Plant Lady Paradise GingerSprout Plant Co. Prospers from Personal Growth By Abby Meaux Conques
W
e just can’t get enough of all these stories of prosperity during the time of a pandemic, so here’s another one! Read on about how Acadiana native, Amber Wolfe, grew her pop-up plant business, GingerSprout Plant Co., during the early days of the uncertain times of COVID. Amber’s plant business grew out of necessity coupled with a passion for plants. Her profession change followed her career as an administrator in the healthcare sector, leaving only to help care for her ailing grandfather. Like so many during the time of COVID, Amber suffered many losses in a short amount of time including the loss of her beloved grandfather, the course of what she thought was her career, and a long-term relationship. In the span of all this newness for her, she moved into a new apartment in the Downtown area of St. Martinville which happened to have noteworthy, grand windows. “Oddly enough, my time there allowed me to be the most ‘me’ I felt I had ever been,” Amber mentioned when we sat with her recently. In a space where her heart was ready for some healing, Amber decided to utilize the gorgeous natural light of her new place and searched for plants to care for. Excited to add to her new location, she bought plants...admittingly lots of plants. “I bought wayyyy too many!” she laughed. The variety of plants and sheer amount of them gave Amber the drive to research how to care for them properly and learn all aspects of them. “Out of my heartbreak, I got to give love to all these plants and to watch them grow and thrive,” she explained. After months of self-work, throwing herself into careful plant research, and watching all of the plants that adorned her home grow, things began to thrive for her too. She was embarking on a new, exciting adventure into the vast plant world and her relationship rekindled. “I was at a point where people began to ask my advice about plants, and I began to plant buy for friends and family, showing them how to care for them,” she explained. Amber needed a source of income and toyed with the idea of making her now-established passion for everything plants into a profession. A move to central Lafayette and a fateful jump into her new role as being known as the “Plant Lady” served as a springboard for GingerSprout Plant Co. She began selling online and shipping to other states before she made a move to central Lafayette where customers could pick up their new plants and get to know the plant lady on a personal level. She eventually found a great working relationship with a wholesaler and began curating lists of beautiful houseplants including rare species to offer to her loyal customers.
PICTURED LEFT: GINGERSPROUT PLANT CO. OWNER, AMBER WOLFE PORTRAITS BY SOUTHERN WANDER PHOTOGRAPHY
MONSTERA ADANSONII
Meeting Amber is a testament to her devoted customer base. We know they go to her for plant knowledge, but her outgoing and witty personality is a major plus. Amber lets her genuine, authentic nature shine, which is refreshing in times of “best face forward” social media. “I am the Plant Lady...plant puns and Dad jokes...I’m here for it! Everything is just really straight chaos,” she laughed, “I just learned to go with the ebbs and flows of life.” Being a plant lady seems like it could be an easy job to the naive, but Amber explained to us the rigorous steps it takes to get a plant in hand for potential clients. “When choosing plants, we inspect, clean, barcode and tag every single plant in the greenhouse. It’s very meticulous and time-consuming. I take the inspection job very seriously because I want my clients to have the best product available.” Amber’s online store branched out to pop-up events. A recent pop-up in front of Genterie Supply Co. on Jefferson Street Downtown Lafayette for an artwalk served as a catalyst for the company. “I really enjoyed it...meeting people and talking plants,” Amber mentioned. Her calendar is filled with upcoming pop up events and she’s curating her inventory to allow for a good variety at these events. She carefully chooses a
wide assortment for an array of customer desires such as great plants for beginners, small succulents, pet-friendly plants, large plants... the list goes on. We asked her what plants she advises for beginners. “I’d advise ZZ plants or snake plants... they’re pretty much indestructible,” she laughed. What about a level above beginners? “Let’s say these are a level up from beginners... easy, but rewarding. The beginner plants I mentioned may take a little while before you see the reward. Heartleaf Philodendrons and vining Monsteras grow fast and allow you to reap the reward faster. They make you feel like the best plant parent!” she said. Does she have plants at her house? A resounding “YES!” “My favorite plants are in my living room so I can see them. At one point I had 350 houseplants!” she exclaimed. With future pop up events on the calendar and more being added regularly, you’ll want to follow her on social media...for the calendar and for the witty jokes. Meeting with Amber made this black thumb aspire to be a green thumb after all. We think we’ll start with a Philodendron.
MONSTERA DELICIOSA
FICUS ELASTICA (THE RUBBER TREE)
FIDDLE LEAF FIG
RED MARANTA
CALATHEA MAKOYANA
