麻豆社

Ruth Bramley never planned to fall in love with plants.

Her father, Richard, runs Farmyard Nurseries in West Wales and is passionate about plants. He calls the nursery - which is now a successful business - a hobby that got out of hand! But Ruth was determined to live a different life...until she got long Covid, which left her with serious health problems. After weeks of being bed-bound, Ruth was struggling with her mental health, and her dad thought having a project might give her something to focus on. So he built her The Houseplant Place - a subsidiary to the nursery. Her burgeoning love of houseplants has grown as her recovery has progressed. Now the pandemic that brought her so low is helping her business, as the fashion for houseplants it kicked off continues to grow.

In this programme Steffan Messenger visits the nursery to meet Richard and Ruth, along with other members of their plant-mad team. Richard's philosophy is that every member of staff should be given an area of the nursery that is there's to nurture. Indulging the interests of his staff has lead to him acquiring a National Collection of Pitcher Plants - carnivorous plants that catch flies in their slippery funnel-like pitchers - and having an extraordinary number of house leeks!

Presented by Steffan Messenger
Producer by Heather Simons
A 麻豆社 Audio Bristol Production