article by Anna Rogers | photos by Arianna Skoog

Just as Claude Monet captured the effects of light, atmosphere, and color with the brushstrokes of his masterpieces, Billings’ own Monet – 22-year-old entrepreneur Monet Bjerken – is harnessing these elements to create living masterpieces of her own.

What started as an affection for unique house plants and a Buy-Sell-Trade Facebook page has organically evolved into Monet’s Garden – an online shop (with a local outlet) for rare and unusual plants, expertly curated and shipped nationwide. Beyond the online shop, Monet has become an aroid expert, boasting her very own monstera and breeding anthuriums to create what she hopes will be “the best plant you’ve ever seen.”

INTERNATIONAL PLANT CURATION

Monet’s passion for plants began in middle school with a gifted snake plant, and she has been building her plant collection since then. Years later, she discovered the vibrant online community of plant enthusiasts worldwide and was hooked. She founded the Yellowstone County Rare Plant BST Facebook group as a hub for the Billings community to find rare and unusual plants. This is where Monet made her first sale she chopped up a variegated monstera, turned it into funds for a wholesale order, and the business was born!

“My customers are looking for unique plants – they are really niche people, and I fill that niche,” Monet says. Her curation process is focused on purity, genetics, lineage, and history. She purchases mother plants from the best source she can find. “Who discovered it?” she explains. “I reach out to that botanist to purchase.”

Her sales are direct to consumer, keeping her connected to what her customers want. And by nature, Monet is a nurturer. When not caring for her plants, Monet enjoys nannying and housecleaning work.

Monet’s Garden curates plants from all over the world, including Thailand, Vietnam, Australia, Ecuador, Japan, and Russia. She cultivates over 1,000 plants from more than 10 genera in her home and has sold them in 34 states. Her current goal is to get one of her plants to Alaska. Among all the plants she’s grown and nurtured, anthurium has truly captured her heart.

WHAT’S AN AROID?

Aroids, sometimes called arums, are members of the Araceae family, which contains over 100 genera and 3700+ species of plants. Many of these plants are popular houseplants – like philodendron, monstera, pothos, peace lily, anthurium, etc. These mostly sub- tropical plants are typically understory in the wild, making them low-light indoor plants. While this family includes many different sizes, shapes, and colors, most have a similar and distinctive inflorescence (cluster of flowers) that is rod-shaped, with female flowers near the base and male flowers near the tip.

ANTHURIUM BREEDING

Anthurium breeding has become a specific passion and is already Monet's specified line of work. She was initially drawn to anthuriums because of their sparkles. “That’s how they attract pollinators in the wild,” she explains. Extra sparkle is one of her areas of focus in breeding and emergent colors. The first leaf of anthurium differs from other subsequent mature leaves, and she’s aiming for reds and pinks that fade to dark green.

Monet sold all the plants in her collection to make room for anthuriums. In her guest bedroom at home, 1000 anthurium seedlings are growing, each one representing potential and dreams for Monet’s future. Her passion picks up when she starts talking about anthuriums, and she hopes to specialize in them in the future. “But… I also want to give people what they want!” she says.

ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT

Locally, Monet sells her plants at Frae Everyday Goods and offers occasional classes there. She’s working on a pop- up with Gainan’s Heights location coming in July, and she is still focusing on growing the community for rare and unusual plants in Yellowstone County through social content and online sales.

What does the future hold for Monet? “Originally, I thought I wanted a retail shop,” she says. “Now, I want to start a botanical garden!” She hopes to focus more on conservation and education than sales as her business evolves. She is a member of the International Aroids Society and will be an Influencer Ambassador at an upcoming national plant expo.

Monet has certainly established herself as an expert in the niche world of rare and unusual plants at a young age, and the sky is the limit for what she might accomplish in the years to come.

Follow Monet - @Monets.garden.mt on Instagram!

Originally printed in the April 2025 issue of Simply Local Magazine

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