ST. LOUIS, MO (KMOX) - Gina Marie Houska had to source more plants for last Saturday's Arnold Days. That's because the first weekend on the road with The Plant Truck she sold many more than she had anticipated. She's already in demand from other organizers.
"It's an overwhelming response," Houska says she's been contacted by farmers markets and event organizers. Even businesses and subdivisions want her to come and be a pop-up shop during the week.
Houska is a certified horticularist and certified arborist. Her inspiration for her side gig came from a visit to a food truck garden.
"I saw a women's boutique truck, selling purses, and I thought, 'Well if she was selling plants I'd be over there in a heartbeat,'" she says.
So she bought an old window delivery truck and spent six months upgrading and remodeling it, including adding a window with an awning. At her setup in Arnold, vines spill out of that window, dangling over exotic philodendron and figs.
Customers aren't limited to shopping from the outside. Houska turned the interior into a cozy industrial style showroom, with a green wall of lush foliage from ceiling to floor. And with a plexiglass roof and a water tank on board, it doubles as a greenhouse when it's parked at her home.
She works with several local wholesalers to find unique house plants.
"Hoya is one that first comes to mind, that is very popular right now," Houska says Monstera and cactus seem to be in demand as well.
Houska tells KMOX, she could see a day when her budding business becomes a fleet of trucks, providing many more tiny oases for house plant enthusiasts across the region.
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