Couple uses social media to share their "guerrilla gardening" techniques
Shalaco and Phoenix McGee have been leaving their colorful mark on the streets of San Francisco for the last decade.
On their first date, they planted an aloe bush and that was the seed that inspired a project to plant native wildflowers in empty lots across their city.
"We plant native pollinator seeds in neglected areas of land and it's just a nice way to make a forgotten about space, you know, full of full of flowers," Shalaco told CBS News' Lilia Luciano.
Shalaco runs a production studio, and Phoenix is a landscape contractor.
The self-professed "guerrilla gardeners" want to support pollinators, which have been on the decline in recent years. The couple said they also get a thrill from "flower bombing" neighborhoods.
"I think people think is like fun and like rebellious and it's getting them excited about planting," Shalaco said.
With a quarter of a million followers on TikTok, and over five million likes, they've discovered a whole bunch of passionate planters on social media.
@sfinbloom Where do you find and plant native wildflower seeds‽ #🧂🌱🌸🐝 #bloomtheplanet ♬ Blitzkrieg Bop (Mono) - Ramones
"We take a break from our computers that we would take a walk at sunset and we sow native seeds on our walks, we'll forget that we sowed a place up with seeds and then we'll turn a corner three months later, and all of a sudden you'll see all of the plants that we have in our seed kit," said Phoenix
The pair said they are all about spreading the gospel of the seeds and frequently speak to schools and Girl Scout units about the importance of pollinators.
"They [Girl Scouts] dress up as bees and we tell them about pollinators and just the benefits of that and just introducing the next generation to this and sort of getting them in touch with nature," Shalaco said.
"They were so excited. We gave them all little shakers and then they were running around with the shakers and dressed as bees, it was really beautiful," Phoenix added.
