Facebook Marketplace: the endless scroll of affordable used couches, coffee tables and questionable “like new” furniture.

But lately, when the location is pinned to Colorado Springs and its surrounding areas, another trend has taken root.

It’s not the sale of old couches or used bikes that are filling users’ feeds; it’s plants.

In the Pikes Peak region, neighborhood flower stands have gone digital and business is blooming. 

While Facebook Marketplace has become the internet’s modern-day garage sale, homegrown plants have quietly transformed part of the platform into a virtual greenhouse.

Local gardeners have started selling homegrown vegetables, flowers and herbs that often sell for a fraction of what shoppers might pay at big-box garden stores.

So while places like Lowe’s and Home Depot may have full-blown garden centers, local gardeners like James Vargo have Facebook.

“Everybody’s got a side hustle,” Vargo said. “We already do worm castings. So, we were trying to supplement that with some other things. I had built garden trellises and other support systems for the garden, so we thought ‘Why the heck not? We’ll try plants, too.’”   

While Vargo has been living in the Springs for the last 10 years and gardening for the last 50, it wasn’t until two years ago when he made Facebook Marketplace his storefront. 

“I planted a bunch of vegetables hoping that I would get a few, but they all came up,” he said. “I was like, ‘What do we do with the extra? We’ll pop them on Facebook and see what happens.’ We sold pretty much all of them.” 

Today, Vargo and his wife, Amy, sell tomatoes, peppers, onions, squash, zucchini and lettuce online, but this side hustle has become more than just extra income, he said. 

“It’s a little bit more than a hobby because she’s had cancer,” Vargo said. “I’ve got sepsis, and the closer we can get to growing our own food and having everything be 100% natural without having to pay high prices at the store for it, it’s kind of a necessity.” 

The couple sells starter plants for $3 each or four for $10. At Lowe’s, a single starter plant is $6, with larger packs ranging from $8 to $15.

“A lot of people show up and they’re like, ‘Wow, I can get four plants for the price of one compared to Lowe’s or Home Depot,’” he said. I personally like to support local businesses and people trying to do stuff for themselves. If someone has a sale, why not hit them up versus go to the store to buy it? So it’s nice to see people doing the same for me.” 

For John Greydanus, who calls himself Johnny Grey’s Greens on Facebook, the journey to selling plants in Colorado Springs began much farther from home. 

The Netherlands native and former horticulturist moved to Colorado Springs from New Mexico about a year ago. In the last three months, he put 80 flowering plants in his 20-by-20-foot garden and has already sold half through Facebook Marketplace.

“I’ve been just growing them for the fun of it,” he said. “We started our garden from nothing. I’ve grown them all, and now it’s all pretty much gone.”

Along with flowers, Greydanus sells four-packs of cabbages, peppers, chiles and other vegetable starters for $2.75, a price he hopes makes gardening accessible while encouraging shoppers to buy local.

“They’re not shipped in from wherever,” he said. “I grow them pretty much organically with very little fertilizer. There’s enough people who just want to buy local, so I hope this helps others just do it. Not for us to earn a lot of money out of it, but to just enjoy helping the community.”

For Greydanus, Vargo and the many gardeners behind Facebook Marketplace’s growing plant scene, their gardens may begin in their backyards, but they’re planting roots throughout Colorado Springs.