranates.

A College Hill resident, Waters will soon buy the shop from current owner and friend Fred Saleet, who opened The Banana Tree 60 years ago.

Waters met Saleet through his wife, Lori Kolb, because they both walk their dogs near Lafayette College.

“Late last year, we started talking about, ‘What are you doing with the business and the building?'” Waters said. “It just evolved. It’s become more than a business transaction.”

Waters believes that she brought to the table a “passion for plants.”

“Other people were interested in the building, not so much the business,” Waters said. “I didn’t take it lightly.”

As she guides the business forward, Waters said she hopes to “pay homage” to Saleet’s “global seed and plant emporium,” growing the mission of The Banana Tree alongside the store itself.

She is also translating her years of experience in advertising into a business plan. She established The Banana Tree’s Instagram and is collaborating with other local businesses. She held a pop-up at Spectracolor Coffee Roasters in July and a pop-up at Mojo’s last Friday.

“We get it up and running to be like The Banana Tree 2.0, which will be certainly plants, but more of a community center, where we’ll do classes all rooted in botanically-rooted subject matter,” Waters said. “I’d love to also have it be a place that other businesses can incubate.”

Waters also seeks to emphasize the importance of personal wellness with her work.

Five years ago, she was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, challenging her to think about her fulfillment and ways she could “give back” and “be a bigger contributor.”

“Your cortisol levels when you’re around plants are lowered,” Waters said. “When you think about well-being, it’s eating healthy, it’s exercising, but then it’s having those moments and having a surrounding that makes you feel comfortable and just taking care of things like a plant and the rewards that come from it.”

“I want it to be a place that everybody can feel comfortable and that we have price points that are accessible,” she continued. “We’ve had lawyers come in to buy for their offices or students buying for their dorm.”

Those who feel they lack a “green thumb” are still plenty welcome at The Banana Tree, where hours are largely by appointment for the time being.

“Get plants even if you’re afraid to kill them,” said Melanie Acosta ‘25, a Lafayette student who helped arrange a The Banana Tree pop-up at Mojo 516 Café. “You can talk to Karen or me about plant care and she would be more than happy to give advice.”

Acosta worked alongside Waters and Francine Galanos, the manager of Mojo, to bring the pop-up to life.

Galanos described The Banana Tree as a staple of downtown Easton.

“A lot of small little places have closed in the last few years, so in order to keep them up and running, you’ve still got to support them and give them your business,” Galanos said.