Wallet? Check. Keys, phone? Check. Parmesan cheese shaker filled with native wildflower seeds? Well, if you are San Francisco plant lovers and self-described “volunteer conservationists" Phoenix and Shalaco … check. The two rarely leave home without theirs.
The engaged couple is leading a movement to beautify their city as well as boost the local ecosystem by spreading wildflower seeds over any and all patches of bare earth they encounter.
“Spending five minutes throwing seeds on the ground can literally transform a place,” Phoenix said.
Phoenix and Shalaco’s social media posts on TikTok and Instagram chronicling their seed-sowing adventures (often in bee suits, riding electric skateboards) have garnered them hundreds of thousands of online followers.
“Individually, we were doing the things we love to do with plants, then we came to do them together and we’re like, ‘Let’s share this with the internet.' Then the internet lost their minds,” Shalaco said.
The couple met a dozen years ago and said they instantly bonded over their interest in plants and nature. Phoenix owns a landscaping business. You can find plants in every room of their large Mission District victorian home as well as filling every square foot of their backyard. Phoenix and Shalaco share all sorts of horticultural knowledge in their social media posts, but it is the seed spreading that has brought them the most attention.
Shalaco takes credit for discovering that a parmesan cheese shaker, filled with wildflower seeds and rice hulls (to space out the seeds) worked perfectly for their needs. They enjoy seed spreading on almost any walk they do, but they have also found that once they put the shaker in the hands of others, a convert is instantly made.
“All of the sudden they can't stop. They're like, 'Oh my gosh. This is so much fun.’ And they're just like shaking everywhere. It's infectious for me. It's infectious for anyone we cruise around with. You put a shaker in their hand and they go nuts for it,” Shalaco said.
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There are numerous spots in and around their neighborhood that Phoenix and Shalaco can point to where wildflowers bloom thanks to their efforts. The benefits to the environment are plenty, the pair say. The native plants are not only pretty to look at, but they are good for the soil, aid in water conservation, and attract bugs and insects that are beneficial to the rest of the local ecosystem.
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"I think it's fantastic. We are both super in love with the city. We've lived here for so long and it feels really good to give back." Phoenix said. "A lot of people are like, 'Oh I just thought those were just growing there. I thought it was magic.'"
