PlantCon

PlantCon is a convention for plant enthusiasts that features a massive market with plant vendors from all over the world, educational seminars from experts, and specialized workshops.  It acts as a community gathering to connect plant lovers, creators, and professionals.  Since PlantCon was in Los Angeles this year,  our own KUCI reporter and host John Kim was there to interview several of the experts in attendance.  Meet his guests – “MK” from Florida talking about Hoyas, Braulio and his Carnivorous plants, and April explaining all about her entrepreneurial accomplishments. Not only do these guests have keen fascination with plants themselves, but they have also devoted their time, sweat, assets, and heart to the worldwide plant community. If you love plants, you’ll love this episode as John brings you the best of PlantCon. If you’ve ever developed an interest in a type of plant, but you have no clue where to start, who to talk to, and wondered what on earth are you doing you’ll learn about talking to people who speak your language of plants!

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The opinions expressed on the show are not necessarily those of the station, the university, or the UC Board of Regents. For more information on the show, visit KUCI.org. You're listening to 88.9 KUCI in Irvine. This is In the Garden with your host, John Kemp, University of California Master Gardener. Today we're going to listen to a series of interviews that I conducted with a couple of vendors and visitors that attended the recent PlantCon LA show. This was a show hosted by PlantCon. It's a national level show and organization. They host these large plant-related gatherings in multiple states throughout the year. And for the first time, they came to the West Coast and put on a show in the downtown LA area February 2026. I was fortunate enough to uh have a vending space there with a couple of my plant organizations and businesses and got to experience firsthand what PlantCon is like. I spoke with a few guests. We're going to listen to what their thoughts and opinions were of the event, of the plant hobbies in general that they specialize in, and a little bit of a background on each of who these guests were. So I hope you enjoy, and here we go. So I am talking to Mary Catherine, or as her friends call her, MK. And so before we kind of dig into some of our discussion topics, can you just tell me about who you are, where you're located, what you grow, you know, just so that our listeners know who we're talking to?

SPEAKER_04 1:44

Yeah, sure. So yeah, all my friends, they call me MK. I am a supervisor for a gastroenterologist here in Orlando as a hobbyist. I grow a lot of Hoya. I started my journey probably about two years ago, and I just started getting into carnivorous plants. So my hobby is getting a little bit thicker, and um, I'm running out of space, but here we are.

SPEAKER_01 2:14

That's awesome. And are you mainly growing things indoors, outdoors? What does your growing setup look like?

SPEAKER_04 2:20

Yeah, so I grow indoor. Um, I used to live in Orlando, and about a year ago we moved to outside of Orlando, but before when I was living in Orlando, we had, you know, we all the houses in Orlando are stacked. So we had no yard room or anything. And I grew everything indoors on the kitchen cabinets, on the uh in the sink of the kitchen, and it just got too much. So we finally moved um to five acres outside of Orlando, and we have like a shed that has um, like in the middle of the shed is open, and then there's like two bedrooms on each side of the shed. And one of those bedrooms I took over as a Poya room, and now it's becoming inundated with pings, pingwicula.

SPEAKER_01 3:07

Holy cow, I am so jealous because uh here in Southern California, like we don't our properties aren't measured in acres, you know. We a 4,000 square foot lot is kind of common, you know, and once you get to like six, seven thousand square foot lot, you know, it's like wow, that's that's a big piece of property. But to hear you're on five acres is absolutely amazing. So I it don't need any specific numbers, but if you had to throw a guess out there at how many Hoyas and carnivorous plants you have, what are what are we looking at?

SPEAKER_04 3:42

I probably have five to seven hundred Hoyas. Carnivorous plants, I probably have about fifty.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

Wow, wow. So that's that's pretty intense. And when we're talking Hoyas, can you so a lot of our listeners may not be familiar with what a Hoya is. Um, obviously you and I are, but if you can just give a quick little 10-second elevator pitch on what a Hoya is and why people may want to look into it. You want to tell us a little bit about that, or maybe why you are so heavily interested in it?

SPEAKER_04 4:16

I am I got heavily interested in it just because whenever I first started getting into them, they all looked the same to me. But then as I started grow putting some into my collection, so another, sorry, um, they are wax plants. So, and their blooms are absolutely beautiful, and each bloom smells differently. They come from like Southeast Asia, the Philippines, um, Indonesia, Thailand, and then they're here in the US. Uh, we've imported them from the U.S. and we grow them here now in houses or greenhouses, but they're absolutely beautiful. I got into them for the foliage, uh, the differences of the leaves, the pillowy leaf, the silver leaf, um, and they just feel so waxy. And I don't know, it's just I have to touch every leaf every every day. But yeah, they smell great. And whenever they bloom, it's like, oh, it's your Hoya telling you that they're happy. And it just brings light to me. So that's why I'm so much into them.

SPEAKER_01 5:20

Yeah, I absolutely agree. I love Hoyas so much. Um, I consider them a slightly easier plant. Now, of course, as with any plant, there are more difficult uh species and cultivars out there. But generally speaking, Hoyas are pretty resilient um and tolerant of various growing conditions. And like you said, they have both foliar interest as well as the flowers, so you get two for one in a plant, um, and they're vining, and so they're easy to propagate. Um, I just they're they're one of my favorite plant types.

SPEAKER_04 5:53

So uh and they thrive on neglect, which is amazing.

SPEAKER_01 5:56

That's true too, yeah. A lot of them like to dry out between waterings, they make a great houseplant, a great intro plant. Um, and like you said, you know, the foliage itself comes in so many different shapes and sizes and colors and textures. Um, I I too absolutely love Hoyas. So fantastic. I'm I'm so happy uh when I meet another plant enthusiast that is just excited to talk about something they are knee deep in, uh, and in your case, literally. Um very cool. So one of the reasons or the main reason I reached out to you and we scheduled this interview was because in February of 2026, there was a large plant conference, a large plant event that came to Southern California. Um the venue was the Magic Box in the downtown LA area, and the event was called PlantCon or Plant Convention. And this is a large show. Um they are in multiple cities, large cities throughout the United States. Uh they started in Texas, went to the East Coast, and in 2026, for the first time, they came out to the West Coast by popular demand, and we had an absolutely amazing event in LA. You mentioned you're all the way in Florida. So what crazy thing got into your head to cause you to fly out to California and spend a weekend with us at Plant Con? What drove you or flew you out here?

SPEAKER_04 7:28

Yeah, um, I think aside from the plants and just being around a lot of people that love plants, is probably just the community. I've met so many people through the community that I've become really good friends with. Before before I got into plants, I was a homebody. I didn't like people, if that makes sense. Like I didn't, I wasn't outgoing. Uh, but then that plant um convention actually, the first one I ever went to was in Orlando. And that's where I met a lot of the people that I talked to online on these online platforms about plants. And I met them at the convention in Orlando. And then we went to another convention in Miami, and then the next one was LA. And so I was like, well, you know, I might as well just keep on meeting new people. And so it was great. That was the number one reason was going to LA to meet uh more friends that I've met through online um shopping. And so that was that was the biggest reason.

SPEAKER_01 8:31

Cool. I and there's a lot to unpack there. We'll we'll take it one step at a time. So you mentioned the other plant shows. Um, like you, uh, in many ways, I also am an extroverted introvert. Um, my default is to just stay home by myself, do my own thing, and I'm perfectly happy. I can eat lunch by myself and I'm perfectly happy. I'm one of those kinds of people, but I also love groups, I also love community, I also uh really just enjoy being with other like-minded people with the various hobbies that I participate in. So I I totally get you, and I'm sure a lot of our listeners feel the same way. Uh, one of the favorite t-shirts that I see kind of floating around within the plant communities, and I actually uh just saw a post yesterday as well, is um Introverted But Willing to Talk Plants or something along those lines. Right. Um and I feel like there's a lot of us uh in the plant hobby, which is a great thing because it helps us kind of break out of our norm um and engage with other people, which which I think is super fun, like you said. Um and you mentioned other plant events. So I'm gonna ask a risky question. Since you've been to Plant Con on both sides of the country, um any any opinions, pros and cons, or you thought one was good and one wasn't? Like any thoughts on comparing the two events, uh Florida versus California?

