A growing craft

Press, 29 September 1988, Page 25

A growing craft

Indoor plants that do not need watering or tender loving care to thrive and look their best are not too good to be true if they are the work of Maxine Smith. She makes trees and shrubs from imported poiyster leaves which she fixes to trunks made out of real branches. So authentic are the finished products that you have to look closely to see that they are artificial. Trees and shrubs are her specialty. She makes copper beeches, ficus, or fig, birch, capensia, weeping willows, bamboo and camellias. Her bonsai trees in particular look like the genuine thing. She imports the leaves, attached to twigs, from the Philippines, . Taiwan and Hong Kong. When they arrive they are packed flat in boxes and it is Maxine Smith who brings them to life. She selects birch or twisted willow branches for the trunks and it is this that makes her plants different from other artificial plants. She kiln bakes the trunks, drills holes for the twigs and then glues them in. The plants are then anchored firmly in attractive pots made in terra-

cotta, marbled or made of mirrors, which she also sells — and then they are ready to take pride of place in homes or offices. For Maxine Smith, her business, “Ideal Greenery” is her first venture. She set it up only in September last year with her husband Larry, her “odd job man,” and the whole family help out. She had always been good with her hands, making lots of children’s toys. It was her brother-in-law in Australia who saw her potential and encouraged her for years before the idea took root. She modestly agrees that you need a botanical bent to get the plants looking right — that and patience. She spends hours looking at pictures of the plants she makes and visiting the Botanical Gardens studying shapes and forms. A plant does not leave her workshop until it looks just right. If the leaves do not match up to her expectations, she sends them back, and back, until they do. “I love making things with my fingers and it has been a good learning process for me. Everyone has been helpful and supportive to me as I was estab-

lishing the business,” she said. Most of her plants are about eight feet high. She makes them to any size. “They can be as big as you like. My ambition is to make one three storeys high to. go up a stairwell,” she said. An early problem that took a while to sort out was that the trunks turned black. No one seemed able to tell her why or prevent it. She discovered that kiln drying the wood preserved it perfectly and solved that problem. Maxine Smith also sells a variety of potplants but these come already on stalks. She has fuchsias, philodendrons, ferns and poinsettias — exactly right for adding a touch of colour or greeneiy to a room. Once again, the plants have to look natural. She guarantees her plants will last and last. They require only the quick occasional flick of a duster to keep them glossy or a new twist to the leaves if you get tired of the way they look. Business is blossoming and Maxine Smith can see the time approaching when she will have to employ more staff to help her meet deadlines.