Published on 2025-05-25 21:04
I brought AI to the nursery because plants and I have a complicated relationship. I love them. They don’t usually love me back as much.
Here’s what I did:
Used ChatGPT’s live video mode to pan over flowers and asked which would thrive in my northwest-facing area with hanging clay pots that gets 6-8 hours of sun but is protected under the pergola.
Uploaded photos of several varieties I liked and asked for a detailed table breaking down the following for each plant: sun/water needs, height/width, temp hardiness, fertilizer requirements, bloom time, deadheading needs, etc.
I loved this. Everything in one table!
Asked which ones would work best in my specific setups like my DIY gutter planter that’s in the shade and a small picture frame planter that’s more exposed.
This is next-level research. Very different consumer behavior. I didn’t need to know the right keywords or translate my needs into search terms. I just showed or told AI my actual situation and let it figure out the connections.
Before AI, I had to read every single plant label and do endless (traditional) Google searches and click on various blue links. Now I just video the flowers and upload photos of what catches my eye.
I now get a custom analysis and recommendations. Just me, my iPhone, AI, and what turned out to be some gorgeous flowers.
Will everything survive the summer? We’ll find out. I did overrule some of AI’s recommendations, so we’ll see how that goes. But my old approach wasn’t foolproof either.
Interestingly, I’m already seeing new work applications from this experience. Many of my work AI use cases were inspired by personal AI experiments.
Sometimes the best learning happens when you’re just trying to keep something beautiful alive.
