Tucked away between a gift shop and an arcade bar, to walk into Hapke’s Hortum is to enter a world of green, earthly delights. (Warning for readers: plant-based puns are ahead … I just want to make this “fern” for you!)
In between fronds, you’ll most likely find Clay Hapke, who will not only tell you about the needs of each species but speaks of his plants as individual characters.
“This is the easiest Pink Princesses I’ve ever cared for. It’s growing really well, it’s not too fussy at all,” he once told me when I won a plant in a prize draw.
Hapke’s Hortum is the business baby of Clay and his wife Lauren McKenzie. He has the green thumbs, while she boasts the business and design experience.
“People see my Nirvana t-shirt and tattoos and think I’m the artsy type,” said Lauren. “And I am! But I have another side that people don’t expect, too.”
Lauren grew up raising horses and livestock in Southern California and Arizona and is a twice-crowned rodeo queen.
“I was Little Miss Temecula Frontier Days Rodeo Queen when I was just nine!” she said.
Meanwhile, Clay grew up in small-town Illinois but moved to Colorado after finishing high school.
“I got an apartment with some friends, and the place had a huge window. That’s how the houseplants thing started,” he said.
The seeds of a hobby were planted.
“It snowballed from there – buy this one, buy that one, grow this one, kill that one … I was just trying to make it look cool!”
Soon, he was the go-to source of plant advice for a wide circle of friends.
Although Clay and Lauren had been running in the same social circle for two years, they found themselves single at the same time in 2018 and then found themselves in a budding romance.
“I was very impressed when I first saw Clay’s house,” Lauren said. “It wasn’t the typical bachelor pad with one old pillow and nothing on the walls; it was actually nicely decorated. There must have been over 100 plants.”
Clay asked her to move in after a few months of dating and they’ve been soil-mates ever since, getting married in 2021.
“Our house now looks just like Hapke’s Hortum. We don’t have any curtains because every window is crammed with plants,” Lauren said. “We have a living bed headboard made of vines.”
Is there anywhere they don’t have plants?
“The basement. I tried it but they weren’t thriving,” Clay sighed.
“By 2022, I was dreaming of making plants my day job,” he said. “I was selling granite countertops at a great company, but I was getting so burned out. Giving plant advice to friends had evolved into selling plants at pop-ups on weekends, but I wasn’t ready to risk everything and quit my job.”
Together we make a great duo. Lauren McKenzie
Three things came together to allow them to make the leap.
Firstly, Lauren was gaining business experience with her own successful company, Ren Creativ, a design and photography agency supporting small business owners.
Secondly, the Covid pandemic sent interest in houseplants through the roof.
“Plants just exploded,” Clay said, metaphorically of course.
Thirdly, friend and restauranteur Joe Campana approached them with a perfect spot to put down roots at a permanent location.
“He came to us three times with a business proposal, and three times we said no,” said Lauren. “But he wouldn’t give up. So, I sat down with Clay and we talked it through. I asked him if he really wanted to do this – despite the risk, despite all the challenges that would come – so that he could have something he loved that was truly his. Clay said ‘yes.'”
Two years later, business is blossoming. Lauren brings her flair to the business too, with her Western-themed thrift store finds, smut buttons and collage prints.
“We’ve been on a steep learning curve, learning how to manage inventory and employees,” Lauren said. “Clay cares for and sources the plants, I handle business development. Together we make a great duo. But we both want to make it really unique – we sell locally-made pottery, art and merchandise made by local artists, and we host workshops to teach people how to look after their plants.”
Even now, Clay hand-selects every plant that’s for sale at Hapke’s Hortum.
What advice does Clay have for budding horticulturalists?
“It’s okay when a plant dies. It’s not always your fault; sometimes it just happens.”
(I can attest to this. Tragically, the Pink Princess I won from Hapke’s Hortum died after a brutal cat attack.)
Despite being on the cusp of celebrating Hapke’s Hortum’s second birthday, Clay and Lauren are already expanding, doing displays at local restaurants and cafes to create a lovely backdrop and giving diners a chance to buy a plant and take it home.
Special for Pikes Peak Bulletin readers, Hapke’s Hortum has a secret giveaway! The first twenty people to give the secret password “giddy up” (a reference to Lauren’s rodeo accomplishments) get a free mini-plant.
IF YOU GO
Hapke’s Hortum Houseplants & Supply
2521 W. Colorado Ave.
Noon-6 p.m. Monday-Friday
11 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday