My Mother has a green thumb and I grew up always feeling connected to the plant world. Plants were always part of my imaginary play as a young child. I was either making special potions or gathering leaves and seeds to prepare delicious meals for whoever would pretend to try them. This experience as a child carried over into my teenage years and all of my adult life. One of my very first jobs was in a nursery in my hometown and this experience set the stage for a lifetime of fascination with the tropical plant world.

One of my most memorable purchases was an Albo Monstera cutting from a paper catalog. I had to actually mail a check and wait for weeks for my cutting to arrive (no tracking was available back then). Can you believe they were still valued at over $100 even in the 1990’s? That first experience nervously rooting a very dry stem cutting in a vase of water started an obsession with how plants can be propagated in such simple ways. My Albo Monstera grew and thrived and is still growing (in some form) in my house almost 25 years later!

During my college years my obsession with houseplants took off. I had them growing everywhere I could in my small one bedroom apartment. It brought so much satisfaction watching my tiny indoor garden thrive even when the hustle and bustle of college life got so much busier. In early 2000 I had the opportunity to take over a houseplant shop and I had so much more room to explore how houseplants grow, thrive, and propagate. I met so many plant minded people and it was obvious what my lifelong passion would be. Houseplants!

Even after the houseplant shop could not make it in the economy it tried to survive in, I moved on to become an Assistant Tropical House Plant Grower in a well respected local greenhouse. It was during those years that I learned so much more about cultivating and propagating, I was blown away! There are so many techniques, do’s and don’ts, and I learned from the very best! There are probably 1000’s of houseplants in local hobbyists collections that I started from stock cuttings at that greenhouse.

I have spent years taking horticulture courses and growing and propagating at home. Before the pandemic I had the unique opportunity to learn Interiorscaping skills with indoor plants. I traveled all across the Denver-metro area installing and caring for plants in so many specialized environments. It really opened my eyes to how resilient our plants can be to thrive even in less than ideal situations. They have the will to thrive, we just need to listen to them. I am currently an Annual Grower at the exact same greenhouse that originally peaked my interest in the science behind how we grow and cultivate plants from seed/cutting to retail ready. I have come full circle in my lifelong horticulture experiences.

From all of this fascination and hands-on learning, I decided to open my own Etsy mail order business that combines 30 years of experience working with tropical plants and many others from all angles (with shipping tracking now!). Friends across the world call me the (crazy) plant lady, it may just stem from the green thumb passed down to me from my Mother or it could just be what got me ticking. I now specialize ("geek out") in growing and propagating Peperomia from all around the world.

I am here to support you too on this same journey of finding ourselves through plants!!

michelletheplantlady