I’ll never forget living through the events of March 2020. In Los Angeles, where I lived at the time, there were only rumors of what was coming, then suddenly it was all too real.
One day, I went to Trader Joe’s, and all the aisles were picked clean. A few days later, the beaches were closed. Even with my own incredible good fortune of avoiding covid, going from a super active life to long days in a cramped apartment was tough.
As the pandemic dragged on, I tried to adapt. I looked for new outlets to bring a little to joy to my life. New ways to form community. New ways to engage with the world and smell the roses. It was around this time that my friends Nick and Brian began working on the first version of Blossm, which was at the time focused on helping people connect for in-person plant swaps.
As I began to learn about what they were building, I was struck by the remarkable positivity of their work. At a time when all of us were stuck at home — and many of us were caught up in anxiety — here was an app that was connecting people. Helping plant enthusiasts make friendships, while bringing living plants into their homes.
A Community Marketplace for Plant Enthusiasts
One small silver lining from the pandemic — it helped many of us explore our green-thumbs for the first time. According to the National Garden Survey, 18.3 million people took up gardening in 2020. Other research has pointed out how among people under 40 working from home, 70% increased their gardening activities.
Vibrant online communities formed, where people could spend hours “nerding out” on plants — learning about plant care, discovering new species, or simply admiring the beauty and incredible variety of plants the world has to offer.
While today many companies sell plants online, we think that’s just a small part of what the plant community wants and needs. Plant enthusiasts want to:
- Find the best deals on their wish list plants
- Share know-how
- Showcase their plant collections
- Discover beautiful new plant varieties
- Form authentic friendships with fellow plant enthusiasts
We‘re building Blossm to make that incredibly easy.
Last week, we launched web on Blossm, to help make our inventory of over 12,800 plants and garden items even more accessible to anyone across any device. Hope you’ll join us and realize all your horticultural desires on Blossm.
— Ari | Co-Founder @ Blossm