While talking with Foster, I just couldn't get over my fascination with meeting someone who was actually born in Jamaica. And not only was he born there, but his parents were as well. Even though he's a second generation Jamaican, he can't imagine living anywhere but in South Florida.
     Just out of college, Foster managed several retail plant stores for his brother. He then worked for a plant rental company in the same area. This particular company had a "no residential account" policy, and as Foster would service the office accounts, he'd often be asked if he could do someone's home.
    Foster checked with his boss at the plant rental company and he told him to "go for it." And, go for it, he did. In 1985, Phil Nicholas, Co-Owner of FosterPlants, joined Foster and ever since then the company has serviced high-end residential and hotel accounts.

        
    If there is one thing Foster could do for his business, it would be purchase a facility in the Miami Design District. The location would allow the company to be physically positioned closer to the design and business community.

  88  INTERIORSCAPE May/June 2004

   Foster has two concerns that top his list of business frustrations. "My absolute greatest would be low-ballers. (can I say that?) For the life of me, I can't comprehend why anyone would want to work so hard and then give it away," he says. A close runner-up, he says, are prospects who never call back with feedback on submitted proposals when they selected another interior plantscaper for a project.
   In the 19 years that FosterPlants has been in business, one customer stands out as its most amusing. To begin with, she had a fit because a tech had one foot in her atrium planter and the other foot out.
   "Apparently, her 'rule book' stated that one either had to have both feet in the planter, or both feet out of the planter," Foster says, "Then again, she also had a rule that one couldn't walk through the kitchen, and one couldn't drive on the driveway. We managed to keep her happy for seven years, and then she canned us because we installed a replacement plant without her personally checking it for lizards first. She had forgotten

    
   But the common industry headaches don't avert Foster from enjoying his job. His favorite project is a recent terrace-scape installation. The private terrace lies atop a 17-story building in Miami Beach. "We used a giant crane to hoist the plants and containers up and over the building, since nothing would fit in the elevators," he says. "The months of planning and coordinating were well worth the effort, and the installation went off without any major glitches."
   In-house, the company has just as much fun. FosterPlants' Richard Lopez, Vice President of Design, and Maggie Neto, Client Services Manager, have an ongoing competition to see who can clear the company warehouse of ugly or unused items. The most unsightly items in its inventory according to Lopez and Neto, are a couple of whitewashed baskets that they keep trying to donate to charity. "I'm kind of fond of them, though, so they are still here," Foster says.                              
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Web design is another of Foster's interests, and the company's Interiorplantscaper.com division is helping him move in that direction. However, Foster says, " I really couldn't imagine myself not being involved with the interiorscape industry, though."
   If he could invent one thing, it would be a simple, easy-to-apply, non-toxic solution for the dreaded mealybug and fungus gnat. Second runner up would be a simple-to-apply topdressing that would achieve the look of Mexican beach pebbles, without any of the downside.
   Foster says he has six plants in his home: one 17-inch Ming aralia specimen, two 14" Sansieveria Laurentii, a Dracaena 'Lisa" cane and a couple of orchids. His favorite plant is the Ming aralia. "I love the sculptural, yet lacy, effect that a Ming brings to a space." he says.

              
   FosterPlants' greatest resource is its employees. "We have been fortunate to have assembled a group of  very professional team members, who have become not only our employees, but also our friends," Foster says.

                               -Barb Helfman

May/June 2004  INTERIORSCAPE   89