GREEN SLEEVES

We meet botanicals guru Sara Trickett

Tell us a bit about yourself

I am a partner in Saint Verde Botanicals, a family-run business which has recently opened in Station Drive Precinct. We sell succulents, indoor plants, rare and unusual plants and a selection of pots and planters.

Why plants?

My family has had a passion for plants and gardening for as long as I can remember. We are a family of collectors — and plants are no different. Nothing beats the thrill of discovering something rare and unusual.

Your top three indoor plants?

Plants don’t really like living indoors so you have to choose the right plant for the right spot and the choices are more limited than people realise. I would recommend Zamioculcas zamiifolia, Scindapsus and Davallia fejeensis, if you can find it.

All-time favourite plant, and why?

I love all kinds of foliage anthuriums because they have exquisite leaf structure, texture and colour. They are not sold commercially so they are fun to collect. My favourite variety is the Anthurium clarinervium. I also love unusual varieties of staghorn fern, like the Platycerium ridleyi.

Your typical day?

I start the day in the shop watering, misting and checking for pests and disease. Then I go to nurseries to source interesting plants or spend time repotting and re-merchandising.

Your favourite places or spaces?

I love The Oyster Box Hotel and the Makaranga Garden Lodge in Kloof. I also love the lawns around the reservoir at the top of the Durban Botanical Gardens.

Who inspires you?

Perfectionists and people who are brave enough to not only think big but to act on it regardless of the constant challenges life throws at them.

What are you listening to right now?

I love listening to podcasts and am enjoying ‘Sawbones: A Marital Tour of Misguided Medicine’.

Favourite movie set?

Hands down ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’.

Secret to becoming a green finger?

Research (google everything), trial and error — and patience. Remember that plants need natural light to grow. They cannot live in offices or rooms that are lit artificially. Well-fed plants with clean leaves are far less likely to get pests or suffer from diseases. Succulents are not bulletproof plants; they generally need at least four hours of full sun a day or their health will suffer and they will become irreversibly leggy.

Favourite shade of green?

Chartreuse.

Your comfort food of choice?

Slap chips from Afros.

What’s on your coffee table?

My exhausted feet at the end of a long day!