Richard DeGrandpre discusses obsessions, sustainability, and the economy of houseplants.
“If you’re getting into houseplants, give up on the obsession for what’s trending or rare (such as unusual variegation and colours). Develop a passion for what’s common instead (namely, caring for, nurturing, and styling beautiful houseplants).”
“Thai Constellation Monsteras are shown in Australia at $295 — a year earlier they were almost twice that amount. I love the oxymoron of dozens of nearly identical plants being sold in a hardware store under the heading: ‘Extremely Rare.’ They’re not lying, though. The ‘Thai Constellation’ is to houseplants what DeBeers is to diamonds. Because only one company has successfully lab-grown a variegated Monstera Deliciosa, they intentionally limit the numbers they release so as to keep the price ‘artificially’ high. With a 40-percent drop in price after one year, you can see why. More importantly, you can see that price has little to do with the plant being rare in any natural sense. In fact, the ‘Thai Constellation” emerged as a tissue-culture ‘sport’ in a laboratory, so it doesn’t even exist in nature as a wild plant.”