Della Sheridan loves plants. She has a special passion for growing rare house plants, and for many years she dreamed of opening a plant shop and greenhouse to share that passion with others. 

That dream has come true in the Hot Plant Greenhouse, which partially opened in January of this year. The rare plant shop, located near Crown Hill Cemetery on Lane 9, is filled with all kinds of rare and common house plants, pots and accessories, with two greenhouses under construction.

“The greenhouses will be open seasonally, and will have annuals, perennials, fruits and vegetables,” said Sheridan. “But the plant shop will be open year round.”

Sheridan said she has been in love with plants and gardening since she was a little girl. 

“My grandmother had a huge garden, and we called her house ‘the jungle,’” she said. “She had so many big, giant house plants. And when I was 13, I was gifted a Golden Pothos, and I have had that plant for almost 34 years. Her name is Polly.”

Hot Plant Greenhouse is the culmination of years of education and hands-on experience that Sheridan has accrued since taking her first Master Gardener courses from the University of Wyoming Extension Office in 2015.

“I was doing community service for Master Gardener (classes), and I started working at J&S Greenhouse, transplanting seedlings,” she said. “I was being mentored by a lady named Marlene Gregory — I used to refer to her as my ‘Garden Yoda.’”

Under the guidance of her “Garden Yoda,” Sheridan’s knowledge of plants both common and rare grew. She eventually took over as manager of J&S, and worked there for several years before she and her husband, Chance, moved to Saratoga.

“When I came back, I decided I wanted to open a plant shop and greenhouse so that people could see the amazing plants,” she said.

Sheridan’s collection of exotic houseplants is extensive. 

“There’s one in my collection called the Philodendron Spiritus Sancti, and there are more in people’s private collections than there are in the wild,” she said. “I grew this plant, and I fell in love with it, and I thought, ‘this has definitely got to be available for people.’” 

Sheridan has stocked the plant shop at Hot Plant Greenhouse with many of her favorites.  

“I have the Peperomia, it’s called Ripple Red,” she said. “It’s my favorite plant. It’s a common plant with beautiful red and grayish colored leaves that are heart shaped, they have an amazing texture.”

There are quite a few carnivorous plants in Sheridan’s collection as well, including butterworts, which eat pesky bugs. 

“I grow the common Monstera Deliciosa, with the big, huge, heart shaped leaves that have deep fenestrations,” she said. “I have things like rabbit foot fern, lots of different types of common pothos that come in different colors and sizes. I have the philodendron ‘Florida Beauty,’ and a philodendron ‘Splendid,’ which is a hybrid cross between a philodendron verrucosum and a melanochrysum. It has big, beautiful, velvety leaves.”

Hot Plant Greenhouse is truly a family operation, as Sheridan’s only employee is her husband, Chance.

“He built my plant shop for me, and put in lots of long hours,” she said. “And believe it or not, he knows a thing or two about plants. He is pretty good at pointing at the plants in the shop and knowing what they are.”

Interestingly enough, the greenhouse was not named “Hot Plant” after the greenery that Sheridan has cultivated. Rather, the name is an homage to Chance’s grandfather, Ernie Kylander.

“The property used to belong to his grandfather, he had Kylander Construction, and he paved roads using a piece of equipment called a ‘hot plant,’” said Sheridan. “And so we purchased the property, and our intention was to just build a house on it, but when we moved back to Powell a couple years ago, we decided to do a greenhouse and plant shop business before we built our house.”

While Sheridan doesn’t have a projected opening date for the greenhouses yet, she has plans beyond just selling unique greenery.

“There’s lots of cool stuff in here to get kids interested at a young age,” she said. “I plan on doing some kid workshops, making seed balls, teaching them how to transplant house plants. I also plan on doing a couple of courses teaching people how to grow tissue cultured plants, which is how really expensive house plants are made affordable. They’re easy, they’re fun. So I plan on doing a couple courses where people can learn how to do that.”

The plant shop at the Hot Plant Greenhouse is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, Saturday and Monday, and from noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. It is located at 687 Lane 9, and Sheridan can be contacted through her Facebook page.