ZiNG Caribbean – May-June 2019

16 |ZiNGCARIBBEAN

Anyonewithawildaloeplant
intheirgardencaninstantlysee
howwellsucculentsgrowin
theCaribbeanclimate.Andone
green-fingeredentrepreneurison
amissiontospreadherloveof
thesehardyandeasy-carelittle
gemsoftheplantworld.
EdithBaileyBerridge,now
basedinAntigua,wasbornonthe
‘NatureIsland’,Dominica,and
lovedplantingflowersinher
familygardenfromayoungage.
“Mymotherwouldsay:girl,you
loveyourhandindirt,”saysEdie.
“OnedayIvisitedaneighbour
whohadthoselovelysucculent
plants–theylookedsovibrant

andalive.Weexchangedafewfor

bush-teaplants,andathomeIput

theminacircularpotand

decoratedthemwithstones.They

weresobeautifulthatIwantedto

sharethem,soIgrewbabyplants

http://www.liat.com | May - June 2019

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/

EDITHBAILEYBERRIDGE

LIME

HOT

STUFF

Grown with love

MeetEdie,thegreen-fingeredentrepreneurwho’s

creatinggorgeous,easy-to-tendminiaturegardens

HOTIDEA

Left & below:

Succulent plants

are easy to grow

and beautifully

colourful Above:

Edie can create her

special gardens in

your own pots

and sold them to friends. I found

out that they clean the air and

send out positive energy; one,

called the jade or money plant, is

said to bring good luck.”

In June 2018 Edie was made

redundant. With time on her

hands, she began to spend more

time on her garden. She set about

gathering plants and imaginative

containers, and getting creative,

putting clusters of the plants in

everything from mugs to teapots.

“I would know I’d found a

good container by the excitement

I would feel to take it home and

start creating a garden in it,” says

Edie. “A friend saw my work, loved

it and suggested setting up a

Facebook page. So I did, and that

was it. Edie’s Succulent Gardens

just took fl ight – like LIAT!”

Customers can bring their own

containers so Edie can work on

them to create her tiny gardens.

Succulents have spongy,

fl eshy parts that retain water in

arid climates, and are the perfect

plants for the non-gardener.

“You don’t need to have

a green thumb,” says Edie.

“I recommend watering every

three days or so – it is better to

let the soil dry out a bit, as they

will rot if they are kept wet all

the time. I do not recommend

misting, because this does not

allow the roots to get watered

and the plants will eventually die.

“When I create a garden,

I choose each plant specifi cally,

making sure to put in a mixture of

love, healing, peace and wealth

she continues. “My favourite

succulent is Haworthiopsis

limifolia, which I nicknamed the

Queen – she looks so elegant!”