Business is blooming for Sunderland couple

The Sunderland couple created Adonis Plants - an online garden nursery that offers customers the opportunity to browse and buy from a wide variety of both popular and niche plants, as well as advice on caring for them.

“The name was chosen based on Adonis, the extremely handsome Greek youth that Aphrodite fell in love with,” said Margret.

“She changed him into a flower on his death – I like the idea of becoming a flower. Plants grow well for us and we are constantly running out of space – it was getting to the point where they needed Velcro on the roots they moved so often; which is when we decided to start to sell plants grown by us that we knew, understood and could provide cultural information on.

“Some years ago we joined the Hardy Plant Society, something I would recommend to any keen gardener. It increased my knowledge of seed storage and growing immensely; patience is usually rewarded where seeds are concerned but it took the Hardy Plant Society to convince me.”

Margaret and Neil Clark knew starting an on-line business would be a challenge, so they turned to city company Pulse Creative Marketing for advice and support.

Pulse helped develop the branding for Adonis Plants, helped to create an easily accessible e-commerce site and made sure Margaret had the necessary training to manage her website.

“Being true technophobes, an on-line nursery was impossible for us until we were introduced to the Pulse Creative Marketing team,” said Margaret.

Pulse boss Paul Finch said: “We pride ourselves on providing support that is tailored to the requirements of our clients.

“It is fantastic to see how far Margaret has come to be able to manage her own e-commerce website. Working with both Margaret and Neil has been a real pleasure.

“I wish them every success for the future and just like their plants I am sure the business will blossom.”