SPEAKER_04 9:57

Yeah, I think um the only difference was so whenever I went to California, they ran out of, I mean, it was extremely busy. We had to wait in line. Uh, they were at full capacity at the time that the doors already opened. So we got there at 10 o'clock, the doors opened at 10 o'clock and we were in line for an hour just waiting for people to come out so they can let more people in. So it was a big venue there, but they they reached capacity. They ran out of water, they ran out of uh food in the lobby. We had to go out, you know, people were afraid to leave the venue to go get food at the food trucks because they were afraid they weren't gonna get back in. So that would be the only thing uh that was a little hectic in LA. But I think I liked LA better than I did in Orlando. Orlando, the venue was really small and they didn't reach capacity, I don't think, or maybe they didn't care, but um, it was really hard to move around in in the Orlando uh venue.

SPEAKER_01 10:59

Yeah, as um I I coordinate these kinds of events as well for some of my other organizations and hobbies, and I can tell you that as the uh group in charge, that is so difficult, especially when you're going somewhere for the first time, a new city, a new venue. Um being able to plan for that, um, that first one is always so tricky because you don't know. You don't know how things are going to turn out, what the attendance is going to be like. So um I I do want to give a shout out to the PlantCon team that I do think they did an amazing job at LA. Um, the venue was great, it had definitely had some pros and cons, and I've got my opinions about it. But the good news is when I talked to the head honcho, the director, um, she did very confidently tell me that PlantCon is planning to come back to LA next year. It will likely be in February again, but they are considering other venues due to some of the challenges that they faced. So if anybody um was on the fence and did not attend Plancon LA in 2026, um I highly recommend wherever it ends up being next year, make the effort to go. Like uh MK mentioned, ticket sales uh for the weekend pass I believe sold out way in advance of the event. And then their single-day passes also sold out, I believe, for Saturday, and there were a few left over for Sunday. But um part of the challenge is the venue space limitation. I believe the square footage was approximately 50 or 60,000 square feet of space inside uh the entire second floor of this venue, and um the vendor spaces were full, it was absolutely packed like sardines once the doors opened. Um I lost my voice, and that's one of the reasons why I I couldn't do on the on-location interviews was I lost my voice within two hours of the event. Um because it was just so loud, so many people uh talk and just talking non-stop for like 14 hours between Saturday and Sunday.

SPEAKER_04 13:02

Um, yeah, because you were you were a vendor there, right?

SPEAKER_01 13:06

I was a I was a vendor there. Um I technically oversaw four booths, so we had 40 feet of space. Two of them were carnivorous plant related, two of them were aquatic plant related, um, but it was all under the kind of umbrella of my Carnivorous Plant Society, is how we booked the booth. And then we had a few other organizations kind of tag along and be a part of it. So yeah, I you know I went there Friday for setup all day pretty much, and then we were there basically from start to finish. And it was an early start. This was one of the earliest start uh events that I've been to because we as vendors had to be there at 6 a.m. to kind of spruce up the booth, and I think the VIP started showing up at like 7 or 8 a.m. was the bird tickets, and and the event didn't end until 6 p.m. So very long hours, and then of course there's cleanup and all of that sort of stuff each day. So um I had a great time, I absolutely loved it. Um, I know that all the vendors that I spoke to really, really had a good time. I know a lot of the visitors that I spoke to, um, despite some of the challenges with parking and getting in and all that kind of stuff, had a great time. There was a DJ playing really cool music throughout the weekend. Um, there were a lot of social media personalities there, big names in the plant world that were attending the event. Um, I believe there was a podcast booth as well. Um, I'm not sure who was in charge of that, but I did see that throughout the weekend they were doing different podcast interviews in that corner. Um, unfortunately, I wasn't cool enough to make the cut and get invited to do a podcast interview, but that's okay. I was too busy anyway. Yeah, like you were saying, I got to see a lot of my friends, uh, plant people, um, people from other states. There were importers, exporters from other countries that attended this event. So I'm a big fan of big events like this. And there was a point a couple years ago where I even considered doing an event of this caliber, of this scale myself because we weren't doing it in California, and I felt like we were missing out on a huge opportunity. So when Plancon announced that they were coming to LA, I was so happy. I was thrilled, and it lived up to its expectations, and I'm very, very happy that it happened, and I'm very happy it's gonna happen again. And um, I'm gonna ask you uh kind of a taboo question, and we're gonna assume that none of your uh family and significant other is listening. Um, what did you buy at PlantCon? What did you take home, if anything?

SPEAKER_04 15:41

What's really weird is all the uh plant conventions that I've been to, I've always brought Hoyas home. This is the first one I did not even purchase one Hoya. I bought pings and ping rocks, and I even bought a ping from uh your booth. But yeah, I brought a whole bunch of pingwiculas, the carnivorous pings.

SPEAKER_01 16:02

Yeah, and for the folks not under uh not familiar with what a ping is, it's the genus Pinguicula. They're the common name is butterworts. They look like a succulent, like a hoorthia or something like that, where they've got these kind of flat, broad leaves, and they produce a sticky dew on the surface of the leaf that um both attracts prey, insects, um, and also because it's sticky, it traps them, and then there are digestive enzymes and proteins within that sticky substance. They refer to it as a nectar, but it's technically not. So, anyway, um, and so that's the carnivory of the plant. They come again in many different shapes and sizes and forms and colors. Super fun plant. If you're not familiar with the ping, I highly recommend you go to use your favorite search engine and look it up. Um and like MK was mentioning, you can do really fun, cool arrangements planting them on rocks because um most of these species grow on rocky terrain and surfaces. Um, and a lot of them are actually native to Mexico and kind of the southern United States, but more into Mexico. And so um technically they're a native plant to some of our southern states. Um, but that's a super fun, functional plant. And pings too have a cool flower. Are any of your pings flowering?

SPEAKER_04 17:22

I had one flower, but I did not flower it. It came with a flower.

SPEAKER_01 17:27

Okay, yeah. So and they flower very uh constantly. So once they start flowering, they're kind of during the growing season, they'll put out repeat, you know, sequential blooms of one or two flowers per plant. And the flowers are what the breeders are actually breeding for nowadays, is to get different shape and color uh flower petals. Um so anyway, we're nerding out a little bit here. But all right, very cool. So um that was that that's kind of plant con and conventions. The other thing you mentioned was community, and you referenced online communities. Um I met you through an online platform and a community called Overgrown Oasis. Um, that is kind of an online marketplace slash educational community, and you are an admin, is that correct? I am, yes. So you're one of the boss people behind the scenes. Um can you tell me a little bit or our listeners a little bit about Overgrown Oasis or the cool kids call it Ovo for short? Yeah. But what that is and how people can find it, and what your involvement is. Can you tell us a little bit about Ovo?

SPEAKER_04 18:36

Overgrown Oasis is a platform where community comes together, like-minded community. We talk plants, we sell plants, we edu uh we do education about plants. Um, it's just a place where everybody can come together and nerd out a little bit, just like we did. I am an admin. I uh volunteer for Overgrown Oasis. I do a lot of the event planning. We'll do trails where every hour uh a seller or somebody can speak educationally for they have an hour block time and it'll go all day. Um, so I kind of do uh event coordination as far as that goes. And then I also um do some of the graphics for the events, and I also review applications for overgrown oasis and you know, vet for sellers. But yeah, so it's all plant related, everything plant adjacent. You won't find anything but plants.

SPEAKER_01 19:36

Cool. And it's um it's free for people to sign up and participate. Uh right? I I believe it's free. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 19:44

Yes, it is free.

SPEAKER_01 19:46

Yeah, overgrown oasis.com is the website address. Uh the background platform or the engine that runs it is called District, but that's kind of TMI. Uh but yeah, Overgrown Oasis and like you were saying, MK, the kind of the meat and potatoes on how that works is there's a lot of um video or live feeds that occur, both selling and educational. Um, but also there's like a channel or a chat section where people can post questions and make comments and share photos and things like that as well. Um I miss anything? Is there anything else?

SPEAKER_04 20:22

Yeah, so um people can, um, viewers or anybody can post to the chat and say, hey, what's going on with my plant? And and then you have a lot of uh plant enthusiasts that know just by vision kind of what's going on with the plant and suggest, you know, maybe it's a pest problem, maybe um you're underwatering or inefficiently watering. Um so it's just a great uh way to come together and kind of uh learn more about what's going on with your plants and um get suggestions on how to do better.

