Groovy Plants Ranch — Attraction in Bennington Township

I used to really really enjoy coming here. The plants were always seemingly healthy and not too horribly priced, either! I went a few months back and I also went yesterday. They had a lot more plants put out over the last few months (because it’s busy season) but wow the tropical houseplant section looked god awful. the “rare” plant section was severely under-watered and almost every single plant in that section looked to be in very very bad condition. They looked so bad that majority of them should not even be on the sales floor and ESPECIALLY should not be sold full price. The prices are very very steep. I have been collecting houseplants for just about three years and I enjoy a variety of rare and variegated plants. I know what the market is for these plants and while I do understand a business needs to make a profit- there is no reason a half-dead itty bitty baby anthurium that costs around $20 market value be sold for over $100. At least let them be healthy if you’ll sell them for that much. But they aren’t healthy. I was honestly very shocked at how bad they all looked. Like- almost ALL of them. I was also shocked to find that a small veggie/herb was $7??? That’s double the price from anywhere else. Very sad. Used to be a cute little small business but they’ve expanded exponentially in a successful attempt to become a huge price gouging tourist trap with no quality whatsoever. I used to love this place but I do not think it will be worth the 45m drive knowing what I’m getting myself into. I would personally never sell plants that look like that- and especially for...

TL;DR: Want the best plant “store” and wacky attraction within a hundred miles or more? This is the place you want.

Groovy Plants Ranch is the best plant store/nursery within a hundred mile radius of Columbus. Period. Also I feel like every time I go there, they’ve expanded again 😂. It doubles as an attraction to boot with all of their whacky (in a good way) statues and statement art pieces like a giant fake flying saucer, and others that I won’t spoil!

Then there’s the actual plants. Man. There are SO many of so many kinds. Common ones, rare, super rare (I feel like I’m talking about Pokémon cards lol). Some that I’ve never even heard of and cool hybrids.

The staff is so nice and helpful, and the owners are the bomb. This is their life dream to have a place like this and the time, care, blood, sweat, tears and love they put in to it is so obvious.

I even found two pothos variations I haven’t been able to find elsewhere. The green and yellow is the Hawaiian Pothos that originates in…Hawaii! Shocker! And the white is a Snow Queen. They’re not super ultra rare, 1st edition holographic to keep the Pokémon card analogy going lol), but they’re less common and I’ve been trying to find em!

If you want super rare stuff, they probably have it too. I just can’t say enough great things about this place. In a world where everything is becoming more corporatized and soulless, this place just gives that idea the middle finger in all the best ways. Bright, colorful branding, personality, wackiness and weirdness, and just honestly it’s so clear that it was a passionate project...

We ventured from nearly an hour away to the ranch for their "Spring Thrift-o-Rama" event. Always wanted to check the place out after reading through their website. Plenty of parking. Lots of people there. Good selection of plants & other merchandise, but everything was priced significantly higher than anywhere else I've seen in several years (& I spend $$$ on plants each year). Most plants were double the price of what one would pay elsewhere-- but imported from exact same companies & in no better condition. In some instances, plants were smaller in comparison but still twice the price. Good selection but nothing surprising other than variety of cacti & few succulents offered. Still, prices were a major deterrent for me, knowing the markup was so high. I assume folks are paying for the ambiance, but that, too, was less than I expected. It was pretty crowded during the event; it was overwhelming at times-- especially trying to navigate around with a large, cumbersome plant cart. Thus, we didn't stay nearly as long as we thought we would. There were about 20-30 outside vendors set-up, but we didn't find anything from them that captivated us. They had 2 food trucks next to the parking lot; we did not partake. The event & the place itself were definitely not as cool as I thought they would be. Unfortunately, the high prices (compartively) will keep me from going again and/or recommending it to others. You can find much better deals on unique plants just a...