By Kooi Lee
Suncoast Water Gardens
Can you tell us a bit about yourself and what led you to take on Suncoast Water Gardens?
I retired to the Gold Coast and was bored out of my skull. Darrell was still working in Southport, and the traffic was horrendous. When I visited Australia Zoo in Beerwah, I decided I was ready for the country lifestyle—no traffic! So, we looked for something we could both do together.
What was it about this nursery that inspired you to come out of retirement and step into the greenlife industry?
Google pointed out businesses for sale, and one of them was Suncoast Water Gardens. That caught my attention, so we enquired and came for a visit. We fell in love with the waterlilies, and the rest is history.
For readers who haven’t visited yet, how would you describe Suncoast Water Gardens — what makes it unique?
Suncoast Water Gardens has lots of aquatic plants—waterlilies, lotus, submersible plants that survive below and on the water surface, and marginal plants that love the water’s edge. We also have lots of edible aquatic plants, such as mint, parsley, Lebanese cress, and much more.
What’s been the biggest learning curve in moving into this new industry?
The biological names of plants—that was hard work! Trying to remember them and associate them with the plants took effort. Six months later, I can proudly say Pandanus amaryllifolius. We sold out of Pandanus at the Queensland Garden Show in Nambour because it came with my delicious recipes—for example, add a couple of sprigs when cooking rice, and you can never call it plain rice again!
You specialise in aquatic plants like lotus and waterlilies — what draws you to these plants?
Lotus and waterlilies symbolise peace and are favourite flowers in many temples in Asia. Plus, the flowers are very attractive. When I saw the multitude of colours and species at Suncoast Water Gardens, what is there not to love?
Do you have a favourite plant or feature in the nursery that you particularly enjoy working with?
I first saw Amorphophallus konjac flowering while preparing for the Queensland Garden Show this year in July. Now our sales pitch is: buy an expensive plant for your mother-in-law! For those who don’t know, in the first couple of days it smells like there’s a dead rat in the house.
What’s been your proudest moment or achievement since taking over Suncoast Water Gardens?
We feel proud of every improvement we’ve made to the nursery. Most importantly, the weeds are under control in the shade houses. We’re exploring new plants to add to our collection, but most of all, we’re learning from our retailers about our best-sellers. We do well when they do well.
How important is community — both your local community and the broader nursery network — to your work?
I was very surprised that the Beerwah community wasn’t even aware of this business in their backyard. We’re trying to raise awareness by reconnecting with local interest groups. However, as you know, when you’re running a business, time is always short.
How has being a Greenlife Industry Queensland (GIQ) member supported you in your journey so far?
Our favourite part is nursery visits. We took away many pointers about what to strive for. Flood mitigation is one of our important strategies because we were flooded three times within the first month of taking over the nursery. Fortunately, being an aquatic nursery, our stock losses were minimal.
What are you most excited about for the year ahead at Suncoast Water Gardens?
We are venturing into tubestock and are in the process of building yet another greenhouse—so watch this space!
283 Fraser Road Beerwah QLD 4519
P | 07 5494 8234
M | 0433 982 938
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