A trio of moms likes to occasionally take a break from family duties for a fun night out.
On an evening in mid-August, Shirley Procopio, Amy Goldman, and Dina Crump got together at Mimi’s Cafe near the Tucson Mall for drinks, dinner and some gardening.
Plant Nite, when people make and take home a tabletop garden, is the latest activity in Tucson that combines socializing with creating. It’s a popular concept that started with painting parties in which folks take color to canvas while enjoying drinks and conversation.
The moms had already taken one of those paint classes. Crump, who often serves as the recreation director for her friends, wanted to do something different. Then a Plant Nite event caught her eye.
“I found out about it through Groupon,” said Crump. “I love terrariums.”
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She’s also partial to fairies, which was the theme of the evening’s project, led by Plant Nite licensee Mona Felix-Jones.
Each gardener sat with a glass bowl, a heart- or star-shaped glass container or a wooden trough. They got to know each other and order from the menu.
From the start, most of the 15 participants that night were juggling food and garden accessories on their tables, making for crowded work spaces. No one seemed to mind, however, as laughter and conversation competed with instructions from Felix-Jones.
She started the class with an oath that everyone took: Don’t throw dirt into drinks, do one’s own work and don’t be self-critical. “I will embrace my artistic side,” all recited after her, “and am proud of what I create.” She ended with a cheer: “Let’s get dirty!”
Students were attentive when it came to the actual planting, carefully following Felix-Jones’ directions on pouring drainage medium and then soil into their containers.
Each person got three plump jewel succulents, although the friends got four for sitting at a special table. Plant choices included elephant bush, jade plants, Mexican stonecrops and echeveria. Felix-Jones showed how to pop plants out of their pots and put them in their permanent homes. As they planted, she provided care instructions.
Then came the creative part. Every few minutes Felix-Jones and her two helpers brought out coarse gravel in a variety of colors and neon-hued moss; plastic fairies, frogs, ladybugs, mushrooms, dinosaurs and dragons; and wooden signs on which people wrote messages.
After a little more than an hour, most were done with their projects.
The three friends said they were satisfied with their creations, even Procopio, who continued to adjust items after she said she was finished.
“This is so neat,” the foothills resident said. “It’s so fun.” She had planned on giving her garden to her daughter. “But I’m going to keep it,” she concluded, ”so, sorry.”
Goldman, who lives in Oro Valley, figures her tabletop garden will save her money by taking the place of weekly flower purchases.
Crump, also from Oro Valley, said she will add her garden to the bar area at home. For her, the bottom line was how much she enjoyed the activity. “This is much more fun than painting,” she said.
Felix-Jones said she enjoys watching the individual gardens take shape, each significantly different. A 14-year-old called his creation Dragon Island. One person, who admitted she isn’t a plant person, made a tabletop garden using rocks that Felix-Jones painted as cactus.
That was a special courtesy that Tucson native Felix-Jones did for a friend. But a lot of what she offers goes beyond the standard package.
She cuts the wood that people can use for signs. She cuts mesquite into little stepping stones. She brings home lots of tiny shells from her Rocky Point trips for her beach-theme classes.
And she visits local nurseries to pump up the plant offerings. It saves on shipping costs from Boston, where parent company Creative Entertainment is located.
Plus, “The varieties here are way different,” says Felix-Jones. “I think I’m getting much prettier stuff.”
Felix-Jones, who graduated from Desert View High School, worked as a phlebotomist and a hospital emergency room patient care technician for 25 years. In March she became the crafty co-owner of My Seesters Restyle Boutique on the north side. She sells her signs and crafts there, as well as helps run the family business.
Last year she attended another of Creative Entertainment’s offerings, Paint Nite, which is established in Tucson. She wanted to try out Plant Nite, but discovered the closest classes at the time were in California and New Mexico.
Felix-Jones earned a license in April to offer Plant Nite in Southern Arizona. Another licensee now runs classes in Phoenix, too.
She believes it was her love of plants that got her the license. She and her husband live on five acres in Picture Rocks. There they grow banana plants, chile, squash, Boston ivy, poinsettia, fan palm and, her favorite, elephant ears.
As the licensee, Felix-Jones holds several two-hour sessions a month in restaurants in Tucson, Vail, Casa Grande and Green Valley.
She rotates among a number of themes for her classes, including Paris, wine therapy, animals, unicorns, the beach, wooden containers, colored sand and hanging globes.
While she typically uses jewel succulents, some classes specifically feature cacti or air plants.
Felix-Jones says the challenge of providing variety in her classes touches on her artistic talent. “Me trying to figure out what we’re going to do and then get extras for the attendees–I love it,” she says.
