About Us

Tya

Tya has spent her life looking for opportunities to incorporate nature into urban life: she has persuaded developers of the benefits of living walls and green roofs and started community garden projects in deprived neighbourhoods. After leaving her career in sustainable construction, Tya realised that houseplants provide an accessible way for everyone to feel the benefits of living closer to nature. She opened Wild Leaf in 2017 and it turned out to be not just a shop, but a thriving business and a community hub for plant lovers across Bristol.

Robi

After realising that caring for her houseplants was benefitting her mental health, Robi was inspired to set up her own business selling terrariums and running terrarium planting workshops. She also hosted plant swaps to raise money for her chosen mental health charity, Studio Upstairs. In early 2018, Robi noticed Tya getting the Wild Leaf shop ready to open, so she popped in to introduce herself. Tya was so impressed by Robi’s passion for plants and entrepreneurial spirit that she offered Robi a job working in the shop. Robi now manages Wild Leaf’s social media content and is helping Tya set up the Wild Leaf Foundation to support local mental health charities.

Freddy

Having always been at least a little bit obsessed with plants and nature, it wasn’t until Freddy first sprouted an avocado stone that he really started to bring that obsession indoors. Greenery always brings life to a room, but watching leaves sprout from something you bought at a supermarket initiated a string of (sometimes successful) propagation experiments. When he moved to Bristol in early 2019, his priority was to find a job that allowed him to work with plants, and was fortunate enough to start at Wild Leaf. With a background in Illustration and Design, he always enjoys finding ways of merging the two worlds together, such as his plant care zine which is inspired by what he’s learned with the business.

Patricia

Patricia was visually attracted to flora ever since she can remember, having it as a recurring motif in her body art even before she began her true plant collector journey in 2016. She prefers to get her plants as juveniles so she can watch them grow and learn how to adapt to their changing needs.

Besides caring for her ever growing foliage babies, Patricia started experimenting with pressing flowers as a means to preserve and honour cut flowers.

She joined the team as an assistant manager in late 2020 after being a returning customer for the past 3 years.

Edward

Edward’s interest in horticulture led him to set up his online journal, Vegetal, in 2020. He loves sharing his knowledge of plants and gardening with customers and is always researching something new. In his spare time Edward interviews authors and gardeners for his online journal. Edward runs Wild Leaf’s outdoor garden but can also be found in the shop sharing fascinating anecdotes and facts about houseplants.

Fred

Fred has a fascinating background in floristry and horticulture. She has a degree in Horticulture from the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh, and has worked for many years in floristry and flower farming. Fred joined Wild Leaf in March 2021 to set up our floristry department. She developed Wild Leaf’s three bouquet styles, including our signature Wild Leaf bouquet, and our Wild Life and Wild Love bouquets. Fred also introduced us to Ikebana, the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging which has become a firm favourite with our customers. With a passion for British flower farming, Fred is determined to see Wild Leaf sourcing mainly British grown flowers at least over the summer months. Her favourite flowers to work with are Butterfly Ranunculus, Poppies and Ammi.

Jade

The beauty of plants attracted Jade’s attention from a very young age. She’s always been fascinated by their shapes and geometric patterns. Through her teenage years, she wanted to understand plants beyond the surface. Jade is thriving at Wild Leaf and has come to the realisation that plants are truly the masters of it all. She is simply in awe of their techniques of survival and seduction, and their infinite patience.