BY JOHN HOUANIHAU
FLORA gardening has become a healing tool and hobby to cope with stress, and improve social, mental, and healthy well-being for a local medical business entrepreneur, physiotherapist, and florist, Justina Radclyffe.
Justina, 59, a Solomon Islander from Kiribati loves the art of floral designing and gardening.
“I love gardening flower plants. It’s an escape from everyday stress and boredom, a break from the daily chores, and a retreat right in my backyard. It’s also therapy,” she told SOLOMON WOMEN.
As a passionate florist, Justina is one of the first qualified physiotherapists in the Solomon Islands who discovers the benefits and joys of gardening therapy.
“As a Solomon Islander with a Micronesian background, I am accustomed to the tradition of beautifying myself with flowers, especially attached to my head, hair, and ear.
“The smell of the blooming flowers is like perfume, I dress in flowers almost every day because of the garden-fresh smell and beauty of it.
“When I get bored and I often walk around my garden, just to get a sense of healing and relief when I get the beautiful glimpse and fragrance of the flowers.
“As a florist, I always get comfort when designing and arranging different kinds of flowers. It gives me joy and happiness, just to look at its unique beauty. It serves as a source of therapy,” said Justina Radclyffe, who is also the President and Founder of the Association of Solomon Islanders in Creative Fashion.
Turning 60 years old this September 2023, Mrs. Radclyffe recalled that her passion for floral designing and gardening, aerobic exercise, and the idea of giving back to the community started in 2013.
“I initially undergo a series of floristry workshop training in 2013, a big thanks to the Association of Solomon Islanders in Creative Fashion for enabling such a creative workshop to kick off that particular year.
“But before that I initially got connected to YouTube and other online programs on the internet with other close friends, just to get a taste of what I had already been passionate about over the past years,” she said.
She said that one of the key advantages of learning floral art is acquiring basic knowledge and skills.
It’s just learning the basics, the principle of how to do the flower design and arrangement. Once you know the principal, that’s it.
“Nowadays, anybody can get valuable basic knowledge and skills about flora art on YouTube and other available online sites. So, in my case, I spend days and nights learning through that and even learning by doing it.
“You use and acquire whatever creativity online but at the same time, you can create your style of flora creation. So that you can do a different style of flora artwork from the others,” she said.’
On a similar note, Mrs. Radclyffe also described other women and girls in the country as gifted and passionate florists who have had to undergo floral art training workshops provided by the Association of Solomon Islanders in Creative Fashion in the past and urged them to continue with their love for the talent.
“We’ve been doing a lot of floristry training workshops for women and girls in the country over the years since we know that a majority of them are hooked into flora gardening and are naturally blessed and gifted in floral art.
“My advice to them is that passion is passion – turn passion into something you make money out of,” she said.
For many years, Mrs. Radclyffe has built a special chemistry with her backyard flora garden at her family home at Ngossi Valley in West Honiara.
Her passion for flora arts led her to create JR Floral & Gardening, which specializes in unique floral designs, arrangements, wreaths & headpieces for special occasions.
Meanwhile, as a local entrepreneur, Mrs. Radclyffe successfully owns and manages Justina’s Physiotherapy Clinic.
Mrs. Radclyffe has been running her physiotherapeutic clinic for more than 30 years by providing the following services like physiotherapy, beauty treatment, and therapeutic body massage (non-surgical face-lift, body waxing, manicure/pedicure, ear piercing, and much more)… with professional assessment, treatment and advice on a home exercise program.
Her private clinic is situated on the top floor of the Antony Saru Building, NPF Plaza in the heart of Point Cruz, Honiara.
