Women in Business: Grow the Arizona way in your home – Arizona Living

Libby Mclean started selling plants out of her front garden back in 2015, and two years later, Arizona Living was launched in an unused laneway space in the shopping strip of Jan Juc.

The plant ethos at the nursery is all about picking the right plants and helping people grow their plant confidence. It takes time and patience to understand why we keep making the same plant mistakes, which is why Libby and her staff are happy to chat to customers and help them pick the right plant for their space.

All of the staff (Josie, Katherine, Annie, Suse and Jean) have also learnt through trial and error what does and doesn’t work in their own homes and gardens. The girls take home new cuttings and plants regularly, so that the advice you will get comes always from a place of real life experience with the plants they sell. Every plant comes with a no-fuss care sheet written by Libby and free follow-up care or potting up is just part of the bargain.

A big drawcard for visitors is the geodesic greenhouse Libby custom designed and has erected in her funky pink laneway space (check Arizona Living’s Facebook page for a time lapse of Libby and her partner Anna building the dome).

The other building is a decommissioned shipping container, run on solar power so the only grid connection for the nursery is a water supply. Arizona Living is just off the Stuart Avenue carpark and will stay in this laneway space until April 2019 (and possibly beyond), but when the time does come to relocate, the entire nursery is transportable and without a fixed footprint – everything unclips, unbolts and will lift up and move to reduce single use materials.

In terms of plant species, take your pick. Succulents, spiky desert cacti, indoor plants, hanging baskets and even airplants (they get all their nutrients and water from the air and are very hard to kill… although not impossible) can be found, and the weirder the better in Libby’s books. One key thing is all her plants are easy care; no high-maintenance plants here.

Arizona Living also stocks a beautiful range of boutique pots, planters and plant-care paraphernalia.