Meet the family

Hi, nice to meet you!

I’m Mari Bee, a bubbly human with so much love and respect for all forms of life and our planet.

Brazilian by birth and English by heart, I've  spent the second part of my life in Northwest England –and yes, I have gravy on my chips!

The long dream of working with my mum and sister became a reality and Bee Leaf Me has taken my heart...I am thrilled to be looking after the ‘bezzness’ side of things by making the best use  of my extensive experience as a manager combined with four years of business study.

I believe I am a people’s person and I take great pride in my excellent customer service and in ensuring that my clients and my teams are well looked after. 

My photographic skills will be continually put to the test as I will be creating beautiful and exciting content for our social media platforms as well as our website and newsletter.

Recently,  my partner Tom and I have re-discovered the joy of plants. We maximised our balcony space and also grew our indoor plants collection. 

Plants speak to us without words. Their resilience, stillness and yet constant growth give us so much peace and happiness and they can brighten up the darkest of our days. 

I am so excited with the future and all the possibilities ahead. Thank you for checking us out and we look forward to sharing our plant journey with you.

As they say: 

Happiness is not a destination; it's  the journey.

Hello there, I am Fefe Leaf, a person who considers herself very blessed for having such close contact with nature and plants from a very young age. The matriarchs of my family have always had great appreciation for the green world. Not too long ago, I naturally started getting enthusiastic about gardening and learning about house plants and how to care for them. Eventually, I saw myself living in an urban jungle on a 50m² apartment in the middle of South America's biggest city, São Paulo. From herbs and orchids to banana trees I simply could not get enough!

A few years ago, we had the great fortune to move to a house with a garden that was loved and cared for by the lady who lived there before.

The curiosity became a hobby, the hobby a passion. Starting by experimenting with soil, propagation and composting, I then created an Instagram account to share some of it. Soon, I started learning more about species and their names, and was surprised how easily I could memorise them. 

Being a mom to a beautiful and curious 6 year old, Noah, has shifted my perception of many things, like our connection to nature, caring about what we eat and how that affects our health and environment. 

I have a hunger to keep learning, studying and sharing the knowledge, so I am very pleased to be now on this new adventure with my lovely mom and sister and I have great expectations for when you join us!

"To plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow." _-Audrey Hepburn

Hello and thanks for your interest in knowing about us. I like to believe that I am a resilient individual by nature, a loving being by heart and a reliable soul. Born in Brazil, I moved to England in 2002, married my beloved Ian in 2004, and we have been happily living in Manchester for over  20 years. 

I am the director of our company and in charge of the technical design side of our business. As a certified garden designer, my focus is to apply my skills while working with my clients, but also carry on developing by increasing  my knowledge of the plants realm. At present, I am studying to soon get the RHS Certificate in Horticulture.

The love of plants emerged and evolved in me a while ago, and although not having a big garden, my place is absolutely filled with beautiful plants in pots and trays, basically everywhere. For the last 5 years, I have been growing our own produce in  my allotment plot, what has been a source of physical exercise,  calmness for my mind, and real practice with edibles. 

We also have this lovely country farmhouse in France where we spend our holidays exploring our diverse garden, which includes an orchard, and an additional acre that we are transforming in our Edible Forest Garden. 

My life passion is definitely the bees, the leaves and the 'me'(s) all around, bee leaf me!

 “A garden is for its owner’s pleasure, and whatever the degree  or form of that pleasure, it is right and reasonable. ”  (Gertrude Jekyll)