Home Depot rewards California woman who faithfully watered plastic plant for years

A woman in California got quite the surprise when she transplanted her beloved succulent into a new pot: The plant was plastic.

Caelie Wilkes shared her hilarious story to Facebook on Friday.

“I’ve had this beautiful succulent for about 2 years now,” she wrote. “I was so proud of this plant.”

Wilkes kept the succulent — which she called the perfect plant — in her kitchen window and stuck to a strict watering plan, she wrote.

“... if someone else tried to water my succulent I would get so defensive because I just wanted to keep good care of it,” the post said.

Wilkes decided it was time to transplant the succulent into a new pot and found the perfect vase. When she removed it from its old pot she discovered her prized plant was actually made of plastic and stuck in a Styrofoam block covered in sand.

“I put so much love into this plant! I washed its leaves,” she wrote. “Tried my hardest to keep it looking its best, and it’s completely plastic!”

Wilkes’ post has been shared more than 6,000 times and racked up almost as many comments.

Several Facebook users felt a special kinship to Wilkes.

“That’s me,” one user wrote.

“Could have been me,” another wrote. “So funny though.”

To help take the edge off Wilkes’ disappointment, Home Depot in Ukiah decided to step in and help. On Tuesday, they sent over her very own non-plastic, 100% real succulents, a public relations representative told McClatchy News.

She shared images of her new succulents to Facebook.

“Guys,” she wrote, “Home Depot came (through)!”

This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 10:05 AM.