Ellensburg will soon become home to The Botany Shop, a new plant and botanical goods store opening downtown. Owner April Rohrbach has been working on opening her shop for about two years and said she is excited to share her love for plants with locals. 

“We will specialize in all sorts of plants,” Rohrbach said. “Just a really wide variety of high quality houseplants for sale. Everything like cacti, succulents, tropical foliage, indoor trees, and we’ll also be including some plant care items and botanical goods as well.”

Rohrbach originally went to school for art and photography, but later discovered her passion for plants and wanting to open a store. 

“That’s kind of where it started, [it] was just a dream of mine, like ‘oh, that would be so cool to own a plant store,’” Rohrbach said. “I’ve been just obsessed with houseplants for years, before it was cool.” 

Junior music performance major Lexi Harkrider says she is looking forward to having a new plant store so close to home. 

“A friend of mine sent me the instagram to show me we were getting a plant store,” Harkrider said . “I’m really excited about the idea of a houseplant shop. There are some other shops that primarily sell outdoor plants, so it’ll be nice to have one that specializes in indoor plants.”

Harkrider also said having plants around the house has helped her keep her house lively since she’s been spending so much time there over the last year.

“I really like nature and house plants because I can keep them inside. I get gratification from taking care of something and watching it grow,” Harkrider said. “It’s great to be surrounded by living things when not many people can be around.”

Rohrbach said this is her first time running a business, and has learned everything on her own and through the help of a business advisor.

“Probably about six months ago, I started seeing a business advisor through the Kittitas County Chamber of Commerce,” she said. “That was actually a free service that they provided… they help you figure out all the steps, so that’s been a really big part of the learning curve… and they have free classes, so that’s been the main part of my learning about business.”

She said while she knew it would be a lot of work, she’s been surprised by just how many steps there are to opening a store. Rohrbach said her family and boyfriend have been big supporters and have helped along the way, and she’s excited for all of it.

“I think I’m mostly excited about just bringing plants to everyone here, who are plant crazy like myself,” Rohrbach said. “And hopefully seeing how happy it makes everyone here and spreading the joy and seeing all the excitement.”

The Botany Shop is tentatively set to open at the end of May, and will be located at 209 West 3rd Avenue, just off of Main Street. You can follow updates on Instagram @thebotanyshop, or on Facebook @thebotanyshopellensburg