From newly-weds to plant parents – Couple opens plant salon
Published:Saturday | January 22, 2022 | 12:07 AMKrysta Anderson//Staff Reporter
Newly-weds Nicolette and Karl Brown are also proud plant parents, and they want to spread the joy of love and growth for this upcoming Valentine’s Day.
The business, Khalil’s Plant Salon, came about after starting their own love garden at home. Realising that their journey ever after stemmed from both nature and nurture, the duo decided to merge the two into a holistic venture. “My husband has always been a plant lover. Our home is like a garden. He has a green thumb. We have a vegetable garden and a flower garden,” Nicolette told Saturday Living.
Since launching the business a month ago, the reverends have participated in two trade shows, to the delight of customers who are amazed by their natural creativity. Moving from the traditional look, the duo is intent on making conversation pieces. You will find motifs of butterflies and bugs, to bring customers back to nature. These plants, predominantly succulents and cactuses, also come in a wide variety when it comes to presentations: there are teapots, teacups and saucers as well as the conventional pots, which add value to any setting and accessorise your spaces including kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, anywhere with a countertop.
“For Valentine’s Day, we’re more focusing on cactus and succulents because they are low maintenance, so if you’re going to give it to someone who isn’t a plant person, it doesn’t take much to look after. There are other potted plants, like ferns, the agglomeration plant, the zee zee plant and many others, which are bigger [and] for office spaces and homes, but we decided to zoom in on this concept for the season,” Karl added.
The fashion designer, who has a flair for the arts, deals with the artistic aspect of things; he is into the great outdoors, while his ‘Ladybug’ supports his creative visions and sorts through the marketing and promotional side of the business. Doing the business together has tightened their bond. From brainstorming ideas and colours to creating the plans and the designs, the pair work as a team. But there have been thorns along the way in these beds of roses: digging through concepts to create a business that would stand out, accessing material in order to truly unleash creative masterpieces and learning the official scientific names for plants. Thankfully, there is an app for that and Karl is a quick study.
NOT YOUR TYPICAL GARDEN
The partners in love are just happy to be supplying a product that is representative of ‘not your typical garden’. “It’s more than having a plant. It’s about reconnecting with nature, and that’s what we lack as a people. To love and care for plants is so therapeutic, especially in this time of the pandemic. It can even help to relieve anxiety,” he said, adding that plant care involves building a bond with your leafy flowered friend, talking and feeding them as they grow. This way, folks won’t feel so lonely.
Still young in the business, the married couple is eager to learn more about plants and grow their small business into a profit-turning venture. But at the heart of it all is the core mission of transforming lives by getting persons to fall in love with plants. So, for this love season, say I love you with a beautiful plant from Khalil Brown Plant Salon.