SPEAKER_01 20:56

Yeah, and the really cool thing that I also appreciate about these kinds of platforms and overgrown Oasis is that the videos, whether it's educational or a selling video, um, are saved on the servers, on the database. So if you missed something, you can go back and watch that video later because the recording is available there. So I participate mostly doing educational content on the platform. But yeah, if people wanted to go in there and it's a good time, and then I've noticed lately too, a lot of the uh sellers and vendors are doing kind of choring videos where if they're working on their plants, doing propagation or just cleanup, um, or there are ceramics on there that will make pottery and just turn the camera on and kind of talk about what they're doing as they're doing it and answer questions from the chat. So it's a very fun way to engage with uh a large audience, um, and then you can do co hosting, so sometimes you'll have two people kind of sharing what They're doing at the same time. So it's super fun. I've thoroughly enjoyed it from both sides as a seller and vendor on the platform, but also just as a participant nerding out. If I'm working on stuff at my work or at my warehouse, oftentimes I will, if there's a live feed, especially, I'll have Ovo just kind of running on the side so I can listen in on what other people are doing.

SPEAKER_04 22:25

What better way to do chores with uh somebody doing chores live, you know?

SPEAKER_01 22:29

Yeah, yeah. Cool. Um, so let's see, what what else did I have on the docket here to chat about? So we talked about um PlantCon. I'm going to circle back a little bit. Um for PlantCon LA, you know, we both kind of mentioned the fact that it was a little bit hard to get to, things were selling out. So if you have any tips for somebody that's never attended a large conference like this, do you have any tips or suggestions uh for the newbies out there that may be interested in attending their first large event like this?

SPEAKER_04 23:02

I'd say just book it and go. It is so amazing. Um the tip I would say is plan for parking. Um most of the time you'll have to pay for parking, whether it's$10 or$20. Um, so just know that that's daily. Um but yeah, if you're ever on the fence about going, I think you should just go. I think there's one going to um Chicago in June. So that's the next plant convention. And uh yeah, if you're in that area, just go.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Yeah, and um uh I'll just say that in Southern California, we're a little bit spoiled. There are lots of plant societies and events happening all the time. And um, you know, maybe this is just me with a major bias, but I I'm always thinking, like, man, I if people only knew that the bromeliad conference is happening next week, which it is, the the international bromeliads uh conference is happening here. We're gonna have people traveling from all around the world to attend and look at bromeliads here in Orange County uh in about a week, you know, and then like we have carnivorous plant events and we have aquatic plant events and all this stuff. And I just um the one of the reasons why I'm part of this radio program is I really want to get the word out because people don't know what they don't know. And I like you're saying, I just encourage people go. If you're thinking about it, just go. Um, try to buy the tickets as early as you can because a lot of these events do sell out, you know, and um getting there early is is a great idea and planning for parking too. Um, my kind of I'll add to the parking thing is uh anticipate and allow yourself a little bit of extra time and um grace for other people because when you get there, it's like getting to a theme park. You just have to anticipate that parking is going to be a nightmare, uh no matter what. And so just give other people extra time and grace, give yourself extra time and grace because I promise that once you do park, once you do get into the building, uh all of those frustrations will melt away. Um you're gonna just be so happy and you're gonna not realize that you were there for 10 hours and you're gonna have a great time.

SPEAKER_04 25:18

Yeah, absolutely. I and there are so many plant plant conventions that we don't even know about. And I love how you're bringing awareness to it because like we have one in Florida going on now that I just realized was going on, but you know, I wish I knew about it or I would have been there. Uh, but even if you're not into plants, go. I mean, it is the coolest thing to see the setups, how how people grow their plants. Um, it's just a beautiful experience.

SPEAKER_01 25:47

Yeah, and on that note, I was actually going to ask you next. Um, you know, we may or probably have a lot of listeners that are even a step before that and they don't have any plants yet and they're thinking about just getting a plant. Do you have any suggestions or tips or commentary on those that are maybe interested in purchasing their first houseplant or succulent? Any any thoughts there? On like what to get? Uh maybe what to get or things to consider, or you know, m uh thinking back to the first plant you ever got, you know, what what lived there? What encouragement do you have for people?

SPEAKER_04 26:24

Well, somebody gave me a cactus and it lived, and I was like, wow, I'm a plant person. So my next um the first thing that I bought was a philodendron. And I was addicted to philodendron for a while, but uh they took up so much space. So then I started with Hoyas because there's you know, you can stack them and they don't take as much space up. But yeah, and philodendron is a great first plant to get. So that would be my advice.

SPEAKER_01 26:55

Uh so to right now I'm joined with my friend Brolio Mena. Uh, for our listeners that know don't know who you are, Braulio, tell us a little bit about who you are, your background, and your interest in plants.

SPEAKER_00 27:08

Hi, John. Um, yes, uh my main uh focus are cacti. I have grown for about maybe 25-26 years. I have about anywhere from 200 to 250 cacti. Then uh uh my my next and basically my my favorite uh plants to grow are orchids. I've grown orchids for about 21 years, and my latest interests uh have been carnivorous plants, which I find to be my immediate gratification, because you know with orchids you have to be a little more patient from from seed to adult takes about five to seven years. Basically living here in the South Bay, uh I live in Carson. I lived most of my life that I lived here in the US in the South Bay area, from Gardena to Compton to Carson. So um I more or less know the type of plants that I can grow here. Again, orchids been my main interest uh because of their variety.

SPEAKER_01 28:20

Fantastic. Um so you mentioned a lot of uh different plant types. Can you tell us which uh local plant societies you're a part of? Because I know you're part of a few of them.

SPEAKER_00 28:30

Oh yeah, yeah. Uh um interesting enough, uh as you start growing uh different genera, you you will find uh that occasionally you see plants that are processing over, you know, in in uh areas where they grow. You start meeting other people that grow, you know, similar plants, and you're like, hey, you know, I grow this, and uh one of those very interesting orchids are uh are the it escapes the name right now. Uh Eulophias. Eulopias are orchids that grow out in the desert. And if you know how to grow cacti, which I knew, you can easily grow Eulopias. If you look at a loophea, it looks just like a uh succulent, like a Hobordia or or uh um aloe vera. And uh and then there are other things because immediately when you talk about orchids, people think, oh, they're tropical. No, there are orchids all over the world and different types of environments. So uh when I first the first society that I joined was the Orchid Society. I did not even think about joining uh Cactus Society back then. And I had been a member and also on the board at the South Bay Orchid Society since uh 2006. Then you know, you start meeting people that are that besides growing orchids, they grow other stuff. One of those uh people that I met, which is uh good friend of mine, I at that time I didn't even think about joining, you know, which is South Coast uh Cactus Society. I met a gentleman by the name of Ruben who grew uh carnivorous plants. And at that moment, you know, I didn't think much of carnivorous plants. Uh uh one day I was expressing my frustration with uh flies in the summer because I do have dogs, and dogs do their thing, and it doesn't matter how much you keep up, there's always flies around. So he mentioned, hey, maybe you should look into carnivorous plants. And you know, me being ignorant and then knowing what you know how many different genres of uh carnivorous plants are out there. Uh my first thought was, you know, what are flytraps gonna be? And uh long story short, uh eight years later I have maybe about uh 300 um different uh genres and uh varieties of uh species and and my backyard is basically my flight control. Uh I get no more flies in my house. Very cool, very cool. Um so you were um if you recall, yeah. Uh um I met you at one of the meetings uh for LACPS, which was back then the local uh carnivorous plant society. Um it's been uh quite a few years since then, about eight years. And um then um we got this crazy idea about forming a uh South Bay Orange County based uh uh basically sister society to LACPS. And uh since then it's been uh it's been a uh a good a good experience, John, um uh creating this society that it's it's uh skippy. I believe uh uh we have provided uh a place for those that are not so local to the LA area to to meet and you know talk about carnivorous plants and share their their you know their their the plants they grow and and and learn.

