The teenager who wants you to love plants

“A house without plants is a bit like a house without life,” believes Maude Rioux.

Laila Maalouf
The Press

But Maude Rioux is not just a plant lover. Since February, the 13-year-old has had her own indoor plant store – Espace Maude, on Laurier Avenue East, in the heart of Plateau Mont-Royal.

Plants, she has been selling for much longer, however. Last fall, she launched her online business from her Instagram page; but she had already been selling some from her own collection for a long time.

She shares this passion with her nearly 33,000 loyal subscribers, who often come from afar to visit her shop and buy her a plant that they will sometimes cherish almost as much as a pet.

“We opened the shop seven months ago, and already, in May, we had enough orders to open a warehouse and then hire staff,” she says, still surprised by this enthusiasm for plants caused in large partly by the pandemic and people’s desire to spruce up their interiors.

His goal is for every Quebecer to have at least one plant at home. Because there is nothing more beautiful than a plant to bring life to a room, in her opinion.

Even if the teenager takes care of everything in her business – from orders to suppliers to after-sales service, including the active management of her social networks – there are obviously things that a minor cannot. not do it alone, starting with driving the vehicle transporting the plants. And that’s where Maude can count on her mother Nancie who, before her daughter embarked on this adventure, humbly confides how much she knew absolutely nothing about plants – the only plants she had at home were plants. plastic like the ones sold at IKEA, she recalls with a laugh.

But “the essence of the business” is Maude, insists her mother, who tells how, at the age of 5, the little girl was already cultivating her entrepreneurial spirit by playing at selling her toys in the kitchen.

A passion born in travel

Four years ago, it’s a road trip in the United States which opened the doors to her passion: in Arizona, she fell in love with giant cacti and succulents. As soon as she returned, she began to collect all kinds of plants, accumulating nearly 300 in her room.

Then the pandemic – and the cessation of all social activities – gave him plenty of time to cultivate his passion.

The shop is currently only open on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. But it’s enough to keep her busy all week between managing online orders from the warehouse and homeschooling. It even offers a plant assembly service on request for restaurants, offices and events.

The challenge that looms on the horizon, for now, will be to learn to delegate, since after seven years of learning at home, Maude is returning to school this fall. And it is by drawing her energy from her plants that she intends to take it up.

Five ideal plants to start

Whether you have a green thumb or not, here are five plants that Maude Rioux recommends to put a little green in your home.

Zamioculcas

“I find this plant really beautiful,” says Maude Rioux. It doesn’t need a lot of water – once a month or even every two months. It adapts to both very bright and very shady places. So no matter where we put it in the house, whether we water it or not, it will survive. »

Maranta lemon lime

“It’s a bending plant; it will move according to the brightness during the day. Plus, she’s growing fast, so it’s very rewarding. When leaving, you have to give him a lot of love. And as soon as we start to take care of it, it will make lots of new leaves. But always keep the soil moist. »

Monstera Adansonii

“It’s a very easy plant, fast growing too. It can go up as well as down, depending on where you place it. Children like it because it is nicknamed the ‟Swiss cheese” because of the holes in its leaves, which are quite special. It needs watering once a week and good light, without direct sun. »

Sansevieria

“We call it ‘mother-in-law’s language’ because it cannot be killed. When it comes to ease, she is like the Zamioculcas and she needs just as little maintenance – watering once a month or even every two months. »

Fittonia

“We call her the ‘drama queen’ because when she’s thirsty, she’ll drop dead. We will say to ourselves that it is irrecoverable, but once watered, it will come back to life and become super beautiful again. It is a plant that talks a lot and communicates its emotions a lot. We get attached to it easily. »