WACO, Texas — Those Central Texas summers can be grueling and especially this summer. June and July saw almost no rain at all. Waco saw 35 straight days of 100 degree temperatures.
So naturally, being a plant owner during that time is going to be a struggle.
"Everything died pretty quick," Waco Plant Enthusiast and Facebook Group Admin Mary Brooks said. "I got a lot of my plants in March and they lasted through April and then it just got super hot and they did not make it through the sun."
"The drought has been pretty severe," Serena Rigby, another Plant Enthusiast said. "I know it's taken a toll on a lot of people who especially have like in-ground plants. A lot of my herbs did not survive this summer, but some of them did."
Ava Mariedees, a Plant Owner and Enthusiast from Waco, built her own greenhouse and has been growing plants for years.
She said the drought did not make life for her plants easy at all.
"There were a lot of challenges actually because all of my outdoor plants that were outside declined real fast. They needed the water from the sky, not just my water hose and my greenhouse was reaching 110 temperatures without an AC. So we had an install AC into my greenhouse in order to keep it a good temperature."
Finally, Central Texas has been seeing some rain, which has been a very welcome sight for plant owners in the area. Today's plant swap is an example of not only the different types of plant growers in the area but also the togetherness of the Waco plant community.
"There's so many people willing to share knowledge," Brooks said. "Those groups are just your friends. Like if you have a plant friend, they'll talk about it all the time."
So Sunday's plant swap served as an opportunity to both learn and enjoy a passion that can sometimes get a little difficult in our area. But as fall approaches, and hopefully more rain does too, the plant community hopes more people start growing their own plants.
"It's definitely a vibe for sure like everybody in the plant community is pretty chill. Everybody likes to share knowledge," Rigby said. "There's no gatekeeping people are really friendly when it comes to like trading and swapping and sharing plant knowledge and I think that's awesome."
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