WHEN it comes to plants, people act in completely irrational ways! And they do it all the time. Plant or flower lovers travel 10 or 50 kilometres if not farther to buy plants even if it’s small. They have an insatiable appetite for plants.
Crazy? I don’t think so. I’ve been doing this for some time to think otherwise. I like to say that I have a small collection at home. Apart from my busy schedule at work . . . that’s what I do.
Three weeks ago, our graphic artist Senimili Bradburgh and I travelled to the West for a work-related trip. Along the way, we took a trip up Nasau Rd off the Nadi back road to meet Liz Morris, the owner of Tifui Nursery whom I got to know through their Facebook page.
The afternoon drive through the gravelled road revealed beautiful scenes of lush green shrubs partially covered with dust and endless sugarcane fields.
I noticed a change in the light as the sun began to set. It was as if the cool wintery air had thinned, revealing a sharper, crisper view. I love how the last of the evening sun illuminated the Morris’ home up on the hill to a beaming yellow and how distant trees seem even denser in shadow.
When we got off our vehicle, the soft-spoken Liz, as she prefers to be called, greeted us with a smile as beautiful as the flowers she nurtures. As Liz invited us into one of her four nurseries, I was in awe of what she does — the ability to tend to the plants which she is extremely passionate about.
The trip up the dusty road was worth the effort — she does have an impressive collection of orchids.
Orchids (orchidaceae) are known for their beauty and variety and according to Wikipedia, they are the largest family of plants in the world with over 25,000 species and 100,000 varieties.
With this amount of variation around the world they are the most fascinating group of plants with so many different shapes, sizes, patterns and habits.
They attract people for various reasons. Take a look in fashion magazines, nearly in every interior spread, you will see an orchid, they are used in weddings, birthdays and as gifts — there’s this allure of exoticism. The way they enchant people is similar to the way they seduce their pollinating insects and I can assure you, once you are bitten by the orchid bug … you are hooked.
Like any flower lover, Liz knows too well that flowers have a language of their own, they are a replica of human life — they are planted, nurtured, they grow, some day they bloom and next they wither.
For Liz Morris, nee Marlow, her love for nature and plants started way back during her younger days.
“I always loved flowers, I loved planting … it developed from my childhood days growing up in Suva.
“My husband and I started this business in 1996, as a grower for the South Sea Orchid project, we were living in Nasoso then. When we bought this property in Nasau, we moved here, we expanded and over the years we got into different things, but we still supply the South Sea Orchids project.
“They buy from us and supply to florists. In the beginning there were quite a few growers, about 15 or so. I now also supply directly to the market, but I still supply to the project every week. The HART and Koroipita, (in Naikabula, Lautoka) are also part of that project.
On how she manages to tend to such a large medium, Liz has five workers to help manage the nurseries and the hybrid mango farm. The staff carry out most of the work in the nurseries.
“Everything is a learning curve, you know you learn so much tending to these flowers, quite a few things, not just about the selling of it, it’s also about the growing of it, about the presentation of it and about so many things that I have learned along the way,” she said.
“I just get enjoyment coming down here to the nurseries and though this is an income generating business with staff and bills to pay … I just enjoy being among the plants, watching them grow and flower is very rewarding.
“We love what we do, and are happy to share the knowledge that we have learned over the years.”
Apart from nurturing flowers and giving them tender, love and care, the Morris’ have had to deal with natural disasters, as well as pest and diseases which attack the plants and flowers.
“Our nurseries came through (Severe Tropical Cyclone) Winston much better than through (Cyclone) Evan in December, 2012. And then came the floods. We count our blessings, there was a lot of repair works to be done, but we managed to pull through knowing that there were many others who were in worse plight than we were.
“One of the biggests pests we have are the Bulbul birds .. they get into the nurseries and peck at the flowers, they especially love the big bright flowers. The Bulbuls seem to have gotten worse with this habit since Cyclone Evan.
“The Vanda orchids and our cutflower anthuriums were pretty badly hit during (TC) Winston. This nursery structure (referring to the one we were in) was affected, though luckily the plants themselves actually came through pretty well . Our two anthurium nurseries were badly affected, and we had some big losses in the Anthuriums.
“Our Mother’s Day sale in May went well, and we decided to continue the sale of the Vanda orchids as they were still recovering from the cyclone with very few in flower. I wanted to give customers the opportunity to buy them with flowers.
“We supply cutflowers to florists, wedding planners, and also individuals if we have the supply. We import our orchids, euphorbia and adenium plants from Thailand, and the anthuriums and phalaenopsis orchids from Holland. We try to look at offering different varieties of cutflowers to other nurseries as many nurseries are now importing plants from the same source. Competition is good, but you don’t want to all end up with the same product.
If you are planning on having your own collection at home, her advice is to get started, “start small, you’ll enjoy it more than you can imagine”.
“I recommend starting with the small size plants, some of which are flowering size, which we sell at $10, or even some of the $5 seedlings … that way you can build up a collection and learn as you go, without spending a fortune — that is the best option.”
But if you feel you are a few years away from retirement, don’t wait. Start your plant business now. In the years when you retire you will be so far ahead and will already be selling plants. Don’t let procrastination steal your dream of extra retirement income doing something that you will love and enjoy.
