LANTS implants and
How two dentists nurtured their passion
Rusel Ventura and Domingo Ramirez
By Tara Ryazansky Photos by Erin Lewis
“T
his is my oldest,” says Domingo Ramirez proudly. “Her name is Julietta.” “She’s beautiful,” says Rusel Ventura, his close friend of 10 years. Ramirez isn’t introducing his child. The pair are talking about one of his many plants. “Yes, we gender them,” Ventura says. “They have a gender and a name,” Ramirez says. “And yes, I talk to them.” Ramirez and Ventura are founders of Rudo Plants & Home, a potted plant and home décor business based in Bayonne.
“We both love plants and home décor,” Ventura says. “One day we were sitting on my couch. We just came from this store in Jersey City were we used to buy plants, and we were like, ‘How can we share our love of plants and home decoration with others? I think we can have a little small business doing this.’ That’s how the idea came up.” “Both of us were furloughed from work at that time,” Ramirez says. “The name became RU for Rusel and DO for me. A customer told us that our name means love in an African language.”
Home Grown Ramirez and Ventura were born in the United
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States but grew up in the Dominican Republic where they met at dental school. They were trained in the Dominican Republic and are working on boards to practice dentistry in the United States. “We share two passions,” Ramirez says. “Dentistry and plants.” Rudo Plants & Home began on Instagram, where customers can purchase items with free delivery in Bayonne and Jersey City. Each week the pair drops an inventory list at @rudoplants.home. Their items include dramatically draping plants in hanging containers like String of Fishhooks and String of Pearl and low maintenance options like Snake Plants and cactuses. Each plant comes with detailed instructions, and Ramirez and Ventura are just a DM away. They’re always available to help their customers keep their
plants happy. “We don’t just sell you a plant and say byebye,” Ventura says. The partners have teamed up with local businesses that host popup events. They’ve sold their wares outside The Little Boho Bookshop, Clutch Moto, and at other sites. “People in the Bayonne community have given us a lot of support,” Ramirez says. “We have had a warm welcome in Bayonne.”
Brick and Mortar They hope to eventually open a store in Bayonne. “I think it’s needed in Bayonne,” Ventura says. “We don’t want to just open a plant shop. We want to open a place where people can hang out with their friends.” Ventura has lived in town for almost five years. “Bayonne is growing. I see a lot of businesses coming into Bayonne. The cafes, the bookshop, we didn’t have
