About the Artist
I've always been the girl who stops for the plants.
I'm April Stiles, founder and artist behind North Forty Wilds, and saying I love plants might be a bit of an understatement.
I have always loved them. Houseplants, succulents, flowers, vegetables, giant cacti, unusual trees—if it grows, chances are I'm going to stop and look at it, photograph it, touch it, learn about it, or figure out whether I can grow it myself.
It's honestly ridiculous how many plants I have.
April Stiles
Over the years, that love has spilled into just about everything. I garden. I propagate. I grow vegetables, herbs and flowers hydroponically. I experiment. I rearrange plants. I bring home plants I absolutely did not need.
And somewhere along the way, I started looking at pieces of weathered wood, twisted grapevine and driftwood and imagining what I could grow on those.
That is where my love of plants began turning into something else: art.
North Forty Wilds wasn't created because I decided one day that I wanted to start a botanical business. It grew naturally out of something that has been part of me for a very long time.
Rooted in family.
Inspired by the wild.
The name North Forty comes from my family. Growing up, "the north forty" was how my Mom and Dad referred to a special part of our land. My Dad passed away three years ago, but my Mom still uses the phrase today. When I began creating this business, I knew those words belonged at the heart of it.
North Forty Wilds began with my passion for working with natural materials like grapevine, driftwood, moss, succulents, and ferns. I love letting the natural shape and character of each piece guide the design rather than trying to make everything perfect.
From Nature to Art
Every piece is handcrafted and completely unique. I believe the knots, twists, weathering, and imperfections are what make natural materials beautiful.
Materials & Living Things
- Driftwood
- Grapevine
- Cork wood
- Olive wood
- Oak
- Teak
- Moss
- Ferns
- Hoya
- Pothos
- Succulents
- Other living plants
"North Forty Wilds is a new chapter rooted in family, nature, and creativity — where every piece carries a little bit of the wild with it."