Various succulents and cacti spilled over the edges of a table in the commons. Behind it, Greenhouse teacher Cindi Jacobs sported a sweater with a pumpkin on it and orange jingly earrings. She passed an aloe vera over to a student, who handed her a few dollars.

Greenhouse sold plants Thursday and Friday during both lunches.

“Succulents are what the students seem to like, so we decided we would try to make some more space by selling some of those,” Jacobs said.  “And we thought it went well with Halloween and ‘scary low prices.’”

The fundraiser was successful: Greenhouse sold most of their succulents and cacti and earned enough money to pay for soil, fertilizer and new plants the rest of the year.

The greenery purchased on Thursday and Friday was previously tended by Greenhouse students, who fed them, trimmed roots and watered individual plants since August.

Why did high schoolers buy cacti and succulents?

“It [my aloe vera] is cute,” senior Adelaide Bliss said, “but also I kill a lot of plants so I wanted to start fresh.”

“I’m a plant dad,” sophomore Jana Kellogg said. “I feel like I can just talk to plants and they don’t argue with me and it’s like owning an animal but they’re independent. It’s like owning an independent animal that just sits there and tells you that it loves you. You just need to water these guys. And, I don’t know, it just brings some livelihood to my household.”

In the spring, Greenhouse will hold its second annual sale. Jacobs said they like to market hanging plants then, when students tend to be more receptive to them.