Thought I’d share something fun I’ve been doing lately in hopes it inspires anyone else with a few too many plants on their hands. I know plant swaps and even rare plant conventions are a thing now, but for anyone looking to give some of their plants away, but don’t have many friends or family as into keeping them as much as you are, I highly recommend gifting them to your local nursing and retirement homes. I’m sure plenty of the folks that move into the ones around you are like mine and used to garden or keep houseplants. Some homes even have gardening clubs for the residents. I thought I might make some folks feel a little less homesick if they had something small to take care of and brighten up their new spaces. I’ve met quite a few very sweet ladies who thanked me when I dropped them off, telling me all about all the succulents they used to have in their homes, or the beautiful gardens they miss tending to. I’m preparing my third batch of plants for them and I’m happy to report that every time I go to gift some, I get another dozen people asking me if I can come back and bring more. I run out of plants very quickly there. For anyone interested in trying this, I highly recommend picking low-maintenance plants, like succulents, or ones that thrive on neglect like snake plants and ZZ plants. I make them “care cards” where I tell them how much light they need, how long I wait before watering them, how to check if the soil is dry to water, what type of soil they need, etc. using the information this app provides really comes in handy for that. I hope this inspires someone else to give some away where we might not normally think to look to gift them. You never know how much a small gift can mean to someone 😊