SPEAKER_01 32:27

Yeah, I I definitely um remember meeting you guys uh down at LA CPS. I was new to carnivorous plants at the time as well. So going through the honeymoon phase and being very happy to find a local society that was so rich in history. Uh is one of the oldest carnivorous plant groups in the country. Um there were members there that had been getting together to nerd out about carnivorous plants for over 30 years. And so there was just a lot of uh great knowledge and people there. And so, you know, selfishly, um I wanted to have a community like that a little bit closer to home in Orange County, and so I was just excited that there were other people who felt the same way, um, you know, you and Maggie and Adam, and we got blessings from LACPS to go start our own thing, and we ended up calling that Skippy, and um that kind of brings us to a good point here where um the subject of this episode has been kind of a recap of PlantCon, a large uh plant event that happened in the Los Angeles area in February, and you were there to represent Skippy, the Southern California carnivorous plant enthusiast. So um can you tell us a little bit about uh what the club did, what our purpose was for being there, and and how that event event went for you and Skippy overall?

SPEAKER_00 33:59

Yes, so um one of the things that I really enjoy being a part of Skippy is that um our our main purpose of getting together was uh education. Seeing how um uh many plants in in that group are poached and many genera disappear because of plants being taken from from the wild. Uh it felt like you know there was something we should do. And by by basically promoting the hobby, you know, by letting people know that there are plants available that are not poached, that are from local people that grow them in their backyards. Uh instead of you having to buy plants from overseas of from a questionable source, uh you have local people that grow them. Our purpose was that, and and being that there are so many plant events, especially in Southern California, uh, we saw that that was a great opportunity to participate in many of those events and and uh basically do outreach, you know, educate people and say, you know, these are carnivores friends. Just like you know, I had no idea what they were before. You know, being able to see that that that surprise face when they first time see uh Saracenia like I did, it's it's uh it's priceless.

SPEAKER_01 35:32

Yeah, absolutely. I um one of my favorite photos uh related to carnivorous plants was actually a little kid. He was probably about 10 years old. I remember it. Yeah, we were at the uh at the pet fair in Orange County, he was looking at one of Maggie's display plants, and his jaw just dropped like big wide open mouth, absolute amazement. Uh, you know, and and there's a photo of that, and I just I absolutely love that. And you know, like you were saying, um, the exposure, people don't know what they don't know. And so, unless plant organizations and enthusiasts like us go to these events and show people, I you know, I know you're here to buy succulents or houseplants, but look at this and show them a carnivorous plant that is both beautiful and functional, you know, like you were saying, fly control or just insect control in general. Um they're they're beautiful to look at, they're relatively easy to grow. Um, I personally uh think that carnivorous plants are one of the easiest plants you can grow because we grow the most of them in shallow trays of water. And so the difficult part of keeping a plant alive is usually watering, either too much or too little. But with most carnivorous plants, that goes away because they're always sitting in a little bit of water and it wicks up that moisture through whatever media uh it's planted in. And so, you know, being able to share that with people and exposing them to this wonderful hobby of plants in general, but of carnivorous plants, and it's just very interesting to see that younger people uh are actively interested in carnivorous plants. And I say young, I mean little kids, you know, our skippy meetings. Yeah, it's very common to see elementary age kids come and drag their parents into our meeting versus, you know, you and I are in a couple of different clubs, orchids, uh succulents, and things like that, and the average age there is uh beyond retirement. And so, you know, you and I tend to be the youngest people that attend those meetings, but when it comes to carnivorous plants, it's very often you'll see little kids, you'll see teenagers, lots of college students, and things like that. So I definitely agree that um exposure is an important part of attending these events, and it's not free, you know. Um for anybody that's thinking otherwise, you know, we had to pay a full price for the booth. We got a little bit of a discount for being a nonprofit, but we did pay money to be a part of this event. Uh, we invested that so that we can do the outreach and uh educate people about growing the plants and bringing new people into the hobby. So uh I am definitely appreciative of you and your efforts and long hours that you put into it, as well as the other.

SPEAKER_00 38:30

Likewise, brothers. You do a lot of hard work too, brother. So don't sell yourself short there. Someone's gonna do it. Someone exactly. Yeah. You touched you touched a very interesting point. Uh the east of growing those plants, John. You know that uh a lot of the challenges of the people that grow plants is that they associate uh love with watering. And and you know, people tend to overwater plants and they kill them and they're like, oh, I can't grow these plants, you know, because I kill them. You can't kill canerous plants with love. I mean, you know, most of them need water constantly, so that's one of the pluses. Uh plus fertilizing, you don't have to fertilize, you know, it's it's a very the most of them are very simple plants to grow.

SPEAKER_01 39:21

Yeah, and that's the other thing. Like they're they feed themselves not just photosynthesis, but the extra nutrients. So um, like you said, you know, most carnivorous plants you want to avoid fertilizing because they're gonna catch their own food. And a lot of people, you know, you I'm sure you've experienced this. When they come up to our booth and start asking basic questions, they'll ask things like, Oh, how often do I need to catch bugs? And the truth is you don't need to do that at all. I mean, the plant will go just fine without catching bugs. That's their job. So if you have bugs, great, they'll catch them. And if you don't, that's okay too. They come from very low nutrient environments. And so I I honestly do feel like carnivorous plants are some of the easiest plants that you can get into. And that's actually a good segue to my next question is um if you have any tips or suggestions for people that may be thinking about getting into plants, any kind of plants, you know, whether it's orchids, houseplants, succulents, carnivorous plants, do you have any thoughts you want to share with some of our listeners that may be brand new or thinking about uh getting their first plant?

SPEAKER_00 40:30

Yes, uh definitely. Um my my I guess my my my biggest uh recommendation would be do not get discouraged. Um again, we all have killed one, two, or way too many to wanna remember. Uh it's it's it's normal, it's part of the learning curve. Uh there are really no difficult plants. It's just the wrong plan for your growing environment and experience. You know, the uh I I know a lot of us wanna grow with our eyes. We see a plant like, oh, that's beautiful. I want to grow that. We all want to do that, but we have to find out what it requires. You know, and if you don't have too much time, you have to work with with the environment that you have at home, you know, either indoors or outdoors. And you gotta see what works. And a lot of times there are some plants that are, you know, uh you can play around with some things, like adding humidity or you know, adding more light or less light, and you can get away with growing them. Uh so my number one advice would be do not get discouraged. Um I remember uh asking one of the senior members of of um my orchid society uh at South Bay Orchid Society many years ago. Um his name is Nick, and I was asking him, hey Nick, I said uh what what would you uh consider uh an expert uh orchid grower? So he thought for about a second and he was like, hmm, he goes, Yeah, I think uh when you have killed about a thousand orchids, you can call yourself an expert. You know, and and I I I every time I think about that, John and I see, hey, well I'm I'm getting there. I'm getting there. So yeah, there's no difficult plants again. You know, you have to look at the requirements and what you have and what you can give them. Um the best thing to do is talk to vendors, talk to society members. Uh societies are always a very good way of acquiring plants because most of those people are growing already plants where you live. So, you know, a lot of them will be much easier to grow. Plus, you can get those little extra tips from those that are in the society of how to grow them. You know, it's it's it's again, it's it's that those little tips that help you go and accomplish what what you want. And to me, there is no bigger accomplishment than being able to grow a plant that should not or could not ever grow in your area. And when you see it grow and you see it bloom, it's it's the best, man.

