By Justin Hancock, Costa Farms Horticulturist
Photographs courtesy of Costa Farms
Wondering what’s fresh in the world of houseplants? Here are five trends we’re seeing that are being embraced by new and experienced houseplant owners.
Trend 1: Big, Bold Foliage
Eye-catching leaves that look good from a distance—those that stand out from across the room—are hotter than ever. They add instant impact to any home or office space with a lush look you can’t help but appreciate. Some standards include Ficus lyrata (fiddle leaf fig) and Monstera deliciosa, with breakout varieties including Strelitzia nicolai (white bird of paradise), Musa (banana), and Thaumatophyllum (split leaf philodendron). They also tie into the maximalism tendencies we’re seeing in home décor trends.
Trend 2: Vivacious Variegation
Green is great, but adding streaks or splashes of other colors into your plant collection takes the look to a whole new level. Leaves patterned in white, silver, and pink variegation are especially hot with plant parents and first-time plant owners alike. Buzzy varieties include Dracaena White Aspen (a corn plant with white-edged leaves), Schismatoglottis wallichii Green Shield (an aroid with arrow-shaped leaves marked with silver), Monstera standleyana Albo-Variegata, and Cool Beauty Dieffenbachia (a new variety with creamy centers and crisp white edges).
Trend 3: Golden Hues
While white, silver, and pink variegation is still hot—super hot—with plant parents, we’ve been noticing a lot more interest in golden foliage, too. From tried-and-true plants like Neon Pothos to newer varieties like Golden Goddess Philodendron, Painted Lady Philodendron, and Chameleon ZZ, golden-yellow foliage pops against dark green leaves and can help brighten spaces that seem dim.
Trend 4: Forgiving Plants
Whether you have a large plant collection to care for or are just starting out, there’s increasing appeal to low-maintenance plants like Raven ZZ, Silver Bay Aglaonema, and Moonshine Sansevieria that practically take care of themselves. In addition to being ultra-easy to grow, they’re also stylish and add a distinctive note to your interior spaces.
Trend 5: Sustainability
Here at Costa Farms, we’ve been hearing from a larger and larger number of plant parents interested in sustainability around their plants. From preferring coconut coir over peat (happily, more than 80% of our plants are grown in coir-based mixes, rather than peat-based mixes) to reducing chemical usage (we’re increasingly using biological controls—beneficial insects, fungi, etc. to control pests), we know people care about the overall impact their plant collection has on the world at large.
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By Dan Heims, President, Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
Photographs courtesy of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc.
Terra Nova’s breeders have created a series of outstanding world-class echinaceas that are consistent in size, bloom power, color intensity and are a pollinator buffet. What’s not to like.
To learn more, click here for an interesting article.
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