The interior of the Lucky Leaf Studio is full of many different plants and a homely feel with the soft lighting and simple decor.
Gabrielle Barnett |Marlin Chronicle
Lucky Leaf Studio, located at 4216 Virginia Beach Blvd. Suite 165 in Virginia Beach, Virginia, is a new plant nursery that’s open Tuesday through Sunday. The shop offers a variety of different types of plants, suitable for a wide range of plant caretaking skills and climates. Additionally, the shop partners with local, small businesses to provide art, plant accessories and other sustainable products.
Lucky Leaf Studio is owned and operated by Melissa Smith. A former healthcare worker, Smith found her passion for plants during the pandemic, when she was quarantined and isolated outside of her work.
“I needed something that I have control over that was living and positive,” Smith said. She started small, with growing houseplants in her garage. However, when she realized how much better she felt when working with her plants, her collection grew until she had over 120 plants in her backyard.
“The house became consumed,” Smith said. “I had rolling carts with plants and I wanted to find the next step.”
Christmas decor for sale at the Lucky Leaf Studio, perfect for a Christmas gift.
Gabrielle Barnett |Marlin Chronicle
With the realization of how relaxing and invigorating the plants were on her mental health, she started to share her plants with her friends and teach her community the value of growing and connecting with nature. This later became the basis of one of the Lucky Leaf’s principles, which is pairing plants with people.
“Pairing plants with people started because my best friend loves plants but forgets,” Smith said. “I really wanted people to find plants that work for their lifestyle.”
Smith’s personal favorite plants are her pilea, nicknamed Penelope, and her spineless cactus that looks like a fern, but without the mess. However, she recommends that a potential plant parent take into consideration their own environment and skills.
To help with this, the Lucky Leaf has a set of questions on their website that ask about different habits and the environment, such as whether a potential buyer has pets or will have a lot of time to take care of their plants. The Lucky Leaf offers suggestions of what plants to purchase, all of which can be found at the nursery. Smith points this out as one of the distinguishing features of the Lucky Leaf.
“You can buy plants almost anywhere,” Smith said. “I wanted to differ.”
For college students, Smith recommends a self-containing plant, such as a Moss Amigo moss ball, or a terrarium. Moss Amigos, one of the partnerships that Lucky Leaf supports within the store, sells their moss balls that grow in jars of water in the shop.
“My goal is really to work and support other people who are like-minded,” Smith said.
The Lucky Leaf has nine other vendors that create and sell pottery, painting, photography and more within the shop. Like Smith, many of the vendors come coincidentally from a healthcare background.
“Healthcare and wanting to give to others builds the creative spirit,” Smith said.
Sue Mako is one of the vendors who sells at the Lucky Leaf. She sews aprons, tote bags and cross body bags, as well as repurposes vases, creates jewelry and art with sea glass and driftwood.
“During the pandemic, I started making face masks,” Mako said. She explained that she hadn’t considered herself to be much of an artistic person beforehand, but that when she started giving face masks out, people started giving donations to her daughter’s convent in response.
“I just like to buy things for [my daughter’s convent],” Mako explained. When she realized the interest in her work, Mako opened a vendor booth at Painted Tree Boutiques, a type of shopping center that specializes in small businesses and boutiques. Smith also started at Painted Tree Boutiques, which is where the two entrepreneurs connected.
“She knew my story and she asked me to make her some aprons,” Mako said. “She invited me to be a part of this.”
Mako feels proud to be a part of the Painted Tree and collaborate with other talented entrepreneurs. She especially likes the way that the items are all interwoven and displayed throughout the store, describing it as a treasure hunt.
Tamara Hamlin, a visitor of the nursery, described it as a really nice place.
“They have things that are affordable,” Hamlin said. “And for people who are, you know, more interested in complicated plants, they have plenty.”
This was Hamlin’s first time visiting the nursery and she purchased her own Moss Amigo and another plant.
“It’s a cute, pretty easy to take care of plant,” Hamlin said. She described the Lucky Leaf as a great place to go as either a new plant parent or someone with more experience, like herself, just as Smith intended.
“We have to have plants to live,” Smith said. “That is my goal, for people, anybody, to be able to afford a plant.”
So whether looking for a larger plant such as a Calathea or something easy to take care of like a Moss Amigo, or simply decorative art or other sustainable gifts for the holidays, the Lucky Leaf nursery can help you find exactly what you are looking for.
Gabrielle Barnett
