Clara Ankeny holds her succulent display for the Nebraska State Fair.
A Nebraska FFA member is promoting sustainable gardening with her succulent business.
Clara Ankeny is a junior at Wayne High School and a member of the Wayne FFA Chapter. Being a country kid and living in rural Nebraska, Ankeny has always shown an interest in nature and plants. What she’s doing now is turning her passion into a business.
Sustainable Gardening
Ankeny runs a small business and Supervised Agricultural Experience (SAE) under the agribusiness category. She takes old succulents, cuts off their leaves and propagates them. By propagating their leaves, Ankeny is able to reduce the cost of buying new plants.
“I don’t want a huge business, but I want my hobby to make a little cash,” she says.
Ankeny also wants to give everyone the joy of owning a plant. By keeping her expenses low, she’s able to keep the price of her succulents down as well.
“I don’t want to overprice my plants so I can give customers that feeling of owning a plant,” Ankeny says. “Plants make me happy. They should make everyone happy.”
Of course, with great success comes great challenges. Owning a business is no easy task, and Ankeny has had to overcome obstacles. In order to give proper care instructions to customers, she has tracked all the different kinds of succulent plants.
“This helps a customer correctly take care of their plant to make them thrive and live to their full potential,” Ankeny says. “One of my findings is that most customers don’t know how to properly care for their plants, and I hope to help them learn more. I want to help set my customers up for success, not failure.”
Paving a Path for the Future
During Labor Day weekend in 2024, some of Ankeny’s succulents were displayed at the Nebraska State Fair in Grand Island.
In the future, Ankeny plans to pursue a career in landscape architecture and design. Her SAE is setting up a path for success and proof that FFA is growing passions and impacting futures.
