What should we call it?

Peperomia polybotrya

       "If it doesn’t have a name and a use, you will never sell it”

     “Botanical names are mandatory for plant science; Common names are necessary for marketing plants”

            Pilea peperomioides would have not had its success without common names of ‘Chinese Money Plant’ or ‘The Friendship Plant’.  These names are tied to the folklore of this obscure foliage houseplant.

            The next internet wonder after Pilea peperomioides could be Peperomia polybotrya.  Initially, and probably in the future, the two will be confused.  Plant collectors who know both plants, tell me that they like the Peperomia much better.  It is bigger, more upright, less floppy and has shiny leaves.  It is a low light plant, less phototropic (doesn’t grow toward the light), is self-branching and is more durable.

            But what to call it?

            An internet search comes up with ‘Owl’s Eye’ and ‘Raindrop’.

            Each leaf has a round dot with radiating lines out from it.  I liked ‘Owl’s Eye’, at first, because older leaves had distinct radiating lines and I could see the connection to an Owl’s eye.  Younger leaves don’t show this.

            ‘Raindrop’ seems to fit better.  You have the dot which could be where the raindrop hit the concave leaf and the splash radiated out onto the shiny leaf.

            Will the rage be: “Do you have a ‘Raindrop’ plant? --- It’s similar to the ‘Chinese Money Plant’, but better”

Peperomia polybotrya 'Raindrop'

The Houseplant Boom from The Economist.

String of Peas for The Sill

          It’s always interesting to see what outsiders of the plant industry say about us.

I’m copying from The Economist, an international magazine.  The story was pointed out by Chris Beytes, Editor of Grower Talks, the leading horticulture trade magazine.

I’m impressed that we grow 6 of the 8 plants searched for on Google.  Also, I sell to one half of the U.S. businesses mentioned.

--- The closest I’ll come to international notoriety.

People born after 1980 have been slower than previous generations to settle down. Some want to explore the world before they get married and have kids. Others simply cannot afford to buy a house. But they can afford houseplants, and many are finding that nurturing them is a more manageable form of domesticity.

Since the turn of the century, exports of plants from the Netherlands—by far the world’s biggest producer of plant life—have increased from $6bn in 2000 to $9bn in 2016. In that year, Europeans spent some €36bn ($42bn) on houseplants and flowers. And in America, Millennials are thought to account for fully one-third of the houseplant sales. Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, began selling plants last year, and direct-to-consumer start-ups like Patch and The Sill have cropped up, delivering leafy goods in pretty pots to doorsteps everywhere.

To illustrate the piece, they pulled Google search data for eight different plants, showing the increase in search queries between 2010 and 2018.

Groupies are everywhere

Groupies are everywhere.

            You never know when you’ll run into some of your groupies.

            These three young people came to the Delaware Gesneriad Show and Sale in Wilmington.  They had come from Philadelphia to look at interesting plants and buy some.

            When they saw that my plants were there with the recognizable blue tags, they were even more surprised that I was there in person.

            They proceeded to tell me that they have been following my ‘Mini’ plants, looking for varieties they don’t have.  They’ve been to many of my customer’s garden centers and plant shops in and around Philadelphia.

            I guarantee you that these delightful plant collectors are not normal   They knew botanical names and what the hottest trends are with houseplants.  There are few young people as knowledgeable as they are.

            I hope to meet them again.