SPEAKER_01 43:16

Yeah, I uh I absolutely agree with that. And I'll I'll take it a step further, and I'm gonna say something that's probably an unpopular thing, but uh, you know, brother, you mentioned looking for a local society that specializes in that plant. I'm gonna take it a step further and advise people or suggest people stay away from social media, uh, especially now. Like AI could be such a great tool, but it's you know, there's there's an ugly side to AI where it's just regurgitating junk. And I see it all the time across many different uh hobbies and interests that I have, where A, you have the people that are commenting and offering answers to questions like. That have no business answering questions. They don't know what they're talking about. And then making it worse is now there are automatic AI responses that add to the bad information out there. And then uh and then there's people that just will search it on different AI platforms and copy paste responses with no personal experience or knowledge. They just really have no idea what they're talking about and shouldn't be making any comments. And it's just so frustrating for me every time I hear and see that. And you know, like you were saying, I agree that the best resource is somebody else local to you, accomplishing what you're trying to accomplish, and learn from them. You know, and and that's the purpose of these local societies. And um, again, like you mentioned earlier, we're blessed in Southern California where we've got a club for everything, you know, especially plants, whether it's uh orchids, succulents, begonias, clivias, uh, you know, carnivorous plants, aquatic plants, fish, you know, all of these things, there is there's a row society, plumeria society. We have these resources and uh quote unquote experts that have uh killed their thousand plants already, uh offering their wisdom and uh knowledge locally, you know, and that's such a beautiful thing. Um, and even if you are an extreme introvert or a shy person like me, believe it or not, um these groups are great. You know, I don't believe it, you're right. And then on top of all of that is um your access to material. Um you know, like a lot of these people that have been growing orchids for 20 or 30 years, like you, uh, they've got some cool stuff, you know. And um, the tendency is for people like you and me is you know, we're not out there uh chopping up these plants and propagating them to make a profit. So what ends up happening is we have them in our private collection for a very long time. There are things that are harder to get to or technically harder to grow in our area, but we've figured out the trick and we're successful for it, and we don't really go out out of our way to try to sell it. And so when a new hobbyist comes in, starts asking the right questions, starts learning the ropes, and they want to start kind of collecting some of this other cool stuff, you're going to have local resources and growers that can share that plant material with you. And oftentimes you'll find much uh more rare or difficult to find items at a bargain price at these various uh society meetings and shows and events. So I know the coolest stuff that I have have all come from attending shows like you and I, brother. You and I exactly, right? And then, you know, uh and then the other thing that you and I both uh share is that we love raffles and giveaways and contests and all of those things happen at these plant events. So even at PlantCon, you know, there was a small area where the San Diego Carnivorous Society organized and hosted a small um, you know, they called it a competition. I think it was more of an exhibition where people were kind of showing off carnivorous plant arrangements and art related to carnivorous plants. So that was really fun to see and experience. And of course, uh Skippy, our Carnivorous Plant Society, we have a show coming up in June, uh Father's Day weekend down at the Sherman Library and Carnival.

SPEAKER_00 47:35

We're back at the Sherman there.

SPEAKER_01 47:36

Yeah, down in Corona Noor slash Newport Beach. So for anybody listening that has been to the Skippy show in the past, um last year we had to take a quick break and we met somewhere else at a different month for our show. But this year, our annual show is back at the Sherman Library and Gardens on Father's Day weekend in June, and we'll have our famous show where over a hundred different carnivorous plants uh are exhibited. We're gonna be giving out ribbons and prizes and all of that sort of stuff. Brawlio also built a photo booth, a famous photo booth of an Audrey style uh carnivorous plant, you know, a Venus flytrap type plant where you can stick your head in the mouth and take photos. So we're gonna have all of that stuff going on in a couple of months here, and I know we've started having board meetings talking about coordinating that, but um I do want to circle back really quick on Plant Con, because that's the primary subject of this interview. D did you have any thoughts about what you liked or didn't like? I know this was your first Plant Con experience, um, and this was the Plant Con's first experience being in LA. So there's a lot of uh kind of learning experience all across the board, but did you have any takeaways or or opinions on how that event went?

SPEAKER_00 48:56

Yeah, so so um what we have to think back how we we got involved with Plan Con. So our our our one of our co-founders and uh you know longtime friend uh Maggie is working with PlanCon and she kind of volume told us, hey, you guys have to go. This is the biggest event. And when when she said that, we immediately thought, hey, we have to be there. You know, if anyone who is anyone is gonna be there, it's gonna be skippy. Because we gotta do our thing, you know, we g we gotta we gotta share our our plans with everyone. So so uh yeah, um uh immediate thoughts. Uh um I thought it went really well. Uh for the first time being here in LA, I think they did really well. I think um this also was a huge learning experience for them because they never hate been in this side of California. I think they didn't they have one up north at the channel? I think you mentioned that.

SPEAKER_01 50:04

There we go.

SPEAKER_00 50:06

So yeah, I think it was it was uh a learning experience for everyone. Uh uh attendance was really good. Um I I did think that the venue maybe was even though it was a good size, it was still a little small. Um because uh I remember someone mentioning there was people lined up on the first day to get in. And that could you know that could work two ways, you know. People driving by could wonder, hey, what's going on there, right? Why are people lined up outside? Uh it's gotta be something big. And when they look into it, ClanCon, what is this? The other one was, you know, yeah, people have been waiting there for a while, and they're waiting to get in, and they pay for their ticket, and you know, I don't know, I think some of them waited about two hours. But that shows devotion, that shows how much people wanna come to the event. Overall, I I I enjoyed the experience. Um uh I I think you mentioned that they were looking into a different venue, which I think is a great idea. Uh something more e easily accessible, uh maybe uh a little bit more affordable parking would be great. Uh but uh I'm excited to see uh what what they're gonna do next year.

SPEAKER_01 51:23

Yeah, they they did tell me very confidently that they are fully planning to be back in California, kind of in the LA area, and again in February next year. But like you were saying, um they did say that they are shopping for a different venue for various reasons. Um and I hope that one of those reasons is to find a larger venue, right? Because they did um they did very well uh this year at their at their first crack uh at the West Coast. So I'm hoping that they will show up bigger and better next year, and if and when they do, uh I'm sure we will again uh get involved. So yeah, like you said, yeah, um I I thought it was a great event. Um there is no perfect event, every event is gonna have some issues, but I think for the most part, they were able to work through it and minimize any major problems. Um I did ask a lot of attendees that were there Saturday, especially the earlier ones, um what it was like outside. Because I had heard that the line had wrapped around the building and gone down a several blocks. So yeah, parking was a challenge. The we were on the second floor, and so everybody had to go through uh a couple of elevators, the common elevators, so there was a bottleneck there, and other things as well. But I thought the overall the organizers did a great job with the marketing, the layout and the floor plan felt good and comfortable. Um, this is an event venue, so they're used to having events like this. So the host did a very good job of trying to mitigate some of those challenges. But yeah, like you were saying, I I am most definitely looking forward to doing Plant Con again. Any any other general thoughts about PlantCon, or is there anything you want to let listeners know?

SPEAKER_00 53:09

Any anyway, anyone that is on the fence about going to events like such, I mean, uh most of the events that we have participated, I mean, some of them are so big that you could spend like a whole day there. You know, you could make uh uh you know the whole day out of going to a plant event, or some of them are mixed events, you know, with plants and animals, like uh like uh um what is the one that we go in uh Pomona, John? Uh LA Pet uh Yes, yes, you you can spend the whole day there. Um uh you you can find good deals with plants. Uh um if and and you know and and having a hobby, in my opinion, again, it I I think is very important. A lot of people retire and sometimes all they have in their lives is work and it can be that way. You gotta have something to do after you retire, you know. You gotta have some kind of activity, something to keep your mind busy and uh growing plants again, besides being very rewarding, like I explained, uh it keeps you busy. It keeps you busy, it keeps you out there in the yard. Um uh so everyone should have a hobby. If it's not plants, uh something else.

SPEAKER_01 54:22

Yeah, and the the other thing I'll mention uh with plant con as well as other plant events is they had um like workshops and seminars. And that's a great way to learn. If you're a little bit timid or you're not sure, um they had like terrarium building workshops, I think they had like uh a succulent planting workshop. Um they also had a little bones eye workshop uh using the uh Portulacera Afra. So those those workshops and seminars are a big reason that people attend these shows. And you know, my recommendation is if there is a prepaid workshop type of thing where you need to sign up in advance, if you have any interest whatsoever, sign up early because they do fill up fast. And I know at PlantCon all of their workshops were sold out. So if anybody is on the on the fence on that, you know, you just gotta do it. Bite the bullet, you know. When when you do something like that, maybe you regret it at the time of purchase, or you know, it's a difficult decision. Because some of these workshops are a hundred bucks. You know, that's not a small amount of money, but uh, I can I can pretty much guarantee that you will walk away when it's done, glad that you did it. Um, I have yet to ever participate in a workshop or seminar where I felt like it was not uh great value for the money paid. Um so yeah, that's what I got.

