Some women are remembered for a single achievement. Susan Kaittany has spent her life proving that people rarely fit into one title. She is a lawyer, entrepreneur, business leader, and television personality. Yet, beyond the boardrooms and public recognition lies another identity that feels deeply personal: that of a gardener.
Tucked away in Kerarapon, Karen, Susan has created a garden where roses climb over arches, birds gather each morning, and every pathway carries echoes of the woman who first taught her to love beauty, her mother.
A Garden Rooted in Family
Ask Susan where her story truly begins, and she won’t mention a courtroom or a boardroom.
She’ll tell you about her mother, Rosemary.
Rosemary, Susan’s mother, is tending to her dairy farm
Growing up, Susan spent countless hours beside her in the family shamba, watching seeds become plants and learning that beauty was something to be nurtured rather than admired from a distance. Rosemary carried herself with quiet elegance, often wearing pearls while tending to everyday life, showing her daughter that grace came as much from character as from appearance.
Those early moments stayed with Susan long after childhood. As work took her around the world, she found herself drawn to botanical gardens, flower festivals, and beautifully designed landscapes. Without realizing it, she was gathering ideas for a garden she would one day create.
A Rose That Connects Three Generations
For Susan, roses represent far more than ornamental flowers.
Freshly picked roses from Susan’s garden
Her mother’s name is Rosemary. Her sixteen-year-old daughter is Mia Rose. Susan finds herself quite naturally between the two, connected by a flower she describes as both delicate and resilient.
She admires the incredible diversity of roses, believing each variety carries its own distinct character, much like people. Some are understated, others dramatic, but every one has a story to tell.
A colourful glimpse into Susan Kaittany’s floral sanctuary
Gardening has become a family language. Her sister, Dr. Farida Kaittany, nurtures a flourishing tropical garden in Kisumu, and the two frequently exchange photographs of new flowers, comparing what is thriving in their very different climates.
A Garden Designed to Work With Nature
Susan’s home sits about 1,800 metres above sea level in Kerarapon, Karen, on the edge of the Great Rift Valley. The combination of fertile volcanic soils, cool evenings, gentle daytime temperatures, and reliable rainfall has created the perfect conditions for an extraordinary collection of plants. English roses flourish alongside Hydrangeas, magnolias, camellias, azaleas, gardenias, bonsai, and tropical climbers.
Instead of designing one formal rose garden, Susan chose a more natural approach. Roses appear throughout the landscape, climbing walls and arches, framing corners, and softening pathways. A carefully shaped rose tree has become one of her favourite living sculptures, while winding teak wood walkways invite visitors to slow down and experience each part of the garden at their own pace.
Surrounded by roses, Susan Kaittany finds inspiration in nature
Susan shares:
“I love gardens that feel alive. A little wild. Romantic. Abundant.”
That philosophy extends beyond aesthetics. Susan works with the landscape rather than against it, selecting plants that thrive naturally in Kenya’s climate and creating spaces where wildlife feels just as welcome as people.
When the Garden Began Giving Back
As the garden matured, something unexpected happened. The flowers began attracting visitors of their own.
Where family, flowers, and the countryside come together
Sunbirds dart between blossoms. Weaver birds weave through the trees. Bulbuls provide the soundtrack each morning, while olive thrushes and doves have become familiar residents wandering the garden paths.
She later added an aviary that complements the landscape, looking at birds as an integral part of the garden’s living ecosystem. The result is a thriving sanctuary where plants, birds, and people exist in harmony.
Building Businesses With the Same Patience
Long before the garden became one of Susan’s greatest passions, she had already built an impressive career.
After training as a lawyer, she channelled that discipline into entrepreneurship, establishing Posh Palace as one of Nairobi’s best-known beauty destinations while also leading ATS Travel, one of Kenya’s leading travel management companies. Her leadership has earned national recognition, including the Woman of Impact Award at the Women in Business Kenya Awards, reflecting a career shaped by resilience, vision, and purpose.
Susan Kaittany showcasing a couture look on the runway
Many also came to know Susan through The Real Housewives of Nairobi, where audiences saw another side of her life. Yet away from the cameras, the garden remains one of the places where she feels most at home.
Susan Kaittany at the official premiere of The Real Housewives of Nairobi.
Looking back, her early recognition as Miss Earth in 2005 feels especially fitting. The competition celebrated environmental stewardship as much as personal achievement, values that continue to shape the way Susan approaches both business and gardening today.
Growing a Legacy
What makes Susan Kaittany’s story remarkable is not the number of roles she has held, but the thread connecting them all. Whether building businesses, leading organizations, or nurturing a garden, she approaches each with the same patience, attention to detail, and belief that meaningful things take time.
Crimson Dahlia in Susan’s Sunlit Garden. Photo by Susan Kaittany
The first seeds were planted years ago by her mother. Today, her daughter is discovering that same joy among the roses, while Susan continues to shape a garden that reflects both where she came from and what she hopes to leave behind.
Mia Rose shares her mother’s love for nature
Some gardens are planted in a single season. Susan Kaittany’s has been growing for generations, rooted in family, sustained by purpose, and flourishing through an enduring love of roses.
Photos by: Susan Kaittany
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