From the Road: Groovy Plants Ranch offers everything from ‘Air Plants to Rare Plants’
Destination garden center Groovy Plants Ranch (GPR) is a family-owned greenhouse located in Marengo, Ohio, about a half hour north of Columbus. Owners Liz and Jared Hughes opened the business hoping to become a destination plant store, “and thanks to the overwhelming support of the community we’ve blown away our expectations,” he said.
Jared founded Groovy Plants Ranch in 2009 at age 19 “with nothing more than a few cuttings of succulents.” He built the business while gaining his associate degree in landscape design and architecture, and working at Foertmeyer and Sons, where he served as retail manager for five years.
He discovered succulents’ appeal when he purchased a nursery rack and cut the plants into hundreds of little pieces and replanted them.
“I needed something I could grow that was very easy and low-care because I didn’t have much time to dedicate to a crop,” Jared said. “That’s when I discovered succulents were pretty easy to propagate and grow. They just made me think of the 1960s and I’ve always kind of liked classic rock music, so that’s where the name started. [Succulents] had a heyday back in the ‘60s, and they came back into popularity. So that’s where [Groovy Plants Ranch] started — it started with the succulents.”
In 2012, Jared met Liz, who was working as an art teacher and textile artist. Liz soon transferred her creative and teaching talents to the horticulture world and, in 2016, the couple opened the current retail store and nursery with the purchase of three acres at the former Fargo Herbs farm, its seven greenhouses and old schoolhouse. In 2022, they announced the purchase of 11 additional acres, allowing GPR to multiply its plant offerings and host more events, including plant workshops, a Succulent Solstice festival, its first crafts fair and numerous weekend food trucks.
GPR propagates and grows a large portion of its plant offerings, filling its benches with everything “from air plants to rare plants,” Jared said on an introductory YouTube video for the business.
Take a look inside Groovy Plants Ranch:
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