BRIGHTON TWP. — Sarah Goodwin, the owner of a new houseplant nursery near Brighton, said succulents attract people from across the gardening spectrum.

The mostly desert plants come in all shapes and colors, and they grow and flower in unique, and often surprising, ways. 

Those with green thumbs and gardening experience collect them for their unique qualities. And then there are the other kind of gardeners.

"I get two types of customers," Goodwin said. "I get those who totally neglect plants, which is actually good for succulents." 

Goodwin, who opened The Succulent Shoppe on Grand River Avenue, says succulents are also a perfect fit for people prone to kill houseplants.

She said the trick is to not water them much and wait until leaves start to wrinkle and dry up before watering again. 

"They don't need a lot of water, but they do need a lot of sun," she pointed out.

Goodwin, who started her houseplant business online a few years ago, is celebrating the reopening in her nursery, at 10607 E. Grand River Ave.

The shop is filled with different varieties of houseplants. Some have big, green leaves and need water. Some are vines. Some stand tall. Others trail and dangle. 

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Goodwin said she named the shop to reflect its wide selection of succulents.

She also sells air plants, philodendron, potho, callisia, hoya, orchid and other houseplant varieties. 

Some can live outside in the summer in Michigan. Others should stay inside all year on a window sill or other spots around the house. 

Goodwin said she likes how houseplants tie into interior design. 

"Some will grow up a moss pole or they will trail down a shelf," she said.

She said she gets orders for table centerpieces, including for weddings, baby showers and other events. 

A DIY plant bar is a special feature of the shop. People can fill a planter or terrarium with a special soil mix, add decorative rocks and sand, and choose between a variety of 2-inch succulent "plugs" or other plants from throughout the shop. 

"You can do it with any of the plants in the store," Goodwin said. " People usually do it with succulents."

She said she thinks the DIY bar will be a hit with customers, including families with children who are looking for unique activities

Goodwin is 22 and working to finish a degree in genetics at Michigan State University. 

A few years ago, she took a summer job at a greenhouse and started collecting plants at home. 

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She started selling plants online in 2019. 

"I saw people were selling succulents (online,) so I started doing it from home with my own website. Then I had a little 10-by-10 office in Lansing."

In July 2021, she moved her business into a space connected to where her nursery is now located. 

The space was previously Heritage Home Accents & Décor, which relocated to North Territorial Road near Chelsea. 

Goodwin took over the remainder of the space, completing many of the interior design projects herself, including painting the walls black and pink, installing plant-friendly lighting and other fixtures. 

She uses the other room mostly for processing shipments of online orders. 

She sells a few items from other Michigan vendors in the shop, including sealed concrete planters made in Bay City by O'Malley Customs and macramé pot hangings from Knot Ur Mother's Macramé out of the Kalamazoo area. 

She said she supplies advice on how to care for each plant in her shop. 

"People can even bring in their struggling plants or send me a picture and I'll try to help."

Contact Livingston Daily reporter Jennifer Eberbach at jtimar@livingstondaily.com