My lightbulb moment: Lazy Flora founder Claire Ransom, reveals the inspiration behind her plant subscription box company
- Claire Ransom, 38, who lives in Nottingham, founded Lazy Flora in 2018
- She revealed her inspiration came after living in an apartment with a balcony
- Lazy Flora’s orders have risen by more than 550 per cent in the past two months
Claire Ransom, 38, founded the plant subscription box company Lazy Flora in 2018. She lives in Nottingham with her husband, who works in healthcare investment.
The idea for the business emerged in response to a problem I encountered living in the inner city. Two years ago I had an apartment in London with a balcony. I wanted to create a beautiful, lush garden area on it, but didn’t know how I could get plants up there, as I had no car or anyone to help with heavy lifting.
I lived a long way from a garden centre, and when I went to DIY stores I found the quality and variety of plants disappointing. Even when I searched online, I didn’t really know what I was looking for because websites were tailored to expert gardeners.
Claire Ransom, 38, (pictured) who lives in Nottingham, revealed the inspiration behind her plant subscription box company
I knew I couldn’t be the only one. So I quit my job as an editor in publishing and started Lazy Flora. The aim was to make gardening hassle-free for those in urban areas, by delivering a subscription box of plants.
I didn’t have a vast amount of funds, so I spent a lot of time trying to find a plant supplier who could work on a small scale and offer high-quality plants.
We formally launched to the public in January 2018, offering seasonal outdoor plant collections — boxes with plants such as brachyscome, million bells and cosmos — which are still our bestsellers.
For a £45 monthly subscription, you receive eight seasonal outdoor plants (but you can also order a one-off delivery).
We offer indoor plants, too, to take you through the winter, as well as edible plants. We also specify if plants are pet-friendly.
Green fingers: Outdoor plants, £45 a month, lazyflora.com
Today we have nine people in the warehouse and more working remotely to run the company.
Coronavirus has made people more aware of the power of plants. Over the past two months, Lazy Flora’s orders have risen by more than 550 per cent. People really want to see hope and growth. Weekly orders rocketed from 200 to more than 1,000 from the end of March to mid-May.
Our name is a slight in-joke — most of our customers are so busy working and home-schooling that they don’t get a chance to be lazy! They don’t get time to go to garden centres, either. This is the one thing they can afford to be lazy about.