News &c
Groovy leaves 🇮🇳 Is the telegraph plant/dancing plant - Codariocalyx motorius - the next big houseplant? I've seen it starting to pop up on social media in recent months, here and here for instance. The big selling point is its movement, as the name suggests, which you can watch in this timelapse. It's worth bearing in mind this member of the pea family, which is native to India and other parts of tropical and subtropical Asia, is becoming invasive in many warmer parts of the world.
PR week 🇬🇧 UK Houseplant Week starts next Monday, January 8 - an awareness week begun by David Domoney in 2021. Resource website Twinkl even has houseplant learning resources for parents - handy!
Pointy bits 🇺🇸 Connecticut nursery Logee's is currently promoting this variegated Euphorbia milii aka crown of thorns, called 'Peppermint Candy'. There are hundreds of cultivars of this species, yet relatively few of them are still available commercially outside succulent collecting circles. Perhaps 2024 will be the year for the crown of thorns? (I am also fascinated by this fasciated/crested crown of thorns.)
Rag time 🌍 I am suddenly seeing leaf cleaning gloves - like these ones from Botanopia - everywhere. It's great to encourage keeping leaves clean, but personally, I just use a dampened rag cut from an old cotton t shirt, which works brilliantly.
Chart toppers 🇬🇧 If you're a visual learner, this new map of plants video by Dominic Walliman is well worth watching. It's been produced in association with Kew Gardens.
Mission... creep 🇬🇧 Lovely to see deep dives into houseplants starting to appear in major newspapers, like this piece in the Guardian on devil's ivy from Alice Vincent. Full disclosure - Alice interviewed me for this article. And of course if you want a deep, DEEP dive into Epipremnum aureum, check out my book Legends of the Leaf.
Details, devilled 🇬🇧 🇳🇱 🇩🇪 Flowers and plants by post firm Bloom & Wild have a number of jobs going in the UK, the Netherlands and Germany. However they are getting roasted on TikTok for one particular job ad that's ridiculously long and detailed, barring one essential detail: the salary range. In fact, none of the (very detailed, down to virtual yoga as a job perk) job descriptions make any mention of salary. Weird.
|