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| Aeschynanthus 'Big Apple' |
What’s the
next Big thing in houseplant trends?
The booming houseplant trend is dominated
by foliage plants.
Although it seems like there is an
infinite number of foliage houseplants to choose from, sooner or later,
customers will get bored.
Garden center managers do not want bored buyers --- they will
stop coming into the store looking for interesting plants.
So, what’s next?
We know what it is.
Flowering houseplants.
You know, we have done this
before. The last houseplant boom added
flowering plants into the mix, and it worked.
All those young people who have
found indoor plants to be satisfying were smart to start with Pothos, ZZ plants
and other indestructible’s.
Now, some adventurous indoor growers
will want to move up to houseplants that flower.
We have some already --- African
Violets, Phalaenopsis Orchids, Crown of Thorns, Begonias.
All along we have had holiday flowers,
but they get thrown away. We want the
sustainable ones that potentially can flower repeatedly with higher hobby skill
--- Christmas Cactus, Aeschynanthus ‘Big Apple’, Sinningia ‘Prudence Risley’
and all other Gesneriads.
That's pretty much the progression I went through many years ago - from buying 39 cent cactus plants at the grocery store, to foliage plants, to African violets and other blooming indoor plants.
ReplyDeleteYes, I think that it can be a safe bet that the new foliage lovers will move to a few flowering houseplants. The first one we have this week is Deinostigma tamiana that flowers easily from seed. I'm building stock of Sinningia 'Prudence Risley'. We will need hundreds of these once customers see the red flowers. Mini Sinningias are a sure thing when we can get quantities grown.
ReplyDeleteYour perspective confirms my view of plant history.
Thanks for reading
Intriguing insight, I enjoyed this read and am curious about the general trend of houseplants. I imagine within the realm of foliage houseplants, variegation will continue to reign and retain some interest for awhile. Especially amongst cascading foliage houseplants & succulents. I am wondering too about flowering houseplants and whether their time to shine will surpass general foliage plants. I've had great success with African violets as "impulse buys" simply because of their blooms, but the moment they're out of flower, sales plummet because it seems the sole value is based on the appreciation of the plant when simply in flower (which is obviously disappointing). Other blooming plants, specifically, bromeliads, anthuriums and peace lilies have had good success because they have the best of both worlds: exciting flowers + lush foliage. Seasonal flowering plants marketed during specific holidays like cyclamen, poinsettias, mini roses, rieger begonias & azalea & forest cacti tend to sell well during windows of time but taper in interest outside of their seasons.
ReplyDeleteAlexia,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughtful comments. It looks like you must be in the plant business?
The demand for houseplants is so strong that any new plant can be sold and the good ones will continue.
When I asked my best customer what plants she needs, her answer is:
Variegated and flowering. Variegated is difficult so we could add colorful and flowering.