Privileged leaves: The thrill of being an exotic-plant collector
Are plant parents the new pet parents? They track rare saplings, spend fortunes on cuttings and give India epic gardening goals
Philodendron, monstera, anthurium and begonia might sound like they’re rock-band names. But for India’s growing community of urban gardeners, they’re just as cool. They’re the broad categories of rare plant species currently trending in urban gardens.
Blame the pandemic for their popularity. While the lockdowns forced people indoors across the world, gardening became one of the activities that, well, blossomed. What else was there to do, anyway? Hybrid varieties of anthuriums and monsteras became the pedigree pups of the plant world. Windowsills, balconies and dining tables became selfie spots, an aroid happily peeking from a corner.
Navneeth Kumar, 29, a Bengaluru-based plant consultant, compares tracking rare and wild species to playing Pokemon. “There’s always something new to chase,” he says. Amarjit Bey, a plant enthusiast who has over 100 varieties in his garden in Diphu, Assam, says gardening is really an opportunity to bond with plants. “Taking care of a plant is like taking care of a baby,” he says. “Every morning, I check for infections, dead leaves, and whether they’re doing well.”
It’s not all sun and games. A pretty Monstera Thai Constellation or a Pink Princess Philodendron takes months, even years, to grow. New collectors are realising that shipping in exotics from across the world is expensive. And no amount of love or money can coax a plant to grow if it isn’t feeling at home. There are challenges green thumbs now face.
Planter’s punch
Shaan Lalwani, 38, who owns Mumbai’s 45-year-old Vriksha Nursery, says the pandemic boom is only the most recent wave of interest in exotic plants. In the 1980s, cactii and succulents were in demand. Bonsai had its moment in the 1990s. What’s trending now are photogenic plants, for the Instagram generation. He imports rare plants from Thailand, Borneo, Malaysia, and Japan. “The Anthurium crystallinum used to sell at ₹500 to ₹750. They now cost ₹65,000 to ₹70,000,” he says.
As with any acquisitive hobby, rarity is prized, the fun is in the challenge. Kumar has been growing rare plants in homes, and tracking wild species for a decade. One plant in his collection, a Philodendron joepii, is sourced from the collection of Dutch naturalist Joep Moonen, who discovered the plant in 1991 on the shores of the Mataroni river in French Guiana, in South America. Another Philodendron variant, an endangered Spiritus-Sancti, was sourced from a woman in Florida, who had one of the last surviving samples. “For me, rare plants are the bridge to meet more people, make new friends, and travel more,” he says. “My life revolves around them now.”
Okay, bloomer
Kumar spends up to a year acclimatising a plant to the local climate, then propagating it, which takes another two to three years. So, most plants are ready for sale only four or five years after he acquires them. Many rare plants are man-made (hybrids created through tissue culture), so it’s possible to get two anthuriums in a single plant, or different-coloured leaves in a monstera, for which customers happily pay a higher price.
It’s a practice Kumar doesn’t endorse. “The exotic plant community is split into two. One part, which includes me, appreciates only nature’s gifts – species that are underappreciated and not artificially cultivated. The larger part of the community loves hybrids, mutations, and variegations – manmade interventions.” It’s much like the split in pet parenting. Pedigree breeds, despite being more delicate, come with high price tags. But several pet parents prefer local indies over animals that are not a good fit for Indian homes and climates.
A new leaf
The plants that thrive in Bey’s Assam garden need additional care to grow elsewhere. “You need to look at the type of sunlight exposure – whether it’s direct, indirect, and the number of hours – and the shade,” he says. “Exposing the plant to the morning sun – up to 10am – is the best. The potting and soil mix has to be prepared at least 10 to 15 days before you get a plant home.”
Another mistake enthusiasts make is ignoring local species over imported ones. In Bengaluru, Sumesh Nayak, 39, has been gardening since 2013, and particularly loves lesser-known Indian plants. In his 1,500-square foot garden, he grows imported Hoya and Aristolochia between local variants such as mulberry and starfruit trees, to attract birds and insects. “Nature has its own pace. Even if you try to overfeed plants with water or manure, or pump them with chemical fertilisers, they will only grow in their own time.”
Gardening is paying off even outside the ‘gram. Spending time with family in the garden is now part of Nayak’s weekend routine. Kumar, on the other hand, says it’s a stress buster. “Putting your hands into the soil and walking barefoot reconnects and recalibrates you with the natural world. Your happiness just increases so much when you spend time with plants.”
From HT Brunch, June 22, 2024
Follow us on www.instagram.com/htbrunch
