75 Trendy Plants for 2021 in the Philippines (Part 1)

Plantitos, plantitas, plantiquarians,halamoms,plant enthusiasts from many parts of the country are waiting for the next plants to watch out for 2021 to early 2022.

Unlike the last quarter of 2019 and towards the end of 2020, There are a lot of ordinary plants which became craze and fancy among many plant collectors. 2021 and 2022 year will be a different ball game and a more educated gardening public will be always on a look-out for plants to propagate and grow.

75 Trendy Plants for 2021

75.) Christmas Aglaonema hybrids– pink, reddish colored aglaonema and anything with spots. Some of the cultivars are old time hybrids grown in the country. While there are exciting new aglaonema hybrids developed in Thailand, Taiwan (ROC), Malaysia,Cambodia, Vietnam, Costa Farm and elsewhere. Lunar Chinese New Year 2021 will be celebrated on February 12, 2021 and this will drive -up the demand for more of these “La Swerte” or Chinese Evergreen in the market.

Photo courtesy of : Suan Unyamanee

Plant collectors and those who believe in feng shui will surely drive the prices of the reddish, pinkish,those with spots and new hybrids. Practitioners believes that having several plants inside one’s home will surely drive negative chi away.

Coleus blumei hybrid

pixabay user: jamesdemers-3416

74.) Coleus blumei hybrids ( aka Mayana) Plectranthus scutellarioides – This had different colors and is considered as a medicinal plant ages ago. This can be grown in partial shade, semi-indoor locations or sometimes grown as hedge plant all over the country. A proprietor in small garden stall within Quezon City had to keep on propagating mayana plant in order to supply their growing clientele. Their supplier from Tabang- Guiguinto, Bulacan always ran out of stock.

A recent big discount sale at Philvirra Homes near Project 8 in Quezon City also drew record buyers for their Coleus blumei hybrids.

Euphorbia milii hybrid

73.) Euphorbia milii hybrids- which are different color types of Euphorbia milii and Euphorbia lophogona hybrids which are more popularly called ( Corona de Cristo, Crown of thorns, Christ’s thorn) have flowers that grow in clusters of brilliant blooms. They are considered indestructible because they can grow year-round on a sunny windowsill in a warm, bright location, tolerating long periods of dryness.

They are in demand as flowering and curiosity plant in the country way back from 2005 to mid-2007, When local farm propagators imported a lot of varieties from neighboring Thailand, Vietnam and Taiwan. The hybrid had a short come back around 2016 to 2018 when more hardy types or those which did not rot in the care of the propagators for the past several years.

72.) Dracena marginata – Locally called as Dragon’s tree, Lucky Dragon, Madagascar’s dragon tree among local growers, This is a relative of the more popular snake plant/mother’s in law tongue or formerly called Sanseviera. The ordinary ones are quite affordable in the local market and are used in dish garden, terrarium and stems are grown in water culture.

People are always in a look-out for the variegated types and those with compact leaves. Chinese, Thai, Indonesians, Singaporeans, Indians, Europeans and other Southeast Asian countries have a fancy for these types of plants. They are quite hardy and can be propagated via cuttings or rooted on water.

The popularity of these plants will surely be trendy and people will still propagate these plants.

71.) Tillandsia species and hybrids- Tillandsia are known as air plants and close relative of Bromeliads. For the past few years, small tillandsia species, hybrids and cultivar varieties have cause sensation among plant lovers. These plants do not require big space and can be grow within minimal care. Tillandsia fasiculata, Tillandsia capitata, Tillandsia ionantha are some of the popular ones grown by beginners and even seasoned collectors. They will still be popular in the market as almost all plant center stalls would carry at least few species or hybrids.

Epiphyllum oxypetalum or Queen of the night

70.) Epiphyllum oxypetalum ( Dutchman’s pipe cactus, princess of the night, queen of the night ) – This is a semi-epipiphyte cactus which is grown in the country for centuries. This was introduced via Acapulco, Mexico to Manila, Philippines during the later part of the galleon trade and one of the old time favorite among plant growers in the country. It’s blooming season normally coincide with the rainy season around late June to late October.

It is quite popular in many Asian countries Taiwan,Vietnam, Thailand, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, naturalized in China and many parts of the world.

A recent episode of Kapuso Mo Jessica Soho aired on GMA channel 7 last November 28, 2020 featured this cacti plant which is said to worth at least a million pesos if properly grown with blooming flowers. Some old time growers would give a blink of an eye and give their expert opinion that there are many growers of this particular species of cacti.

Plant stalls would sell their newly propagated stems between Php 100 to Php 450 depending on the lushness of growth. A popular online selling site sells a foot of this cacti for about Php 888 obviously targeting numerology or Filipino-Chinese buyers. Bigger specimen queen of the night would command a few hundreds of pesos or at least a few thousand of pesos. But not hundreds of thousands of pesos or millions of pesos as claimed by some FB or online sellers.

Almost every house within our area grew this kind of cacti from the mid-1970’s to early 1990’s. Whenever this cacti is in bloom. This had become some sort of viewing celebration and photo taking opportunities by people who grew this cacti. There are also some myths behind the blooming of this cacti as one wish can be granted thereby propagating the plant will help the owner brings luck.

Some believe that it can repel the negative vibes and even ailments.

Note: These are just a partial list of the 75 trendy plants for 2021 and 2022! Happy Growing to all .

Sources:

Personal Interview among plant center owners, Orchid and Plant Lovers of the Philippines FB, Mindanao Avenue Garden Center, Fairview Neopolitan Garden Center, Cartimar Garden Center, White Plains, Bulacan Garden, Arid and Aroid’s Farm, Quezon City Memorial Circle, Tabang -Guiguinto Plant growers, GreenScapes Garden Center– Novaliches, Farmer’s Garden Center -Cubao, Sidcor -Eaton Centris Sunday Market, Rona’s Garden.

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