Arid and Aroid Event Management in partnership with Robinson’s Magnolia and Manila Bulletin had presented to the general public “Colors Garden Show” a plant show which showcases landscape exhibit, bazaar and among others.
This had been the main objective of the group not only showcasing rare plants and outstanding plants but leveling-up the horticultural industry to the international market.
Colors Garden Show in Robinson’s Magnolia
Robinson’s Magnolia is a forefront in promotion of fish, cat, dog, bonsai and other hobbies within their mall premises. This annual show hosted by Arid and Aroids had attracted record number of sellers, participants and quality exhibit. It was the place for plantitos, plantitas, halamoms and even batang halaman hobbyists to visit.
The general visitors and buyers came as far as Iloilo, Fairview, Antipolo, Bulacan,Pampanga, Valenzuela, Novaliches, Cavite and within New Manila, Quezon City.
Minimum health standard and protocols were met by the organizers. There was a BIG Sale of rare plants last February 13, 2021, one day before Valentine’s Day. It was dubbed BIG SCAM SALE! Among the big plant on sale were Anthurium veitchii and Anthurium regale
Well-known celebrities like Ms. Aubrey Miles, Robinson’s Magnolia officials and selected guests were there during the grand opening.
Sellers
Among the short list of sellers included Tres lola’s, Lots cactus garden, Crazy hardenera, Hardin ni wowa, Benguet, blooms&spikes, Cali’s living obsessions.
Sanseviera Boncel variegated types are again a big shoo-in again for collectors and ordinary hobbyists.
Overall, The mood was very festive and despite the quarantine restrictions, people still lined-up and bought practically anything they can find at the booth. Again, My heartfelt ” Congratulations” to the Arid and Aroids Team for the wonderful experience at the show.
Plantiquarians, plantitos, plantitas, halamoms, batang halaman will always on a look-out for cheaper and trendy plants this coming 2021 and 2022.
Many are looking for small plants which can fill their limited space. They can be grown with minimal care. The crazy and abnormal rise in prices are brought by the limited supply and high interest by the general public in plants. This is called as plantdemics meaning plants are in demand.
75 Trendy Plants in the Philippines for 2021 to 2022
63. Nephrolepis exaltata ( Boston Fern)- This is a popular fern found in almost every part of the world. often grown in hanging baskets or similar conditions. They are grown near entrance or hung on main window. It is believes to invites good chi or good fortunes into one’s home or business.
62. Caladium hybrids – Popularity of caladium hybrids will still be strong up until early 2022. Newer varieties and more colorful spotting will be flooding the local market. However, the prices of the caladium especially the older cultivar varieties will slowly taper off since there are a lot of backyard growers propagating those varieties.
61. Dracena sanderiana – popularly called Chinese lucky bamboo, lucky bamboo, friendship bamboo, ribbon plant, water bamboo and corn plant. This is very common and is found in almost every homes, business establishments and offices. This plant is quite hardy.
Commonly peddled by ambulant vendors, The demand for these plants will still be strong. Some people believes it bring good luck or good chi in homes and businesses.
60. Aloe vera and related species- Aloe had been quite popular succulent plant in the country for several decades. Aside from the medicinal value that the plant is known for. This can be grown in pots, the species requires well-drained, sandy potting soil and bright, sunny conditions.
mature plants can bear flowers and it is highly attractive. There are between 550 to 560 species of Aloes in which a lot are highly decorative. There are also several hybrids.
59.Ficus benjamina, commonly known as weeping fig, benjamin fig , ficus tree, balete. This is highly ornamental and commonly propagated in many garden centers. MMDA and some local government unit had planted hundreds if not thousands of this ficus along road side in the mid-1980’s to early 1990’s.
NASA determined that this plant was effective at removing common household air toxins like formaldehyde and xylene. Hence the popularity of the plant.
Weeping fig cultivars and its variegated types are in demand like ‘Danielle’, ‘Naomi’, ‘Exotica’, and ‘Golden King’ since these are much fewer compared to the ones found in garden centers, streets and parks. Propagation is quite easy- one can propagate Ficus benjamina thru seeds, air layering and to some extent cutting from stems with roots.
58 . Ficus elastica commonly called rubber fig, rubber bush, rubber tree, rubber plant, or Indian rubber bush, Indian rubber tree, banyan tree or Balete.
Ficus elastica
Photo credit: pixabay user: tortic84-2633672
Another well-known type of belete tree. One can encounter mature Ficus elastica in many parts of the country. According to some botanists, this was probably introduced into the country by Indian and other southeast Asian traders before the arrival of the Spaniards in the 16th century. Some would otherwise dispute this theory, Since the range of this ficus is found in Southeast Asia.
In the United States, This can be grown in sub-tropical areas of Florida and in USDA Zones 10-12.
Some of the cultivars varieties includes Ficus elastica ‘Robusta’, Lemon Lime among others surge in popularity during the enhanced community quarantine in early part of 2020. In recent visit to local garden centers in Metro Manila. Prices for the common types had been falling due to increase supply. An example was the 1 foot cutting newly established Ficus elastica ” Lemon Lime” which sell between Php 1,500 to Php 2,000 would now averages between Php 750 to Php 1,200. Variegated forms will still be in demand.
Croton or San Francisco
Photo credit: pixabay user:pixasandid-356019
57. Crotons hybrids- Locally known as San Francisco. This was popular as hedge plant, potted plant in the countryside for a long time. The leaves are used as accents in flower arrangements. Large scale farms like Costa Farm would grow these in large volume. Other Asian countries like Thailand, Vietnam, Taiwan would have different cultivar varieties.
There are hundreds of cultivar varieties to grow and these plants are easy to propagate.
