THERE is no truth that only those people who have a proverbial green thumb can grow plants. Those who do not have one can even turn it into a business.
For about five years, Unabia’s Garden has grown roots to become known as one of the ornamental plant provider and landscaping business in Davao City, beautifying homes and major malls.
Before the plant business bloomed full-blown, Jessebel Unabia was only interested in collecting and cultivating ornamental plants as a way to de-stress. Because of the growing number of plants in their house, her husband, Allan, encouraged her to sell it.
Seeing its potential, she and her husband, both Dabawenyos who have been residing in Cebu for quite a time, would come to Davao to scour for a famous thorny plant, Euphorbia, to sell.
In 2009, they finally decided to return to Davao for good. Jessebel continued with her favorite hobby and kept herself on the loop with what plant is trendy.
From their home in Calinan, they would go downtown and look for plants like the Aglaonema or the Chinese Evergreens that was sourced from Thailand. She was able to propagate the plant and attracted many plant collectors who buy it from P50 to P50,000, depending on the variety, beauty, and uniqueness.
“Pero ginaexperiment na niya. Sa start gyud, matingala mi nga naay dali malata, bisag sige nimog alaga, sobra diay sa tubig (She experimented on it. When we started, we would wonder why the plants easily wilted despite our care. Turns out, it was watered more than it required),” Allan explained.
With the help of the plant collectors, they were able to join exhibits, learned many things about growing varieties of plants, and even won propagation contests.
Their business expanded from selling Aglaonema to different varieties of ferns, foliage plants, cacti and succulents, garden soils, and later on, ventured in landscaping endeavors and garden maintenance.
Their clients include malls, politicians, and private individuals in subdivisions like Ladislawa and Las Terrazas who wished to beautify their properties.
Jessebel said it is not always people buy plants, so she makes sure trendy plants are available in her stores.
“Pag dili holiday, usahay ferns kusog, usahay Aglaonema. Naa pud usahay straight usa ka semana, cacti ug succulents lang ang halin. Naay rare, naa pud common. Tanan klase. Para di gyud mazero ba (On regular days, many people buy either ferns or Aglaonema. Sometimes, most people buy cacti and succulents in one straight week. We have all varieties, the common and the rare so there will always be income),” she said.
The Kadayawan Festival and Araw ng Davao are peak seasons for horticulturists like them. Their best-sellers during these seasons are the foliage or indoor plants with wide leaves for gardens and patios.
Jessebel said she also took the time to study more about her plants so she could give the right information and pieces of advice to her customers especially on lean months like December and January where people prioritize buying food and gifts for Christmas and New Year’s celebration.
They also produce their own garden soil to cater those who wants to repot their plants.
The couple admitted that in spite of the flourishing image, the business was not easy to grow.
Allan, who worked full-time as landscaping manager in a private company, usually does the design and the pricing of the landscaping request while Jessebel implements it and supervises their staff.
He said there have been few requests that they turned down or unserved because of his busy schedule.
Apart from the need to gain extra income to sustain the needs of his family, he said what sustains them is her wife’s love for plants.
“Ganahan lang gyud siya sa plants kay kung dili ka ganahan, kung laayon ka, mapabayaan na nimo (She just love plants because if you don’t, you will get bored and soon leave it),” he said.
He also attributed their success to the people they have hired to do their other services.
“Ginapafeel pud namo sa among trabahante nga ilaha pud ni nga business (We let our staff feel that this business is theirs too),” Allan said.
In this business, what served as their green thumb is their love for what they do and the care for their people and their customers.