SPEAKER_00 55:43

Uh anyway, if it's and if it's inclusive and free, it's the best.

SPEAKER_01 55:48

Yeah, like you know, we were saying we've got our show coming up in a couple of months at the Sherman. You know, we have a little lecture both days, uh, and they're all free. So if you're there, you can come and learn about some basic information and stuff. And uh yeah, I I highly recommend making an effort to include that as part of the experience in participating at these events. Um cool. Any any closing remarks, Barlio? I know time goes by fast when we're having fun. So yeah, it does fine. I want to make sure you get back to uh enjoying the rest of your day. Do you have any closing thoughts or comments for our listeners?

SPEAKER_00 56:24

Like I said, um if you don't have a hobby, get one. Um growing plants has been uh one of the things I enjoy the most doing. And um and and sharing a little bit of knowledge that I uh acquire along the way uh with others, it's it's it's super fun. Uh uh, you know, you can always sell your extra plants and and feed into that hobby where where it's not it's not too heavy on your pocket or you know it becomes self-sufficient, it's possible. You know, uh uh I know uh most of us don't don't sell the plants for profit. It's you know, to keep the hobby going. Uh um it's it's it's fun. Um I I strongly recommend anyone that that is interested in plants to just join a society, you know.

SPEAKER_01 57:16

Yeah, I and uh to add to that, uh it's very rare to find somebody that um cares about plants and living organisms, whether it's an animal or plant, but especially plants. When you meet people that care about plants and have the capacity and the ability to care about plants, they're usually nice people. They're usually good people uh deep down inside. So I don't know if there's going to be exceptions, but across the board at the various plant interests that I have, um, I have found that 99.9 of the percent I meet are all just genuinely good people, and I think it's a good thing for us to surround ourselves with people that are caring uh just by default. So um, Braulio, I want to thank you for your time.

SPEAKER_00 58:03

Uh oh, of course.

SPEAKER_01 58:04

Very cool. We are now talking with April from the unsolicited plant talks. Um, I have been a fan and a follower of April and it's UPT for short, that's what all the cool kids call it. I've been a fan of that uh store, if you will, or that group for a few years and had the fortunate pleasure of running into her in person a few years ago at the um Spring Garden Show hosted by South Coast Plaza in Orange County. And uh since then we've stayed in touch. Um I would like to consider her a friend. But uh, April, for the folks that don't know who you are or what UPT is, can you give us a quick introduction and background about you and your store?

SPEAKER_03 58:51

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. First of all, I wanted to thank you for that wonderful, wonderful intro. Um, my name is April Maul. We are based in Yukaipa, California, about an hour east of LA. And we have a business called Unsolicited Plant Talks that mainly focuses on very selected varieties of Hoyas that collectors collect because they're one of a kind, they're harder to find, they're they're just very cool. Something that is a little harder to find in your typical big box stores.

SPEAKER_01 59:26

And is your background in plant, what did you do before Uncitized Plant Talks? What were you doing?

SPEAKER_03 59:31

And what how did you get into this? Yeah, I was actually a full-time nurse, and I was, for some reason, I don't know what it was. I felt like I one day I woke up and I said, you know, I'm gonna go to a big box store and get me a plant. I don't know what came to me, but ever since then, I felt like as a nurse, nurses are we're very um, we're very caring, we're always very nurturing. And so I found something to nurture on top of what I was doing um, you know, full-time as a job with the plants. And also what I found with these plants when I started collecting plants is that they kind of became my, you know, like tangible meter of how well I'm doing mentally. And the reason why I say that is because, you know, when we're doing, when we're going through like a rough patch mentally, we're not doing well, we're, you know, going through our bouts of depression or whatever it it the challenge is, um, we tend to not want to do anything. We tend to not want to, even as as simple as, you know, self-care, we don't do any of that. And with plants, what I noticed is whenever they're not doing well, that is my visual cue that I'm not doing well personally, because I'm not taking care of these living things. And ever since then, I just had this very special connection with houseplants that made me feel like, you know what, they're there for me and I'm there for them. And I thought it was such a cool connection that I have made with them. Um, so I was a nurse, I was doing that full time, and then I had no friends. I, this is back before COVID when there was a boom in houseplants. I had nobody to ask about houseplants. There's not very many people in my life that were into them. And the name unsolicited plant talks was actually a joke because I would always talk to my husband about it and he would, you know, he would joke about, oh my God, here comes unsolicited plant talks. Because I literally every night I would go to him and say, look at this new leaf, look at this new bloom. So when we started the business, which is also not something that we planned, it was a joke because COVID happened and I was like, you know what, I'm gonna do this temporarily because my mom was immunosuppressed. I don't want to bring the, you know, the virus to her. We had to register for the business. And I was, I can't think of a name. And I'm like, you know what? I'm gonna force the whole whole world to listen to my unsolicited plant talks. So I called it unsolicited plant talks, and it just became, I guess, history from there on.

SPEAKER_01 1:01:58

Wow. So how long did it take from your random plant purchase to opening UPT? How much time passed between two years?

SPEAKER_03 1:02:08

That's pretty fast. That was and and honestly, the only well, there's a couple of reasons, right? The first reason was because I got into some of the, you know, the more expensive plants. And because of that, I have to propagate and sell more so I can feed more my hobby instead of just bleeding, you know, expenses into something that makes me happy, which if I can do both, why not? Right. Um, so number one, that so that's why I started selling way before, as a hobbyist, way before we opened unsolicited plant talks. And um and I think that's what got my foot in the door. So 2017 is when I started selling on the side. And then 2019, COVID happened, and that kind of forced me to have to leave my main job, which is being a nurse. Um, well, in my head was temporarily at that time. And then once COVID dies down, then I'm gonna go back. But that really, really was the start of the whole amazing journey that we've been through. Uh so that's why I felt like it was pretty fast when I when I started picking up a plant and like caring for it all the way to opening UPT. But otherwise, it's still a journey. It's still something that I'm so excited about and passionate about every day.

SPEAKER_01 1:03:23

And is this something you and your husband both do full-time with no other jobs?

SPEAKER_03 1:03:28

Yes. So for a while, he was just kind of like being supportive, you know, like a supportive husband. He knows nothing about plans, but he is a businessman. And I think one day he found out, not found out, but he realized, like, man, I I really am doing a lot, and I am not the best at the business side. So he was like, you know what, I'm gonna help out. And ever since then, it was it, we became a power couple. I mean, without tooting my own horn, I feel like what I'm so bad at, he he was really, really good at, and vice versa. So we became just like, hey, you take care of that side of the business, and I take care of this side, and it was just wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 1:04:02

And so obviously, you specialize in Hoyas. Do you grow any other kinds of plants or uh offer them for sale?

SPEAKER_03 1:04:10

Um, I do. Here and there I do offer um philodendrons and aeroids. Um, I do have allocations here and there, although though those are not our specialties, but mainly I grow aeroids for myself. I really enjoy them, I really love them. Um my problem with not necessarily a problem, but my hiccup why I don't really sell them as much is because I like to grow our plants into full maturity. And you can only imagine if you're familiar with aeroids, especially with philodendrons, when you grow them to full maturity, I mean the only way to deliver them to a buyer is from, you know, the way I grow them is probably hand delivered because they're just they just get so big so fast. So that's one of the reasons why. And and my collection is very curated to like my taste. So I don't have very many to offer, but when I do offer them, you can you can rest assured they're gonna be so beautiful.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:05

And I know that the other thing that I've uh enjoyed watching you do is you hybridize as well, right? You do some little plant promiscuity there.

SPEAKER_03 1:05:14

Absolutely. This year actually is the very first year that I have finally focused on hybridizing. Hoyas are not the easiest ones to hybridize. There's only very few in the whole world that can hybridize them. And recently we traveled to Indonesia and I have met so many amazing people, and I have learned so much from the masters over there that I was able to put into the skills that I have known, that I have learned so far. And ever since then, I'm I'm able to cross specific plants and specific Hoyas to make a very curated selection or hybrids in the future, which is very exciting. 2026 is the year of growth.

