Rescuing Plants Turned into a Surprise Business

Rescued Bonsai Are a Thing

You’ve probably never thought about a rescue plant before, right? Cats and dogs, sure, but plants, let alone bonsai? That’s where Bonais by SnC, run by Salena Rothenberger and her sons Spencer and Cole come in. They rescue plants that have been or are getting ready to be thrown out by greenhouses or big box stores to make them into miniature masterpieces. They take them home and lovingly train and transform them into beautiful bonsai. Their stock includes indoor and outdoor miniature versions of all kinds of plants: arborvitae, bougainvillea, boxwood, cyprus, juniper, pine, yaupon holly, yew, and fiscus. They also sell beautifully glazed ceramic pots perfect for bonsai and other plants. It’s a real family business: Spencer and Cole handle the bonsai building, including finding the stock, growing and training them, photographing them for the website, and packaging them up for shipment, and Salena handles the shipping and customer service. They also offer support and guidance for people new to caring for the miniature trees and bushes.

A Bonsai Business Takes Root

Their unique business got its start in 2010 when the family moved into a new development in their East Texas town. The development wasn’t yet finished, so there were large expanses of untouched woods complete with streams meandering through them. Spencer spent a lot of time in those woods. Salena recalls, “Our oldest, Spencer, would find plants or trees (what most folks would call weeds) either in the woods or when we were out shopping, at friends homes, the park, etc., and bring them home and plant them in our front yard.” The plants flourished, and the family even redesigned the landscaping in their front yard to accommodate Spencer’s ever-expanding garden. This hobby went on for some time, and it became a running joke in the family that Spencer’s M.O. was to “pull up weeds or dying plants wherever we went and bring them back home to stick in the ground.”

In 2019 Spencer and Cole stumbled onto a video made by a bonsai expert and they were hooked. They slowly started learning how to train and transform all of Spencer’s plants into beautiful miniature trees. “In that small moment, our backyard turned into a pre-bonsai sanctuary! The boys joined together to not only rescue but to turn the rescues into beauties! They started growing bonsai and had rows of plants that were waiting for their turn to get transformed.” 

Their stock now consists of a mixture of rescued plants and purchased plants in their backyard nursery. The whole family now has Spencer’s fever, and they’re all on the lookout for that next plant, especially unloved or forgotten plants. Salena refers to them as “underdogs.” She’s always excited to see what her boys will turn the plants into.

Salena and her boys ended up doing some research on Etsy and found a real market for bonsai. So, they decided to try their hands at selling their plants online. They all agreed to commit to three months: if they didn’t sell any bonsai within three months, they’d scrap the idea and not pursue a bonsai business. Well, they sold some bonsai. Salena recalls, “Within three months Spencer and Cole had generated enough sales that all of their investment in plants and supplies were recouped… they have had consistent sales and their product offerings are expanding. I am especially proud of them turning their passion into a future income stream.” Spencer, Cole, and Salena created their own website, bonsaisbysnc.com, and have been making bonsais and selling them ever since.

The Family That Crafts Together…

As with any fledgling business, there have been some rough patches. They’ll have periods of robust sales followed by sluggish cycles. “When sales are robust and then out of nowhere they seem to come to a screeching halt, it’s really tough mentally! We have had to have discussions that were centered around encouragement and reinforcing the concept of slow and steady wins the race,” says Salena. Spencer and Cole hope to turn this business into a full-time career, but even if that doesn’t happen, Salena knows that it’s having a positive impact on her kids: “It has also been a great real-life opportunity to teach about how politics and global events affect us on personal levels. Having an entire family supporting the mission has been very helpful during the discouraging times of slow sales.” Salena sees her kids learning every day about accounting principles, cost analyses, tracking expenses, profit-sharing, and marketing. And they’re learning all of these real-world lessons while doing something they’re passionate about. “Being able to do something you absolutely LOVE at the depths of your heart and soul has an impact that competitors can’t touch.”

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