The February cold nips at your ankles with the savagery of an unloved Chihuahua. It doesn’t faze you. You are determined to be somewhere summery … joyful … alive! … brimming with beautiful houseplants that can become your beautiful houseplants, so you continue traversing the few remaining feet separating your car from The Mustard Seed’s greenhouse.
You pause to drink it all in: an impossible pocket of verdure, sealed away from frost and wind by nothing but plexiglass. It softens the winter’s harsh light to a warm incandescence that wraps itself around each living thing. The nerve plant, with leaves patterned like Greek mosaics. The Zanzibar gem, which stays emerald even when it’s neglected. The Ficus Audrey, considered by many to be the Rolls-Royce of Ficuses.
And to think, all of this is just five minutes from Eden Prairie!
“If you haven’t visited our greenhouse since you picked up your poinsettia, then you’d be amazed to discover how many plants we keep in stock all winter long,” said Kelly Lorenz, general manager of The Mustard Seed. “We have plenty in full flower, like the peace lily and the polka dot begonia which both thrive in low lighting. Our Swiss cheese plants, which aggressively fill in their surroundings with big holey leaves, are especially popular during the winter. We have epiphytes – rootless plants that drink from the air and can live anywhere. We also have cacti in every shape and color, including many species you wouldn’t mind accidentally bumping with your elbow.
“The Mustard Seed is the terrarium capital of the southwest metro this time of year. Some of our customers buy their vessels from us. Others bring in their own – any family heirloom, antique shop curio or humble glass bowl will do so long as it can contain potting mix. They all love filling up their own little ecosystems with any number of different plants. Once you’ve added a few personal touches, like a piece of furniture from your grandmother’s fairy garden or a stone you’ve attached some special importance to, you’ll feel like you’re holding a world of your own creation.
“Parents and children. Brothers and sisters. Plain old friends. It’s wonderful to see so many people come in and bond over their terrariums!
“For many gardeners, visiting The Mustard Seed is a form of winter therapy. They find the aroma of fresh, damp soil invigorating, and don’t mind getting all the inspiration they can before spring finally returns.”
It’s never too soon to start looking ahead. Visit The Mustard Seed for an in-store consultation, where you can share your photos, project ideas and measurements with the store’s resident experts. Thanks to their partnership with Monrovia.com, The Mustard Seed is ready to supply any annual, perennial, shrub, conifer, tree or vine your vision of backyard paradise might include. And if you can’t wait to reinvent your grounds this spring, beat the rush! Schedule your on-site landscaping project estimate with one of The Mustard Seed’s professional designers today, and rest assured your home will become the first on your block to make all your neighbors jealous.
Go and surround yourself with life at 10,000 Great Plains Boulevard in Chaska, or visit themustardseedinc.com to learn more about The Mustard Seed’s special offers and events. If your home is fortunate enough to occupy any part of Eden Prairie’s shoreline, then Hagen Lawn and Landscape, The Mustard Seed’s parent company, shares all they have to offer at hagenll.com.