The last Tropical Topics addressed a major industry concern: the impending (if not current) houseplant/tropical plant shortage. I had a few responses that, anonymous as they will be, shed some light on just how few houseplants there are at many suppliers (picture tumbleweeds blowing across the benches).

This got me thinking. If there’s not much to sell, how can we still sell “houseplants” without the actual houseplants? (And I’m not talking faux, either.) That is, how can we still keep houseplants top of mind for eager consumers while the supply of houseplants is low?

And then I received an email from one of my go-to online furniture sellers, All Modern. “Plant Room 101,” it was called. “Bursting with greenery (and on-trend planters), plant rooms are on everyone’s wish list. Here’s how to get one IRL,” is what the first caption said accompanying this photo.

Nice, right? Wish I had that space. And light exposure. And those planters. And the space. For each of the ideal-for-houseplants issues I came up with except specific lighting, All Modern had a solution. From stylish planters and planter holders to space-saving wall and hanging planters. They even have the faux plants (gasp), and live plants, too, to their credit.

So, while houseplants and tropicals are taking a breather to bulk up supplies as best the growers know how, what suppliers/partnerships/side gigs can you connect with in order to keep the houseplant momentum going—despite an unsteady supply of the actual plants?

The industry is still creating consumer demand. The National Garden Bureau is helping create demand for houseplants with a recent post, “Houseplants Keep Us Happy, Make Us Healthy!”. Promotion of houseplants is a no-brainer with more people working at home now as the pandemic plays out. We’ve said it all before–it’s written on your forehead!–houseplants expel oxygen and create humidity, they clean the air, they buoy our spirits, they offer companionship and they may even lengthen our lives.

NGB then listed six houseplants that are easy to grow indoors. Get ready for demand for:

1. Snake plant
2. Anthurium
3. Petra croton
4. Lemon button fern
5. Stromanthe 'Triostar'
6. Golden pothos

Now you know what to start propagating more of! Get on it. And if demand increases one tiny bit, please do let me know.

I thought the color trend forecasting appeared later in the year, but it seems that paint maker Sherwin-Williams is first on the scene for 2020. Its ColorMix Forecast for 2021 lists 40 trend colors in four palettes, each helping folks to find their own “rhythm of color.”

Oh, and before we talk about those four color palettes, I’ll mention what they mean by “rhythm of color.” They write in the ColorMix Forecast intro, “Rhythm is the secret to how the natural world stays in step. The same sense of balance applies to our personal sense of nature through how we live and how we design. Fast and slow. Quiet and expressive. Virtual and physical.” Balance? We could use a lot more of that. Having our surroundings in balance could certainly help.

SW’s first color palette is called Sanctuary and is actually based on the concept of biophilia, or bringing nature inside. The Sanctuary colors, they say, have a “remarkable ability to nurture wellness and calm,” and are influenced by wellness, nesting, warm minimalism and Scandinavian design.

I wanted to show you just this first color palette as it’s based on a concept our hort sector is quite familiar with, but please do check out the other three palettes HERE. The last one, Tapestry, takes me back to 80s Miami Vice times—and I actually really like it!

THIS JUST IN! The color Urbane Bronze in this color palette was just declared Sherwin-Williams' Color of the Year for 2021.

It’s been a while since I mentioned the other foliage growers in our industry—the cut foliage growers who are centered in Volusia County, Florida. But I will today because the Floral Greens Farmers of Florida and David Register of Fern Trust are featured in a new vidcast from Williee Armellini of FlowersAndCents.com.

In the vidcast, Williee and David discuss a new program from the collective called the Farm Fresh Web Image Collection, which is available to retail florists worldwide. It’s a program that developed out of the group’s desire to “bring greens to the forefront” in floral arrangements, as David says in this VIDEO. After all, with more than 100 different types of cut floral foliage—including cut monstera, something the foliage industry is quite familiar with—their products are beautiful on their own. Who needs the floral element? (I’ll be hearing from a cut flower grower about that statement, no doubt.) My point is—and David’s point is—it’s all beautiful.

And this Farm Fresh Web Image Collection is meant to draw some attention to the beauty of cut foliage. These high-quality images of arrangements in a range of price points are available for retailers to use on their websites, because often the full range of what’s available to consumers is not available as images for their viewing. This collection takes care of that.

The arrangements pictured are also available as actual products for retail florists. You can learn all about how the program works if you watch THIS VIDEO.