Nairobi, May 25 -- Njoki Kamau has had plants in her home office for the last 14 years. Before that, her desk was buried under paperwork. Files and documents were stacked everywhere, and surfaces were covered in paper.

"Bringing plants in meant first clearing space for them, which meant reorganising everything else. The desk I work at now holds a laptop, a desktop computer, a diary, a pen holder and three small plants," she says.

Her favourite is a snake plant that she has named Imani, meaning 'hope' in Swahili. "It's always thriving," she says. She also has a plant called Uugi, which means 'wisdom', and another in her guest bathroom named Ikara Thii, a Kikuyu phrase meaning 'sit down', which a host says to welcome a visitor.

"Naming t...