***Spoiler Alert*** If you haven’t already seen What to Expect When You’re Expecting,
go watch it before you keep reading!
Welcome to the first “behind-the-scenes” blog post, where we share what it was like to bring each episode of our new Gooder Gardener video series to life. We’ll give you a glimpse of our experiences, inspirations, favorite moments, featured plants, and more.
We wanted this video project to involve as much of the Swansons team as possible and to show our “Swansons” personality so we reached out to our whole company and brainstormed ideas we could grow into episodes. Our employees spent hours practicing their lines and making the characters their own. They really brought the whole project to life and they nailed it, wouldn’t you agree?
Episode #1: What to Expect When You’re Expecting
The episode “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” was inspired by our own challenges keeping our own plants alive and by the anxiety our customers share with us, too. Even as seasoned plant parents, our knowledge and experience don’t always align with our high hopes for providing a happy and healthy life. We hear you. We see you. We’ve been there too.
We name our green babies, give them positive affirmations, and sing them lullabies. We all just want our babies (green and otherwise) to thrive, but it can be tough. What’s the proper amount of sunlight? How much to water a plant? What about pruning?! If you’ve done a quick Google search for plant care, you may be overwhelmed by contradictory information. On the other hand, you might also be able to relate to the feeling of getting it right! It is so rewarding to successfully have a garden, indoors and out. A little bit of confidence goes a long way. We channeled that triumph for this episode.
You might have caught on before the end, but the “is-it-a-plant-or-a-baby?” idea was a blast to play with. We wrapped up bundles of blankets (sometimes around plants) and lovingly nestled them into strollers and baby-wearing harnesses so you couldn’t really tell what was in them.
In the teacher’s New Parent Group classroom, our employees had fun making up questions to write on the easel that wouldn’t be so obviously plant-related. In hindsight, it’s clear, but did you realize we were talking about plants before the punchline?
The strollers were another awesome element of this episode. We bought them new and wheeled them around for a few hours during filming, and we knew we wanted to pass them on to families in need after filming. Our Delivery Coordinator, Geoffery, sourced a grateful recipient: Virginia Mason Medical Center gladly took the strollers off our hands and will provide them to mothers and families in need.
That last plant we showed at the end of the episode was a Tradescantia ‘Nanouk.’ It’s an easy-going vining plant that we would love to show you in person. It’s a beautiful houseplant!
Helping someone become confident in gardening is one of our favorite things to be a part of. Do you have questions about any of your plants or how to take care of them? Let us know! Email us, ask us on social media, or better yet, swing by Swansons and chat with us in person. We would love to talk about ways to be successful with your plants!
Click here to see all of our published videos and links to more behind-the-scenes blog posts.