Feb 12, 2021 | ACTIVE LIFE | By Claire Barber | Illustration by Bibi Powers
As a writer, when I’m stuck without an article idea or a lead falls through (sigh) I tend to mend my wounds with Facebook.
No, I don’t find and write about conspiracy theories, and I’ve stopped scrolling through the erroneous “boomer” posts that my step-great-aunt makes about Trump.
Instead, I look for peculiar Facebook Groups that play to the more innocent sides of society. And yes, while Facebook is notorious for dividing its users, there are some more joyful notes.
Crazy Plant Ladies – CO Springs.
To all the plant propagating and bread baking hippies of Colorado College (myself included, although I can’t bake bread and I’m bad with plants) I’ve found your virtual clubhouse.
The group is a conglomeration of 2,000 middle-aged moms, new-to-town twenty-somethings, and folks of all plant curiosities.
Is your Pachira Aquatica yellow and dying? Do you just need to share the new leaf stem that sprouted from your propagation? Want to flaunt the plant collection hanging over your carefully crafted and selected ARC furniture or sitting next to your slightly seedy porch couch?
Friend, here is your haven.
I may be the last person you should take plant advice from. I bought a lot of plants this summer and regrettably orphaned them all to a new home on San Rafael when I needed to move. Just today I realized that a cactus I was gifted in a cute little mason jar was deprived of all nutrients and is nearly dead. It was left in my car for several weeks.
But I am simply here to be a crossing guard in the digital chaos of the now. I can’t tell you how much to water a cactus or when to repot your bonsai, but I bet these folks can.
Crazy Plant Ladies is not a place to buy or sell items, but plants and propagations can be gifted or traded. There is a monthly “Trade, Rehome and ISO Thread,” and February’s thread already has 420 comments. Plus, the group is an easy place to find and support local plant stores.
This February, the Songbird and the Orchid (a local garden center) is hosting a virtual meetup. Members of the Facebook group can snap a photo inside (and let me interject and say to please wear a mask) and post it for a chance to win a prize from the store. Profits from the establishment are also donated to conservation groups, including the Audubon Society, Cheyenne Mountain Zoo, The Nature Conservancy, and many more.
Sure, the good ol’ Free and For Sale page serves a broad audience at CC, but for those plant-obsessed, curious, and cash strapped for a leafy green or cactus-spiked pal, welcome. Now, you are a crazy plant lady.