Costa visits the North Sydney of Joy Khamma and John Fowler, whose typical suburban house hides a magical tropical retreat inspired by the lush resorts of south-east Asia.

There are lots of colourful coleus and cordylines, shady boardwalks fringed by filigreed ferns, potted palms, hanging baskets of rhipsalis, succulents and orchids, and life-sized statues of Buddha amid the tree ferns and wind chimes.

John says he loves tropical plants that remind him of Thailand, where the couple lived for a while.

“It’s good therapy for your mind and body,” says Joy.

John has developed a fascination for coleus because of their great colours and variety and because they are really easy to grow from cuttings or seed.

Joy’s plant passion is for succulents. She grows hundreds of them, propagating them in a converted set of basket drawers, with a tray of cuttings in each drawer.

“Whenever they drop leaves I use that to grow more plants,” she says.

The baby plants are potted up in all sorts of different containers, from carved out corks to tea cups and even an eggshell in a hand whisk!

But Joy’s true artistry is in carving fruit. She admired the art she saw in Asia and taught herself slowly over many years. Now she carves roses, geometric patterns – even a map of Australia with Gardening Australia carved into it! – on all types of melons, pumpkins and other hard-skinned fruit.

Joy gives Costa a lesson in cutting a kiwifruit in half using a zig-zag pattern around the edge to create an attractive finish.


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