SPEAKER_01 1:05:51

And um, so earlier I mentioned that I the first time I got to meet you in person uh was actually at the elevator for spring garden. Show and I was like, oh my gosh, it's April. You probably didn't know that at the time, but that's what was going on inside my head. Oh my gosh. But um, you know, recently Plant Con uh did a large-scale event in downtown LA, February of 2026, and you had quite a large booth there. I think you did you have 20 or 30 feet of booth space?

SPEAKER_04 1:06:21

30.

SPEAKER_01 1:06:22

30, yeah. So you were one of the larger vendors there. And um for the people that unfortunately couldn't make it there, um, I can tell you that her booth was absolutely beautiful. Um, plants just draped everywhere, you know, the tables and all this hanging stuff, and it looked great. Um, and you had a whole team of people there. I couldn't tell who were friends or employees or customers, everyone was just having a great time in your booth. And I struggled. I ever I walked by several times trying to find an opportunity just to say hi and check in on you guys, but you guys were just so darn busy the entire weekend, uh, which is great. But um I guess what I wanted to ask you is um I know your business has kind of evolved and shifted and taken uh different shapes over the last few years where um you have kind of scaled back on doing these sorts of events.

SPEAKER_03 1:07:13

One of the things that I really love when I first started doing shows, in-person shows, is yes, I get to talk to people on a daily basis online, and we feed we we form this kind of uh you know uh relationship online, but it's so different when you meet them in person. It's even more personable. Um, and it's just so wonderful. It's so wonderful to meet somebody who's from across the state, who does something completely, who has a different completely background than you have, and to come into a place and share the same passion. I cannot express how wonderful that feeling is, and it's something that I feel like I could not replicate in any other, uh not in any other hobbies, because I feel like it would apply to any other hobbies too, but any other aspects of my life. It's so wonderful. And so I have always loved shows for that. Shows can take up a lot of time and work um and energy, but I think because of that special aspect of doing shows, like meeting people in person for the first time, is what makes it so special. I stopped shows for a while because we focused on our online presence, where which is where we started, which is our bigger market. But when I heard that PlantCon was coming to California for the very first time, I thought it was such a huge opportunity to be able to do that again and meet new people again. And I no regrets whatsoever. It was a lot of work. I can't even tell you how much you understand you do this all the time, but you're probably more of a pro than I am. Um, but doing that, and the reason why I love that you mentioned there's so many people in our booth is not only because I'm so grateful that we had a lot of customers, new customers, existing customers that stopped by, say hi, and picked up a plant or two. But also, these are all of like a lot of these people as well, are the people that I have met online that came to plant shows to meet other plant people that I have they have been talking to for months, for years, for the very first time. And it it was almost like um, I don't, I I can't think of the perfect word for it, but it was very mind-boggling that people can be friends and have this special connection for years and to meet for the very first time and feel like they've known each other in person for the for you know for a really long time. I think that's what makes it so special for me. And that's why when I saw Plant Con was happening, yes, it's happening in California for the very first time. Yes, I haven't I haven't been in a show in a very long time. So I wanted to to experience that again because I I do love the experience, but also the community. Plant community is is probably one of my top priority in cultivating as a plant person.

SPEAKER_01 1:09:54

So on that note, and I know that for a fact, several people that were hanging out with you at your booth, I don't know if they were helpers or just customers, but I know that many people traveled from out of town, and I don't mean just California, people came from the East Coast and all over the country to come hang out with you at Plant Con specifically. And a lot of those folks, if not all of them, were because of an online community that you started called Overgrown Oasis. You want to tell us just a little bit quick what that is and what that looks like?

SPEAKER_03 1:10:27

Yes, absolutely. So I what I've noticed in the plant community, especially nowadays, not everybody has time, right? There are so many people that I have met and I have talked to, and they said, Man, I wish I could go to shows. I just, it's just life doesn't permit. So I figured it would be really, really nice, especially from my own experience. I have met so many wonderful people. I have learned so much stuff about plant care from online from these communities that I have joined in in and out, you know, uh throughout the last years that I have uh been in the community. And I felt like there's not a place where it's just heavily focused on just plants. You, you know, you have Facebook groups, you have you have other places that people gather online. Um, but I thought it would be really, really nice to have a space dedicated to only plants and nothing else. Uh so we started this uh community online called Overgrown Oasis, where people with a live uh uh what do you call this uh feature so that you don't you don't just talk to people on chats, but some people feel comfortable going going live, showing them their day-to-day basis. Um, what does it look like as a plant person to water 300 plants in a day? What are the pest problems, what are the challenges with pest or like diseases that they encounter as a plant person, as a plant collector that nobody really talks about, you know, in YouTube videos. Yes, there are some, but it's very produced. I don't know how to explain it. It's very produced, you know, high quality, which is very good, but sometimes you just wanted to see somebody who talks about their challenges like how to candidly. And Overgrown Oasis is that not only that you can find plant friends there, you can watch people who what we call do chores where they go live and they just it's like watching two friends on a FaceTime, but also you can ask real time about your plant problems or anything that you wanted to ask about plants, and they'll talk to you like you guys who have been friends for a long time. And it's also uh a place where people can make a little bit of fun, you know, selling live, which is where the economy or where the uh e-commerce is going now, um, to feed their hobby even more. So we have live selling there, we have chores, we have chat channels, questions about how to care for plants. And so I guess to summarize it, it's a whole community of anything and everything about plants. And believe it or not, the people that you have met in PlantCon, or you probably have seen in Plant Con, were people that I have met through that community that we started that have never met before. And I have felt like I have made such a huge connection with them just from being able to go to one place, go to one uh one place online and connect together about something that we love. Like I said, not we don't always have the extra time nowadays to be able to meet people in person or I mean, these people are from different states. We had an open house right after that weekend, and it almost made me feel so emotional because literally we counted how many states, like people, like there's 12 states, different states of people that came into the same place because they have the same passion. That is so incredible.

SPEAKER_01 1:13:49

That's that's amazing. I I'm very sad that I couldn't go to your open house the day after, but I was very jealous of all the folks that could uh go visit you in your nursery. But you know, earlier you were talking about um describing the community, and one of the things or one of the words that comes to my mind when I think about Ovo is that it's very genuine. Um, the people there are very genuine, and um the community is still relatively small, I guess, compared to some of the big boys out there. But I think you crossed 3,000 members recently, is that correct?

SPEAKER_03 1:14:23

Yes, yes, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 1:14:25

3,000 people from all over the country. And it's um I can say that I have yet to meet uh a bad apple on Ovo. So far, everybody's been fantastic, um, the sellers, the vendors, but also just the community there to learn and to buy. And one of the things, or one of the things that I uh value with different societies and clubs and things like that is not just the knowledge, but also the opportunity to get stuff, right? We're all in the these various hobbies and interests because we want it for ourselves. We want the Hoyas, we want the bromeliads, we want the roses. And um being a part of these specialized communities provides access to that. And now through uh platforms like Overgrown Oasis, people can buy online. You know, the world's become a much smaller place now, uh largely due to what happened during COVID, and people just got used to buying online and it that became a normal thing. You know, there's pros and cons to that, but um, the fact that you've been a part of that um and growing with that, evolving with that, I think is great, uh just for the overall community. And you know, uh I don't remember if it was a year or two ago uh you and Derek approached me about what you were thinking about doing. And right off the bat, um, A, I knew that if you were behind it, it was gonna be a great product. Uh, but B, when you described to me that your goal and what made Ovo different than other existing platforms, um, was that there it was an emphasis on community and education. So, you know, maybe you were just doing it to kind of uh uh hit all the right notes with me, but when you said all those things, I was like, yes, this is this is good. We need this. So I've been so happy to be a part of that community. Uh, and I want to say thank you for continuing to do that and involve that and grow that. You know, you guys are doing a great job.

SPEAKER_03 1:16:24

Um Thank you, and thank you for being part of that community. I mean, it wouldn't be where it's at now if it weren't for people who believe, like you, who believed in in the dream, honestly.

