Last year, Andi Xoch launched Latinx with Plants to celebrate and sell plants of all kinds to her community. What started as a humble business in her Boyle Heights home has now transformed into something much more.
Xoch’s inspiration to start Latinx with Plants was from the Instagram page @blackwithplants. She became friends with the creator D’real through Instagram and their community work brought them together.
She expressed to him that she wanted to highlight her community in the plant world, and he suggested that she do a Latinx with Plants page.
Xoch befriended people from different nurseries who helped her bring her plan to life.
But, during the COVID lockdown, many plants from the nurseries she visited were dying, so she chose to take some in and nurse them back to life. Xoch began doing pop-ups and doing porch pickups. She wanted to keep the plants at an affordable price, but wanted to see more people of color in the plant world.
“I invested in my canopy, I invested in my shelves, to make it a special experience for folks in my community to come and adopt a plant. Luckily, the business has been growing so fast,” Xoch said.
Xoch knew she needed a space to call her own in Boyle Heights…and says that her community has many hidden gems that represent immigrant homes. Neighbors have plants and herbs that they grew up with. It’s not just for aesthetics. Their plants represent them and their culture.
“As soon as I walked into my new space, I knew this is exactly what I wanted. I wanted to do something special for my community and not just create like this bougie plant store,” said Xoch.
“I wanted something that you know, the señoras could pass by and be like ‘oh wow that’s so cool.’ I want to be able to welcome the señoras in the community,” she added.
Latinx with Plants has been a safe space for people during the COVID-19 pandemic. Xoch says she relied on plants for comfort and consolation.
“Through quarantine I’ve just really gotten into plants and a lot of nurseries just aren't Latino owned, so I thought it was really important to support my community,” said Saul Robinson of Sherman Oaks.
Xoch says that people who are in need of comfort at home should turn to plants because there are so many beautiful things about the plant world.
“Reconnecting your love for nature, or having nature inside your room, when you can’t go outside freely as much as you’d like to,” Xochi added.
When the pandemic is over, Xoch would like to expand her business to different parts of the county, She would like to host plant workshops for her community. But, the store is now open to the public.
Visitors are asked to book an appointment through their Instagram page — @Latinxwithplants—to maintain social distancing. The store is located on 2117 E. Cesar Chavez Avenue in Boyle Heights.