With colorful leaves sprouting from every corner, chic couches to lounge on, and some cool lighting effects, when you first walk into The Terrarium in Ferndale, you may wonder, “What exactly is this place?”
As co-owner Brent Higuchi explains, it boils down to three things, “Plant retail store, a lounge, a place where you can just hang out, and an event space.”
Higuchi and his partner Michael Sliger have enjoyed growing plants for a long time. When Higuchi was growing up he grew tomatoes. At first, he wasn’t a huge fan of the smell, but when he saw how the small seed could become a juicy tomato he could eat, he was all in. From there he grew more annuals and perennials and eventually worked his way into growing house plants and tropicals.
Their collection kept growing, and when the pandemic hit, they decided to make it a business.
“A lot of people went through a lot of things, and I turned to house plants,” explains Higuchi.
They started selling their considerable collection online and eventually opened a brick-and-mortar store in 2023.
“More and more people are coming in and saying, ‘I’m just getting into plants,’ and I love it,” says Higuchi.
The perk of having plants as your inventory is that it keeps on growing. Higuchi estimates he has about 1,000 plants in the storefront and well over 10,000 in stock. Their specialty is Terrariums, plants in an open or closed container with layers of soil and rocks to make a good ecosystem for a plant, requiring little to no maintenance. They have both the open and closed variety, the second of which requires a literal set-it-and-forget-it care method.
If you are already a plant parent, they can help you keep your buds blooming. They offer free virtual appointments where they can help you diagnose and treat a single plant, or you can set up a paid appointment on Mondays and Tuesdays to have them look over your entire collection.
Whether you’re an experienced plant parent looking for your newest addition, or new to the whole and are just curious, the Terrarium has something for everybody.
The Terrarium is located in the heart of downtown Ferndale at 22919 Woodward Avenue.