We thrive on neglect

Kenzie Ellerbe, owner of Green Thumb Succulents, has a saying, ‘We thrive on neglect.’

It might not make sense to everyone, but to Ellerbe and her succulents, a little neglect has made for a thriving business.

Succulents take a minimal amount of time, energy, and space. These hardy little plants are very easy to take care of and keep alive. In fact, if you happen to forget to water one, you may be doing it a favor. They love to live in a spot with direct sunlight and then be left alone for a while. These adorable plants are ideal for small areas, desks, window sills, or anywhere that needs a breath of fresh air and pop of color.

Ellerbe is celebrating the one year anniversary of Green Thumb Succulents.

“This is kind of a funny story because I didn’t ever intend on starting a business!” Ellerbe says. Growing succulents started as a hobby for her. “It started as just a few plants, but over the course of a single summer I had so many succulents I needed to purchase additional storage racks.”

An intervention from her family and boyfriend prompted her to look for new homes for some of her plants. She posted a photo on Facebook and received an overwhelming response.

“People went nuts! I had friends of friends contacting me to see about plant availability… people I had never met had heard about the picture of plants I had posted for sale, and they wanted to buy them.”

From this, Green Thumb Succulents sprouted.

Ellerbe loves rooting for unique containers for her succulents. She looks for the funky and unusual, often making her own or working with other crafters to create planter boxes. Right now she’s doing workshops on the creation of Kokedama moss balls. Kokedama is an ancient Japanese tradition of bonsai gardening. For Kokedama, the roots of the plant are surrounded by a soil ball, which is then covered in moss, and hung on a string for display.

Succulents have become so popular that you can find them not only in pots but any type of container that you can imagine. If you have a wine cork, you can hollow it out and place a tiny plant inside to create a refrigerator magnet. Clean up an old plastic animal toy that your child is no longer using, paint it, cut a hole in and drop a plant inside for a unique conversation piece. If you have more room or even an entire wall you can create a wall garden with these wonderful, colorful plants.

You can find Green Thumb Succulents on Facebook and Instagram under the business name. Check out greenthumbsucculents.com

Another place to see some lovely succulents is the Mann Leiser Memorial Greenhouse at 1321 Lidia Selkregg Lane in Anchorage.

Drusilla Stinson is a Gold Star Wife currently living in Eagle River. She is an avid traveler and loves exploring, having adventures, and collecting stories. She likes gardening, hiking, foraging, cooking, spending time with her dogs, and volunteering in the community. Dru does a lot of writing, reading, and arts and crafts and her downtime. She enjoys theater, art, and learning new things.