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By Kushani Ratnayake

Shiromi Amerasekara started "Green Gardens" in 1985. Gardening was one of her most favourite hobbies and as a result of this she started her own flower shop of artificial flowers and plants.

At Green Gardens she does flower arrangements and landscaping. She also supplies flowers for weddings and other occasions.

"From my childhood days I loved gardening and made flower arrangements by using real flowers", she said.

She started her business by doing landscaping and in 1987 she entered the "School of Interior Decorating" in London. Apart from doing business she also took part in Lakmalsala exhibitions and won many awards continuously for the best group of landscaping and in 1991 she won the best landscaping award.

From landscaping she diverted to making artificial flowers and continued her business by giving priority to her flower arrangements.

She supplies flowers and decorates houses, BOI projects and hotels. "It was very difficult at first when I started the business", she said.

To make her flower arrangements she imports flowers and the material from China and Singapore. The quality of the material is the most important thing when it comes to flowers.

"The quality has to be very good because flowers have to look fresh and real", she said. "Many suppliers are there at present and most of the time the banks help us", she said.

At Green Gardens there are around 25 employees working for her. She got the idea of making artificial flower arrangements because artificial flowers are easy to maintain, less trouble and do not create mosquito problems. "Most people buy flowers from us and do their own decorations", she said.

Although her husband helps a great deal it is mainly her own business. "A lot of hard work is there and most of all I enjoy my work, it is a way of relaxation for me", she said.

She travels extensively, and invests heavily to make nice flower arrangements. She has four outlets and at present is building a new shopping complex where she could have many arrangements. Her advice to a beginner is to learn as much as possible and to do an honest job in any field of business. "One should always be innovative and hard working", she said.

Apart from her world of flowers she likes to read books and loves Chinese food.

Her future plans are to open a shop in a wider area and to make her own flower exhibition a success.

It is now on at the Women's International Hall. "The December season is a very busy one and we have to put up stalls and exhibitions everywhere", she said.

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Copyright 2001 The Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd.
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