IN HIS native UK, Jony Taylor brightened the lives of the rich and famous.

Working for an upmarket florist in the ritzy West London suburb of Mayfair, he had a weekly appointment at Elton John's home to refresh the blooms.

The late Princess Diana was a regular customer.

"She'd just come with her driver and pick up flowers," he recalls.

He was often working with budgets of hundreds of thousands of dollars or where price was simply no object.

One such job was for Donald Trump's ex-wife Ivana, who hired his shop to supply flowers for a three month party she staged on a boat cruising the Mediterranean.

"We flew out in teams every three weeks to refresh the flowers," he says.

But garden variety flowers like roses, tulips and gerberas have never been Jony's focus.

He has always been drawn to exotic blooms and foliage which he uses to create striking contemporary installations.

His medium is foliage, exotic flowers, sticks, rocks, and dried husks.

He uses them to transform shop fronts, venues and homes into jungles, enchanted forests and hanging gardens.

Jony and his wife Jo have pursued his interest in exotic foliage and blooms since moving to Tweed Shire 15 years ago.

The pair, both English, met in Sydney after Jony ditched the London rat race in the late 90s.

Jony got a job in an upmarket Oxford St florist doing the same kind of imaginative work he produced in London.

But after he grew tired of retail, and despite having virtually no farming experience, they moved to the Far North Coast to grow the kind of flowers he used to sell.

They started out at Crystal Creek in 2003 where they finally gave up after seven years of devastating floods and frosts.

They moved to their current location in the Burringbar Valley over six years ago and started from scratch clearing camphor laurels and weeds.

They now have 20ha of rare palms, tropical flowers and decorative foliage thriving on their hilly 100ha property which they sell under the business name of Treesville.

Among their collection are beehive gingers and 40 varieties of heliconias, a vibrant flower which looks like a crab claw.

One of Jony's favourites, the licuala peltata var sumowongii, has large eye-catching fan like leaves.

"I call it the Valley of the Giants," Jony says of his expansive collection of fancy foliage.

"That's because a lot of the plants I've chosen have amongst the largest leaves in the world."

With Jo an in-demand hair and make-up artist, the pair often work together catering to the booming North Coast wedding industry which they hope to do more of in the future.

In recent weeks, you may have also spotted Jony at the Murwillumbah Farmers Markets where his wares have included Christmas wreaths made out of jungle vine and pine cones.

Long-term, the couple would like to build a wedding venue on their property.

More information at www.facebook.com/JTaylorTreesville.