A  Man of Nature

With thousands of plants to care for Graham Fortune still lets grass grow under his feet. Mondo grass, that is. The laid back nurseryman is happiest watching new plant varieties spring from prop house plantlets to full-sun maturity.

The ‘take time to smell the flowers’ adage is frequently repeated. Here’s a man that does. Growing up in a small country town Graham helped out in his aunt’s florist shop. This gave him his easy-going approach to life. “Weddings, births, all the festive occasions were part of the life fabric. “We celebrated the good times like Christmas and New Year. We stood together at sadder moments like funerals and unforseen accidents”.

Strange then, that the young man of flowers chose the long way round to reach his dream; working sixteen years with the Post Master General, then Australia Post and finally Telstra. Honest work for some, but hardly roles to foster deeper feelings for nature. In the 80’s Graham branched out into more gainful pursuits in plant cultivation, where bright ideas can reap their own reward.

“My best ideas come from listening to people voice their problems – industry shortcomings and such. Answers lay within the questions. For instance, I was delivering plants to Rody Abbot the owner of the Green Shop in Clayfield Brisbane. He asked me to grow topiaries for him. My reply, ‘what are they?’. He gave me an old standard Ficus and said ‘grow some of these for me’. Up until recently we had around 40,000 topiary’s down at any one time. With wife and partner, Mieke, in 2004 Graham built a contemporary award winning Energy Efficient home with sweeping views across a 4 acre waterlily covered lake. The home went on to win the Sunshine Coast HIA Energy efficient home of the year, and came in runner up for the state of Qld.

Fortunate by name, fortunate by nature; the old maxim seems to be ringing true. Through drought, good times and bad times, and having survived a major accident, Graham watches as life changes for the better. The nursery originally known as Palm Plantations Qld, is shooting ahead and the couple have spread their wings in a new direction building a new nursery on a 36 acre site at North Arm.

In Graham’s home town of Booe, Kingaroy, farmers cropped peanuts – but life is not about peanuts today. Fortune 8 nurseries not only feature their Classic Clip topiaries and trusty tried and proven lines, there’s another business in breeding, growing and promoting highly fashionable new plat varieties. ‘Ozzies in particular are very receptive to new innovations’, so we have now built our business to supply this demand. ‘We are now marketing to the X generation, the 35 year old women in particular’.
All this seems a long way from the nine year old who “helped Grandfather Schultz smoke ham for the metwurst and pick grapes for winemaking” back there in the 50s, but Graham’s recipe for work, relationship, and happy living remains much the same as when growing up. “The trip into the Quandong province with my Chinese friend in 2003 was most enlightening. I saw that old instilled values are still the best way of doing business – being honest with yourself and treating others the way you would like to be treated. There is still plenty of room in business for friendship and fun. Just get on with the job in the first place. Work over? Play.”

Looking beyond the hustle and bustle of the nursery trade, Graham finds answers in his surroundings. “Our people are our greatest asset.” The man of nature has his heart in the right place – with people and the environment.

Storey written by:
Max Fulcher
Vanity House Publishing.