Andele Eau

The Aficionado

“I love plants. They bring me such joy. And they bring others joy as well,” says Andele

Eau, as she points out some of her beloved and rare plants – a beautifully variegated Monstera Albo, the geometric grace of a V-patterned Astrophytum and the almost sinister symmetry of a Colocasia Pharaoh’s Mask. “I love that a lot of my plants have heart-shaped leaves. Because, you know, plant collecting comes from the heart. And it always reminds me that love is all around.”

Split between two houses in Penang, Andele’s plant collection is vast, ranging from the everyday to the exotic, succulents to specifics. It is a collection that really only began a few years ago, but is rooted farther back in time. “When I was a child, I used to grow a lot of plants. Gardening has always been part of my life, all through my teenage and adult years,” she says. “Then two years ago, a friend introduced me to some exotic indoor plants. It was a revelation. I became attracted. I became curious. And that was the beginning of my current story.”

That enthusiasm and affection is very evident, as Andele tours her garden, pointing out individual plants and their individual stories. She relates one about Astrophytum – bulbous cacti species native to North America that occasionally burst forth with spectacular flowers. So captivated was she with these ‘living rocks’ that she immediately purchased a flight ticket to Bangkok the very next day just to attend a cactus exhibition to indulge her fascination. The results of that dabble are now scattered across her garden, lovingly housed in individual ceramic pots. She also talks about how the process of propagation can lead to creation – and how she, and her brother, are experimenting with creating new colour varieties of orchids, where her background in entomology occasionally plays a role. “White is always the base,” she says. “And from that basic canvas, you can try to create new blends of colours.”

But more than just the plants, Andele loves the people that her plants have brought her into contact with. An active participant within the tightly-knit Malaysian plant collectors community, Andele enjoys sharing her chlorophyll-laced joy with other plant lovers, and in turn gets inspired by the creativity and curation of her fellow collectors. “I want to share my love. Not just on social media, but with my family, my friends and even passers-by that might be attracted by my humble garden. I have a thought, simple as it is. If every person in the world grows one plant, then we are giving back to Earth and the climate will surely change for the better. So this garden of mine is not just for me, but for the future generations that will come after me.”