SPEAKER_01 1:16:35

Yeah, and much like so, you know, this radio program and podcast is with the Master Gardeners. Um, and one of the big things that we do as Master Gardeners is just answer questions, whether they're somebody looking to get into something and they want to know ahead of time, or if they're facing some sort of issue or problem or a pest uh and they have questions about an existing plant. Um, you know, communities like Overgrown Oasis are also offering that uh opportunity for the community to ask questions and to make sure that we're doing things the right way. And so I think there's a lot of mutual kind of benefit or overlap there in what we're all trying to accomplish. So um again, I'm I'm a big fan of what you guys are doing. I'm a big fan of events, especially large ones like uh at PlantCon. Um, do you have any suggestions or tips for folks that are either entering a particular plant hobby and or thinking about attending a large show or an event for the first time? Any thoughts or suggestions?

SPEAKER_03 1:17:40

Don't be scared. Nobody has ever given me the impression, being in this plant community, nobody's ever given me an impression that they hate that somebody's asking them how to care for a plant. Ask all the questions. What's the worst thing that could happen? They don't answer. Well, you you you're back to where you started. You don't know what to do. And you just move on to the next person that you can find who's passionate about the same passion and ask questions. Ask, ask questions. Don't be scared. People in this community are the most wonderful people I've ever met in my life, and there's always something to be learned. Once you find out, once you feel like you know everything, you don't know everything. And make friends, make it just fun. Don't, don't ask and be like, oh my gosh, like I don't want to be around them because I don't know what I'm talking about. Like, people are so welcoming. Um, if you have the ability to go to conventions, really, really, really cool experience. You get to see the plants, feel the plants, ask questions about the vendors and how they're caring for it, and you know, and how to take care of possible challenges in the future and see if you can find the right plant for you. If you can't go to shows and do um in-person visits into nurseries or plant shows like that, there's so many resources online. So if you are passionate about it, don't be scared to look for those information and you will find it. You know, there's a book that I read recently, I forgot what it's called, but it says um, ask for the moon, and you'll be surprised how many times you'll get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:19:14

Yeah, that's uh that's a very creative way to put that. Uh, say same kind of thought process at my my day job at my company. The owner of my company has a saying that he likes to say all the time, and it's the same spirit. It's basically ask for a hundred percent of what you want a hundred percent of the time. You know, doesn't mean you're just gonna get it, but you need to take that first step to ask for it, you know. And exactly I want to add to what you were saying. Like if you visit a store, whether it's a retail store, an online store, or a vendor at a swap meet or a plant event, if you're asking them questions and they're providing you the information that you're asking for, support that business. And if you meet somebody and they're kind of a jerk or they just want to make the sale or they say things like are you gonna buy it or not? You know, don't support them. I don't care how good of a deal it is. Like, you know, I just put your money where your mouth is. When you find when you find and meet people like April that are passionate about the hobby uh and the community, you know, support them, you know, and so and there's lots of them. Like they're us being in Southern California, we're really spoiled because we have such a great climate and weather, and we have a huge plant palette, and there are lots of nurseries and specialty stores and houseplant stores and succulent stores and clubs and societies. Um take the extra effort to go visit them, meet the people behind the scenes, and support them, you know, versus some of these bigger outfits that are just out there to make the money. Um not poo-pooing on that, but I just I I find that a lot of people just shop on price alone, and they don't value everything else that comes with the purchase and being able to support a local business or nonprofit or or something like that. So I'm I'm really glad you brought that up because that's something I I'm personally passionate about and I make an effort. Um, because I I sell stuff too. Um, I've got a couple businesses that are plant related. Um, but I always tell people if you can find this locally to you at a store or business that you want to support, go buy it from them. Like, don't even ask me how much my stuff is, just go buy it from them. I don't want you to buy it from me. Um, because I I really think that's important. And uh, you know, the humanity behind being able to meet people and things like that. Um, shows like Plant Con and the Spring Garden Show and all these other shows are a fantastic opportunity, uh, oftentimes to meet the business owner, you know, like uh you were at your booth uh slaving away for multiple days for many ridiculous hours. Um, and that's uh otherwise people can't can't meet you. So very cool. Um, how about any tips in general for plant keepers? Is there any anything you want to offer as a suggestion or advice other than just try it? Is there anything else um that you want to even if it's just the Hoya related? I'm sure a lot of people listening may not even understand what a Hoya is. Hopefully they're Googling it right now. But any thoughts, tips?

SPEAKER_03 1:22:22

Um tips is from personal experience and from what I've seen from other people who have have gone. There's so many of us who found something we love and we just what do what do I usually say? Um buy now, Google later, right? I'm not telling you not to do that because that's definitely what a lot of us have done in the past. And you know, you can still be successful from that, you know, from that Google, buy now and Google later. But know that plants are living things in having pests is part of growing plants and cultivating plants. If you get your new plants from a new place, always quarantine. Doesn't matter if they've tell told you it doesn't have a pest, it doesn't have anything, always quarantine. And quarantining is putting it in a separate area away from your existing houseplants and making sure that it is clean, it is well taken care of, and just because sometimes pests don't show up until you know two weeks later. And second, don't be upset. Having pests is a part of owning plants, and I've seen this time and time again. New hobbyists will receive something or maybe even buy from a big box store, which we all know that they don't really give the same level of love and care that us growers or like who are very passionate about but about these plants that are um specialized uh in these in growing in these plants. You might end up buying something from a big box store, bringing it home, and it has pests. Don't be upset. It's part of growing plants. What I can recommend, I highly recommend, is learn and educate yourself on what these pests are, the common pests, and how to take care of them. Don't wait until it's too late. Educate yourself now so when it happens, you know what to do. Or best case scenario, you can add some preventative measures into your growing routine so that you don't even have to worry about them in the future. I think that's the biggest advice that I can give everybody.

SPEAKER_01 1:24:21

That is absolutely fantastic because um one of the the big things in the Master Gardener program is what we called integrated pest management. And so if anybody's not familiar with uh IPM, integrated pest management, that is um attempting to deal with pests or you know, a pest can be anything you don't want, whether it's a fungus, a bacteria, an insect, or a mammal, uh something that you don't want on your plants, using the least lethal or least harmful method for control. Because, like April is saying, that's just a part of the ecosystem. Um, you know, unless you expect to live in a very sterile environment on Mars, um we're gonna have pests of some sort, whether it's an herbicide, you know, an herb or an invertebrate, it you're gonna have something that you don't want at some point. And learning how to deal with that with the least harm and impact to other living organisms is a beautiful thing. So, yeah, thank you for bringing that up. That was a great uh little bonus there. I wasn't even thinking of, but I get to plug the uh Master Gardener IPM.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:24

It's so important. You know, being a business, that's something that I have to learn from my agriculture um office here, is that I have to have IPM.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:34

Yeah, very cool, very cool.

SPEAKER_03 1:25:35

And I think it's so it's just as important as learning how to care for your plants.

SPEAKER_01 1:25:41

All right. So we're rapidly running out of time. There is one question, it's a little bit taboo, but I wanted to make sure I asked you, of all people. So uh you are welcome to decline to answer. And I would normally preface this question by saying, let's assume that your spouse is not listening, but your spouse was with you at Plant Con. I'm gonna ask you, what did you buy at Plant Con and take home?

SPEAKER_03 1:26:07

Oh my goodness, John, I have been spiraling down the Pinguicula rabbit hole.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:15

Nice.

SPEAKER_03 1:26:16

And you know, I I started with like a small one from Casey's carnivores because she's so educational about it. And that's what makes it easy for me as you know as a collector, too, is that if somebody is willing to educate me how to care for these plants, that means they they care how successful I'm going to be as care, you know, caring for them. And so I had one here and there, and then PlantCon hit, and I'm like, oh my god, they're all right in front of me. So I got me some really, really beautiful pink wicolas.

SPEAKER_01 1:26:46

Nice. And I'll take a little bit of credit for um bringing you know Sandy Casey into Ovo and putting her in your life in a big way. So maybe that's your fault. That's bad. But I'm so happy that you are entering that rabbit hole of carnivorous plants. Because as uh hopefully some of the listeners know that that is one of the big passions that I have, one of the many plant interests is with carnivorous plants. Okay. Well, uh, I definitely want to thank you again for your time, April. Your time is extremely valuable, and I'm just very happy that we were able to make this work out. Uh, any closing thoughts or remarks for our listeners? Are you good to go?

SPEAKER_03 1:27:25

Um, another thing. I just wanted to congratulate you for this, and I wanted to thank you for giving me this opportunity. I had a wonderful time. Fantastic.