CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Business was in bloom at Avondale’s Sleeping Village bar on Sunday, as nearly 2,000 plant lovers gathered on Belmont Avenue for the Chicago Plant Party.
For Jeff Javier, plant collecting is more than a hobby.
“It's more of an obsession for me,” he said. “I have … 129 plants right now in my small, one-bedroom apartment.”
He and other plant lovers, including Fern Pinkston, said they were excited to see what was offered at Sunday’s free, plant-based market.
“I'm really excited about the propagators who are here, like folks who are just growing things from water, or they're like little grand babies of other plants,” Pinkston said.
The Plant Party featured 21 propagators, online shops, hemp and cannabis companies, artists, and more.
“Our business is called Plant Haus,” said Ace Ujimori. “We're a nursery in Rogers Park. We do work out of a basement in a residential building, so we're very grass roots at the moment.”
Ze Griffin, another vendor who came through to Sleeping Village, runs Plants N' Stones. He said that at the Chicago Plant Party, there are plants for everyone.
“It's like music,” Griffin said. “Some people are into country, some people into rap, some into R&B — but at an event like this, you're bringing in multiple genres of plants that people like.”
Organizer Tim Jarosz said Chicago’s home to a “big plant community.”
“People are passionate about it,” Jarosz said. “Just like any type of collection or people that collect anything, plants are just another thing. I don't know why, but people respond to plants.”
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