Epipermum aureum also known as pothos, money plant, taro vine
Photo credit: pixabay user: sweetlouise-3967705
56. Epipermum aureum and varieties ( pothos, hunter’s robe, ivy arum, money plant, and taro vine) are just few of the common names given by sellers and backyard gardeners. The plant is a member of Araceae family. Price of the more common types have begun leveling off but the variegated forms are still in demand.
Photo courtesy of Mr. Lebon Ong, Dennis Lao and Mr. Jorge Sahagun
55. Asplenium australasicum plicatum Cultivar Variety ” Mini Philippine Cobra” This is a compact growing mutant fern (gamma irradiated Philippine Cobra) of Asplenium australasicum plicatum2021 population finally released to the industry. This is a project of Mr. Jorge Sahagun of the Philippine Nuclear Research Institute (PNRI) in Quezon City.
Compared with the older variety in the market, This particular form is ideal for small growing area, office, condominium spaces. Fern collectors are already waiting for its release next year, There are already some reservation for this mutant form for release in 2022.
Note: These are just a partial list of the 75 trendy plants for 2021 and 2022! Happy Growing to all .
Special Mention : Mr. Lebon Ong, Mr. Dennis Lao , Mr. Jeorge Sahagun, Mrs. Letty Manalo, Ms. Esperanza Sanchez
It was a sunday mid-morning 10:30 am when i rode a bus from EDSA Makati going to San Pedro – Laguna province ( Pacita complex) Php 55.00 then i took another jeepney ride Php 11.00 passing Biñan then Balibago .The eyeball is our Christmas party too.
group photo
The jeepney driver only passed the main highway and i have to walked for a few meters . I bought some local pizza along the way before i took a tricycle ride to Villa Esmeralda Subdivision ( Php 70.00 Special Fare ) which is located near Enchanted Kingdom.
L-R Ms. Roselily Z. Buduan , Mr. Nico Bazarte and Mr. Fernando “Nanding” Enriquez of Tagcauayan , Quezon province
I arrived shortly after 1:00PM , where almost all of the participants have eaten their lunch. Some of the early birds arrived in the morning , while one member had to travel all the way from Quezon province just to attend this important eyeball and Christmas party.
Everybody brought different kinds kinds of foods, from pancit bihon, pancit bato ( flat noodles with quail eggs and pork liver ) , barbecues, sugpo , fresh mangoes, watermelon , cassava cake, pata tim, sliced pineapples, dinguan , yema, pastillas , coke candies , ice cream and a whole array of different home cooked meals. The event would not be complete without a bottle of Coke products like Coca-Cola , Royal and Sprite 1.5 liter . The group like to spread the happiness to everybody .
raffle committee and members
Then , all the attendees name were gathered. The committee have a short raffle of coke collectible items, mostly donated by fellow coke collectors from different parts of the world. . There are all sorts of items being traded, swap, sold during the meeting. Since i was a little bit LATE for the swap meet, i just got a sneak view on what items the members took home. There are also regional coke managers who brought some FREEBIES !!!!
coke items for SALE
Mr. Dranreb Recio – collector of coke
Mr. Danreb Recio is an avid coke collectible collector since 2009 . He had been collecting coke items for about 4 years . He specializes on coke glasses and mugs.
After the first round of raffle, there are still a lot of items to be given away. Hence there was another set of raffle to all that were present .
I got 1 coke glass,1 plastic tumbler, coke posters, 1 cherry flavored-coke in can from the United States and I was very lucky to won a coke speaker during the second round of the raffle. The gracious host also gave away 1 pair of Coke postcards from Belgium. Mr. Nico Bazarte gave me 3 coke trading card packs ( I decided not to open them and keep them as MINT condition ) . Maraming salamat sa lahat na nakadaupang palad ko . Thanks.
Coke Polar Bear collection of Mr. Fred Dimal
The tour did not end in one house, the group decided to visit another coke collector from nearby Laguna Bel Air Subdivision, a few kilometers away from Villa Esmeralda .
Mr. Fred Dimal is an artist and photographer before he went into collecting coke items . He started his passion for coke collecting in 2009 . He proudly showed us the limited commemorative Coke Book ( 100 years ) in special box. We decided to visit the house of another coke collector a few blocks away.
Mr. Joey Bulatao’s house
Mr. Joey Bulatao
Mr. Joey Bulatao – a former coke employee . Our group was amaze with the size of his house which stands on a 900- square meter lot.
276 pieces of coke bottles transformed into chandelier
Due of his architectural and interior design skills . His house looked like it had several floors . He had 2 unique chandelier made from several hundreds of pieces of coke bottles .
coke bar lounge
The coke bottles were salvage from ship wreck in Bantayan island , Cebu province in 1990’s . Most of the coke bottles were made at the San Francisco bottling plant from 1942 and 1944 .
It was intended to be given to the American forces which liberated the island . The Japanese bombarded the ship until all the supplies eventually got lost .
coke glasses , mugs, bottles, tumblers, toy truck
He started his passion for collecting coke items in 1993 and even had built a separate room ( basement ) for his coke collections. His 20-year coke collecting passion led him to join the Pinoy Coke Fanatics . Kuya Joey gave us some coke items .
wooden coke cases with empty bottles
We then went to another coke collector a few kilometers away , the husband and wife collector started collecting coke items in 2006. Due to time constraints and some renovations , I opted not to feature them here. Their large coke collections are an eye to behold. I would like to ” Thank” them for their warm hospitality and for the coke bottle opener that they gave to the visitors.
We hitch ride with Mr. NorManila until we reached Cubao area . Mommy Roselily , Mr. Dwayne Miranda and I rode a public bus going to NORTH Avenue terminal station where we rode an Asian Utility Vehicle on our way home. It was such a wonderful experience to spread Happiness to ALL !
Collectors Connection 