I became a houseplant person by accident.

Growing up, there were only a few plants in the house. They were the kind of stubborn plants that thrive on benign neglect: watered only on laundry day or when visibly wilted and never, to my knowledge, repotted. I did not inherit my habit of collecting indoor plants.

It wasn’t until I first lived alone that I bought a houseplant – from the grocery store, of all places. It was a petra croton, and the bright red, orange, and yellow veins of the large leaves caught my eye. It was on sale and my brand-new apartment was depressingly sparse, so I put it in my cart and brought it home.

The petra added a refreshing spot of color and life to my living room, so the next time I was at the grocery store I picked up a coffee plant. It was potted in a coffee mug, which I found appropriate. I named it Joe.

From there, I started picking up plants when they piqued my interest. If grow kits were on sale somewhere, I’d buy one. I started casually researching which plants do well in which indoor environments. When I neglected my polka dot plant and it got too leggy, I learned how to propagate plants. When the petra’s roots started growing out the drainage holes, I learned how and when to repot.

And now, almost six years later, I’m the type of person who spent more than a year looking for a specific plant. (I know that one of the garden stores in town would have ordered it for me, but that felt like admitting defeat. I finally found the plant, adorably known as string of turtles, in a mobile plant store at the Minnesota State Fair, which makes for a much more interesting story.)

All of this means that when a friend shared a social media post about a library that offered a plant cutting program, I immediately jumped on the idea.

Last year, I introduced the library’s first annual Plant Propagation Station. It had great participation from the community, with more than 70 plant cuttings exchanged. The program is simple: you can donate plant cuttings and you can take plant cuttings home. You don’t need to donate a plant to take one home. You don’t need a library card to participate (though we’re happy to help you sign up – we have a great collection of plant books to check out). It’s FREE.

If you are a plant expert looking to offload some extra plant babies or add to your collection; if you’ve never had a houseplant and want to give it a shot for free; if you just need a bit of green in your life during these cold winter months – come check out the Plant Propagation Station.

You can find the Plant Propagation Station on Level 2 near the computers. We’ll accept cuttings through March 1, and the display will remain until we run out of plants.