Garden-Lou Spotlight on Angie Price, Interior Plant Service Technician with Ambius
“I truly believe I have the greatest job ever.”
That job is making St. Louis look good. Be it the terminals at Lambert Airport or the Jewel Box at Forest Park, visitors to St. Louis and locals alike see the handiwork of Angie Price. “Walking into an account and being so proud of how it looks, as well as the many people I have met and had conversations with, are the best parts of the job.”
Angie has been a Service Technician with Ambius, an interior plant company, since 1999. “I remember my first day; it was the day the Pope visited St. Louis.” One has to wonder how many celebrities and world figures have passed through the Lou and seen the results of Angie’s detailed dedication.
“I form relationships with clients.” Those relationships are what matters in any industry.
Most people assume anyone working with plants works outdoors or in a greenhouse. According to CBS, the indoor plant market was valued at just under $20 billion globally with North America holding 40% of the market. The growing trends in indoor gardening are fueled by Millennials and Gen Z discovering the power of plants to improve our indoor environments and mental health. Plant popularity was spurred even further during the pandemic and with the increase of social media.
“Plants require everything humans do to survive,” says Angie, who plants, replaces, treats, waters, grooms, and prunes interior plants in office buildings, hotels, and malls like other service techs nationwide. Angie’s route is unique because she includes high-profile sites like Lambert Airport and the Jewel Box among her 25 accounts.
“People don’t realize the physicality of the job. In one day, I had over 12000 total steps, with about 6000 from just terminal 2.” Angie is at the airport weekly to check and tend the 289 plants, even though they only need watering every two weeks. During the holidays, 233 poinsettias requiring weekly watering are added in.
Lambert Airport also features two green walls. These unique living walls are in Terminal 1 (aka, MAIN terminal for us old-timers!). “One living wall has pearls & jade pothos, and brasil philodendron,” says Angie. “The other has neon pothos and pink Syngonium.”
Recently renovated in 2023, (Garden-Lou Spotlights the St. Louis Jewel Box Renovation) the Jewel Box in Forest Park currently has over 600 colorful bromeliads displayed. Seasonal switchouts include Easter lilies, hydrangeas, and poinsettias planted among permanent plants like tree ferns, palms, and bird-of-paradise.
The call to be a plant-geek came late for Angie. “I wanted to be an interior designer. I used to look at my grandma’s catalogs and pick out furniture for every room in the house. Including art for the walls, lamps for the tables, curtains, and bedspreads.” It wasn’t until Angie and her husband built a home with an atrium that she became interested in plants. The rose garden in her grandparent’s backyard is one of the first gardens she remembers. “My grandpa was quite the gardener, growing both flowers and vegetables.”
Crape myrtle is one of Angie’s passion plants now. Remarkably, she doesn’t have a lot of tropical houseplants at home, focusing most of her flora attention on her professional accounts. All the better for the St. Louis tourists and locals alike who enjoy her talents.
Quick Facts;
-Favorite gardening tool?
Soil probe.
– Funniest plant related question you’ve ever been asked.
A lady said she saw landscapers out front planting small onions and wondered if they do something for the soil. I smiled and said, they are probably planting tulip bulbs. She was so embarrassed and told me not to tell anyone she asked me that. We had a good laugh.
-Favorite garden you’ve visited in person, near or far?
My grandpas, hands down.
-If you could have lunch with any other plant geek, dead or living, who would it be?
My grandpa.
– If you were stranded on a deserted island and could only have ONE plant to keep you company, what would it be? Doesn’t have to be a food-bearing plant since this island has a free buffet!
A fernwood sansevieria.
Comments or questions? Email Garden-Lou at gardenloustl@gmail.com
Words and photos by Jo Batzer. Additional photos graciously provided by Angie Price and
Robert Richter (Top Photo)
