About Me

Hi! My name is Liza Wheeler and I’m a former small business owner – an Albuquerque-based plant care biz called Good To Grow. I started this blog back in 2009 to promote my interior plant decorating artistry.

These days I live in Phoenix, and continue my love affair with plants and all things Nature. If you have questions about growing plants or how to landscape your yard, please shoot me an email at lizatheplantlady@gmail.com. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.

Liza

(The following is my NM history)

>>>When I first moved to New Mexico (Jemez Springs), I was a freelance writer, my clients were on the East Coast. I still had those clients when I later moved to Albuquerque, but once in ‘burque, I decided I wanted to mix things up a bit.

So I got a part-time job with Conroy’s, which at the time, was the biggest exterior landscaper and interior landscaper in town. They also had a flower shop on Wyoming and Commanche.

I worked for the interior landscapers, they gave me a plant route. I was to visit each client once a week and water the plants, dust them, prune them when necessary, fertilize, and otherwise keep them all looking healthy and happy.

There were lots of businesses around Albuquerque that viewed having plants in the office as a priority. Just like they invested in artwork, they invested in plants (buying the plants and containers) and then the maintenance of those plants. Some clients had been with Conroy’s for years.

For me as a writer, it was great. I was getting to know Albuquerque, and I got to eavesdrop on everyone else’s office politics, then leave! Lots of good fodder for writing.

One day, about eight months into working there, I showed up for work and the gates were locked.

Crap.

I figured if they weren’t going to tell their employees that they went out of business, they weren’t going to tell the clients either.

So I did.

I went to General Mills, and told Joletta that I would come back the following week on my own so the plants didn’t die, but I told her she needed to find a new company to hire. She said she’d sign the contract over to me if I wanted to start a business, because out of all the employees that Conroy’s had sent over the years, I was the only one who’d actually shown up once a week like I was supposed to.

Then, client after client – including KOBtv and Superior Mortgage – offered the same deal that Joletta suggested.

A few days later, Good To Grow was born.

I’d like to think I’d know not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

That was 12 years ago.

Today, I’ve expanded to patio beautification, container gardening and light landscaping, in addition to growing the interior landscaping business.>>>