If you’ve ever taken Highway 60 to Plant City, then you’ve driven past the beautiful iron works of art alongside the highway offered by Metals & Nature.
“My parents started what became Metals & Nature in 1985, selling plants on the side of the road,” said Arley Smude, co-owner of Metals & Nature. “What began as a few greenhouses has grown into an enchanted garden with thousands of plants, artistic wrought iron and unique statues. Some of my earliest memories are our family ‘vacations’ in an old, white box truck with carpeted walls, driving to Mexico to buy wrought iron to bring back and sell. After a few trips, my dad decided to start making the wrought iron right here in Plant City.”
Arley’s dad, Diego, grew up in Buenos Aires, Argentina, a city known for its beautiful wrought ironwork. Diego’s mother had an art gallery there, and he later sold art in Israel before coming to the U.S. to study botany.
“When you put all of that together, wrought iron, art, travel, along with Arley’s mom, Mary’s, green thumb, you start to see the story behind a garden filled with artistic ironwork and statues,” said co-owner Vicky Smude.
Arley grew up in Diego’s metal shop, and that is where he learned about ironworking.
“I grew up at the metal shop around my dad and guys that had been fabricating their whole lives,” Arley said. “I’d be tinkering around, and one of them would walk by and show me a better way to do something. Multiply that by a few years and you start to become a decent artistic welder. There are a lot of talented welders and a lot of incredible artists but growing up in a place where fabrication and art came together is rare. It took me a while to realize how special that was.”
If you ask the Smudes what their favorite part of owning their business is, they will tell you it’s creating.
“What we love most is designing and curating the garden,” Arley said. “A lot of the metal pieces we create are made with our garden in mind, like a flowering metal bench tucked under a shady oak tree. When people visit and see the designs living in the garden, it helps visualize what they can do with their own garden. While enjoying our little paradise, we get to help people create their own.”
They also love hosting community events at Metals & Nature.
“We have a special weekend coming up for Mother’s Day. On Saturday, May 10, moms can enjoy Island Drip coffee, a complimentary flower, sparkling water and seeds for their garden,” Vicky said. “We’ll also have a music curator playing soft garden tunes to set the mood. It’s a peaceful way to celebrate moms. Beyond public events, we’re launching a private event venue in the garden this year called Enchanted Gardens.”
If you would like to learn more about Metals & Nature, you can visit its website at www.metalsandnature.com or call 813-737-1692. It is located at 1501 W. S.R. 60 in Plant City.
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