Instagram-worthy plants and instant gratification

For my birthday present this September, a friend of mine kindly gave me a book by an author named Elif Shafak*, whom we both admire. As she gave me the book, we inevitably had the familiar conversation about how we don’t read as much these days because social media is such a distraction.

Feel good factor

Arguably, social media can seemingly shrink our (and our children’s) attention spans to the size of a sunflower seed. However, there are positive aspects to Instagram and the like, as I was reminded of this summer. Then, I was speaking to some of the delighted winners of this year’s HTA’s New Plant Awards about plant trends. One such winner was Javado UK, whose Aglaonema Grand Blossom was the winner of the Foliage Houseplants category. The firm’s managing partner and sales director James Woodham pointed out: “There are a lot of people posting about houseplants on Instagram and such like. People are looking at stories and seeing nice plants and thinking: ‘Yeah, I want some of that.’ Or ‘I want to collect those – that’s the next thing to collect.”

Thinking about it, the Instagram accounts that I enjoy following the most are those about houseplants, dream gardens and homes, and (full disclosure) cats.

Woodham also observes that, post-pandemic, many people are still working from home. “So, they want to be surrounded by ‘the feel good factor’ … plants in the home make it feel homely and comfortable.”

Brinding the outside in

Woodham continues that, if people haven’t got an outside space (or if their outside space is small), they enjoy “bringing the outside in” and filling their house with greenery. And, with urbanisation increasing, people are keen to buy plants that fit into their (generally) smaller gardens, outdoor spaces, and balconies. One such plant is Prunus Crystal Falls, the winner of the New Plant Awards’ Trees category and brought to the market by Frank P Matthews. The nursery’s managing director Steph Dunn James noted that this tree is unique in that it is the first weeping, winter-flowering, double-flowered ornamental cherry. She also noted that the plant is “great value for small spaces.” Crystal Falls also flowers for up to two months, from mid-December through to February and even later in cold winters – meaning that is brings us all some welcome cheer at a time when most of our outdoor plants are still dormant.

Instant impact

Dunn James highlighted that garden designers and landscapers are also looking for instant impact. “White-stemmed birch, large-leaved catalpa, and other varieties with interesting features and shapes often play a part. We notice that multi-stems seem to be popular, and we’ve therefore added a couple of new ‘multi-stem’ lines to our range this year.”

As part of the desire for instant impact, people are evidently keen to invest in grammable plants that are unusual in some way – be it a houseplant like Javado’s Aglaonema Grand Blossom, with its striking pink-and-orange variegated leaves, a winter-flowering ornamental cherry that gives the holly, ivy, and mistletoe a run for their money, or unusual perennials such as The Bransford Webbs Plant Company’s Digitalis purpurea Apple Blossom – which was crowned winner of both the New Plant Awards’ Herbaceous Perennials category and Best in Show.

Bransford Webbs’ sales and marketing director David Chilvers explained: “It’s not got trumpets like a normal foxglove – it’s got that cut petal sort of feature. A lot of people said it looks more like an orchid flower than a foxglove. And the colour is very different – ‘apple blossom’ sums it up because it is an apple blossom colour.”

Chilvers added that perennials such as foxgloves, delphiniums, and lupins continue to be popular. He explains: “There are more ‘decorator gardeners’ out there who want instant colour – something that’s going to be quicker than growing a plant from seed. The perennial market gives big, bold plants and colours that give instant impact in the garden. It’s about having the right product so that when the weather is good, and the customers walk through the door of the garden centre, they’ve got instant colours and get that instant gratification.”

Chilvers also opined that foxgloves and other perennials are “’safe plants’ that your grandmother grew in her garden. And so, people know them and feel comfortable growing them. In the last few years, the market has opened up with new varieties, so that’s helping the trend, but I think largely it’s that people know what a foxglove is. They know it’s going to work in their garden. They’re confident.”

Certainly, perennials frequently feature in the “dream cottage garden” accounts I follow on Instagram. Hmmm. I wonder if any new gardens have been posted recently? I’ll guess I’ll have to put down my book and see.

*Incidentally, and in the spirit of horticulture, Elif Shafak has written a brilliant book named The Island of Missing Trees, which is told from the perspective of a fig tree (which if you read it isn’t as weird as it sounds.)

HTA New Plant Award Winners 2024

• Herbaceous Perennials and Best In Show – Digitalis purpurea Apple Blossom by The Bransford Webbs Plant Company
• Annuals, bedding and container and basket plants – Bidens ferulifolia Bee Happy Double Orange by Ball Colegrave
• Flowering Houseplants – Cyclamen persicum Illusia by Profitplant BV
• Foliage Houseplants – Aglaonema Grand Blossom by Javado UK
• Cacti & Succulents – Cotyledon Hybride Elephant Trunk by Javado UK
• Trees – Prunus Crystal Falls® by Frank P Matthews Ltd
• Shrubs (including Conifers) & Climbers – Lavatera Lilia Twirl ‘HYFIRL’ by Newey Ltd
• The 2024 Visitor Vote Award Winner Spiraea Walberton’s® Plum Carpet by Farplants Sales Ltd.