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Meet the Floozies!

The Head Floozie: Denise

      

I have been a flower floozie since birth and love creating a place that allows me to do what I love...be around great people and in a garden setting all day! Chico has been my hometown for over 25 years and I love everything about Chico and everything that can be grown here.
I fell in love with the Plant Barn years ago and dreamed of owning it and making it even more unique. I am the third owner of the Plant Barn and with the help of my great friends Nancy, Rebecca and Sammy, I have been able to pursue that dream and keep dreaming of even bigger things. The aquisition of the back acre in 2012 means we are going to REALLY GROW!
It's music to my ears when people tell us "this is their happy place", or "We love coming here and seeing what is new, you always make us smile". Th Plant Barn has fast become a destination for many. Our evergrowing mailing list includes near and far customers.We will continue to become the place you have to see. I especially love when we get compared to Hubbards which was a Chico fixture for many years. It was one of my favorite places to peruse. We are that local place you want to bring your friends and family to see...and I love that!
My favorites at The Plant Barn include Roses, heucheras, grasses, euphorbias, tropicals that will live in Chico, and anything chartreuse or burgundy. I love mixing textures, and creating containers is my favorite hobby.
I peruse availabilities at night for bedside reading and am constantly looking for what is new...I know...a Plant Nerd!! But...I am ok with that and can't wait to find the next great plant to share with my customers and friends...see you soon!

Assistant Floozie: Rebecca


I live in an old purple house with three cats whose loyalty will continue as long as I feed them their "Atta Cat".   My son, Matthew, is in his twenties (which makes me at least that age); he is the love of my life.  

I have volunteer plants as the foundation of my garden: borage, comfrey, sunflowers, and lemon balm to name a few- plus several salvias, a multitude of agastaches and varying vegetables and flowers depending on the season.   I believe all colors match and will prove it to the non-believers by leading them through the paths in my garden.  

Besides floozin’ with the flowers, I write and read and play dress-up whenever an event even remotely lends itself to a costume.   I also sit on my porch and watch the bees and hummingbirds battle for the nectar from my Mexican sage and bee balm.

Favorite plants: lemon verbena, agastaches, pretty much any salvia, sunflowers, catmint, echinacea, cranesbill geraniums, asters, bee balm, amaranth, zinnias and many others.   I’m not crazy about green shrubbery  (I don’t have any), agapanthus, oleander, daylilies (until they change their name to something that doesn’t set them up for a specific blooming time), and bulbs except for daffodils.

NOTE FROM DENISE:  Rebecca is the "go to" girl for herbs and cottage gardens.....AND she knows more song lyrics than anyone I know.  She is a future novelist...so come meet her before she is really famous!   You may not always recognize her, as she can make any day a dress up holiday!


Assistant Floozie: Nancy

I’m a native Chico-area girl, raised on my great grandfather’s

Mills Orchard Farm in Hamilton City.
Being a part of the agricultural history of this area means very much to me. I loved growing up on Palm Drive in the middle of the orchards and will always feel deeply connected to the earth and the trees there.

During the 80's and 90's I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area. While living there, I studied landscape horticulture and Child Life. I had a gardening business and worked with hospitalized children, helping to make the hospital a friendlier and less threatening place for the children and their families.

Forest Ranch is my home now, where I live with my loving husband, Daniel, and our five cats. We love living among the native flora and fauna and work to have a garden that blends in with its natural surrounding. When not at home enjoying the peace and beauty of our little place in the forest, I divide my time between being a flower floozie at The Plant Barn and a cild life specialist at Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento. It is a good balance of working in a creative and nurturing way with plants and with people. I am blessed and thankful.

Some Plant Barn beauties that make me smile are: Kent Beauty Oregano, Lemon Thyme, Helena’s Blush Euphorbia, all colors of Echinacea and Heuchera, Muhlenbeckia-creeping wire vine, Lonicera nitida Lemon Beauty…and of course Denise, Rebecca, and Rose!


NOTE FROM DENISE:  Nancy has more talents then I can list here, but she has an especially amazing eye for design.  She's a soil genius, and her passion for Natives provides us with a never ending wealth of knowledge.  She is also the most compassionate person I have ever met and any conversation with her leaves me feeling like I've had my heart hugged!





Assistant Floozie: Sammy Jo



Born and raised in this lovely town we call Chico, but I can't help to wonder what the world holds. Gardening has brought me to see the beauty around all of us in our lives. I wandered into the Plant Barn after 18 years of living, but I feel like I now know what it means to be living. The plants have grown on me and have helped me grow. Being able to inspire people in their own gardens is a great honor, especially when your schedule limits your own time in the garden. I am a student at Butte College, working towards an AS in Environmental Horticulture and I am thankful to be studying such an art. What they don't teach you in school, I learn at the Plant Barn. One of my greatest realizations is that I don't belong indoors, which makes school a hard task at times. If I'm not in school, the garden, or the Plant Barn I'm probably in another country. Traveling is another addiction of mine, but as the flower floozies always say 'There are worst addictions!'
Some of my favorite addictions are:
Succulents, passion flowers, euphorbias, veggies and herbs, fruit trees, natives, and anything that can bring in the bees and hummingbirds!
I love spending time in the garden for my mental health, but what's even more rewarding is being able to use the plants for cooking, teas, and health care.

  NOTE FROM DENISE:  Sammy wandered into the Nursery and into our hearts.  Her enthusiasm and passion for learning are a delight to be around.  Sammy has an amazing work ethic for such a young age.  She is detail oriented and sees just where help is needed.  She has a great eye for merchandising and is fabulous with customers.  And just like the rest of us she can't resist a new plant, and after work can be seen cruising the aisles for plants for her own garden!   We are so happy, and very lucky, that she wandered in...