The Joy of Shopping for Plants

By Colleen Smith, Guest Blogger
Colleen Smith writes and gardens in Denver. She’s the author of Glass Halo and Laid-Back Skier.

We humans are no more exempt than the bees and butterflies and hummingbirds when it comes to plants: We’re attracted to their sweetness and beauty. We recognize plants as life. And so we shop. We wander through greenhouses and shuffle through nurseries, searching out plants. We are mesmerized. Hypnotized. Hortiholics.

Even if you don’t fancy shopping, but you have the gardener’s genes, you probably enjoy shopping for plants. Shopping for a new swimsuit or a new pair of jeans usually proves depressing. Shopping for a car can require a bank loan and a boatload of anxiety. Shopping for groceries often seems like a necessary but mundane chore.

But shopping for plants? A different story altogether. Purchasing plants sets the gardener’s imagination spinning, kicks up horticultural endorphins, benefits the community and the planet. When we support growers, we support growth. Plus, we just might harvest strawberries or love apples, culinary herbs or gorgeous cut flowers for nosegays. Our plants will add fresh oxygen to the air and suck up CO2.  

The Front Range’s premier plant-shopping extravaganza, Denver Botanic Gardens’ Spring Plant Sale looms on the not-too-distant horizon. Get your tickets for the chic and savvy Preview Party May 8, or mark your calendar for the free admission public sale on May 9 and 10. Find all the details here. Remember to bring your own wagon. Then enjoy the happy state of anticipation because shopping for plants is anything but depressing. Plants help heal us while they heal the world.