Benjamin tending his plants.IN THE community of Sandhill in Hellshire St. Catherine, the Benjamin home with its terracotta coloured walls is a sight for city-sore eyes, not because of its unusual architectural design but for the garden around it.
Graceful foliage flows over the walls to the east end, while to the west, roses and other potted beauties charm the eye as soon as one walks through the grass-green gate.
The entry to the home is through an atrium-type courtyard where heliconias bow over a pool in which moonlight glimmers at night and fish swim in circles.
Beyond the house, set on a hillside, the Atlantic ocean glimmers in the distance.
Albert Benjamin, aged 38, is a lecturer in science at Mico Teachers' College in Kingston who discovered, five years ago, that he was deeply interested in flowers.
Before this time, if anyone had told him that he could become an avid gardener, he would have laughed at them. As a young boy growing up in Clarendon, he actually hated everything to do with gardening, as his mother, business woman Pearl Benjamin, would force him to water her plants when he really wanted to play football with his friends in the evenings
Five years ago, however, after marriage to wife Tamika and the birth of children Naomi (four years old), Elizabeth (two years old) and Rachel (now three months old), he discovered that he "really loved flowers".
His fascination with gardening and later, hybrid hibiscus, began when, around this time, he observed a hibiscus flower in full bloom in a friend's garden.
Benjamin attempted for months to acquire his own hybrid hibiscus plants for his garden but found that the plants were hard to come by. He became frustrated with this and slowly determined that he could collect every available variety himself from abroad, where one of his contacts even suggested that he develop a hybridising programme of his own.
Hybridising and propagation
The first step was to learn the skills of hybridising and propagation of hibiscus plants. Albert travelled to the United States where he acquired the necessary skills. Later, he imported stock plants containing over 70 varieties of hybrid hibiscus plants.
He brought in loads of soil to his home in Hellshire and began his garden.
The plants responded with enthusiasm to his efforts and Albert Benjamin has since created exotic tropicals Jamaica (exotictropicals jamaica@yahoo.com) where he specialises in the propagation of hybrid hibiscus and roses.
The beautiful hybrid blooms include such stunners as Show Girl, Beach Ball, Blush and Red Dress. Others are Jewel, High Voltage, Living Legend, Simple Pleasures, Fantasy Charm, Heavy Metal, Fifth Dimension and Surf City. "They are simply, the queen of all flowers," Albert Benjamin states proudly.
The business he says, has its ups and downs, but he believes that there is a growing market for the exotic beauties which he has come to love so much. His next step will be to set up an online garden store for clients.
Afternoons and weekends away from college are spent watering the plants and providing them with the general care needed. Tamika, Naomi, Elizabeth and Rachel cheer him on.
- Outlook Team
