Who is Pauline's Plants?

For most of my life I have led two lives. My teaching life and my plant loving life. I was a Science teacher in secondary schools for 19 years whilst at the same time having a passion for creativity and how nature is so beautiful. The patterns, the colours, the surprises, the power of plants. 

One of the reasons I was so good at educating is because my mom couldn't read and write. My dad wasn't great but he got by. I was the oldest child and had to relay and translate so much over the years, especially when dad left us. To be able to take all the technical jargon of the world and turn it into a language my mom could understand built a whole raft of skills that I could use to become a great teacher. 

On the flip side, creativity and nature are in my bones. I love making things and watching a new creation appear from a seed, some materials, a plant. My love of plants really took hold when I built my first garden. I had a 100 foot long expanse of grass surrounded by a fence. I bought 100 slabs off the council when they were digging the pavement up, smashed them up and used the edges as decorative stones to build raised beds around the edges (thank you sister for all your help). I then bought a load of plants and put them in. I hadn't got a clue about size of plants, what they grow into, position, soil types or care. No wonder I was confused when some plants grew like crazy and some died off. But that was it, I was hooked. 

I spent over 25 years learning about garden design, plant structure, plant positioning, cross pollination, asexual reproduction, cuttings, seed growing and ways to put plants together in a way to ensure all year round colour or structure or different types of foliage. Educating myself was a big part of this process by watching every garden programme I could find, attending garden shows and reading as many books as I could but nothing can replace the knowledge you learn from actually having a go. 

How did all of this cumulate into Pauline's plants? I loved teaching but the education system is exhausting and stressful and we only have one life. I don't think I would have survived another 20 years in the system and I had an opportunity to start my own business, doing something I love. I started off by growing plants from seed and selling them but the one sentence that kept on cropping up from customers was 'What plants will grow in this area in my garden?' I realised there was a real niche area where I could help people. I started visiting people's gardens and putting together planting schemes for them to suit the area. 

Pauline's Plants has now been running for two years but has not stood still. I wanted to inject that love of plants and educate people to learn about nature and plants. To do this I have been working on seed kits to guide people through the process of growing. I am also giving workshops with plant based projects like terrariums, fairy gardens and Christmas wreath making which people are loving. Further workshops and products are constantly evolving. 

It is not easy running a business but it is one of the best moves I have ever made. Bringing together my love of nature and teaching skills feels like my life has brought all the different pathways together.