It’s summer, and that means time to celebrate greenery once again. What makes this year extra special is that the world is emerging from a global pandemic, and are seeing everything with fresh eyes and a renewed sense of gratitude.
Arid and Aroids, in cooperation with Newport Mall at Resorts World Manila, will mount the Plant and Sustainability Festival, a plant fair showcasing Mother Nature in all her glory.
“(During the pandemic), everyone was craving for plants,” says Arid and Aroids proprietor Boyet Ganigan, adding that this sudden surge in demand resulted in high prices and sometimes unscrupulous sellers who took advantage of newbie buyers’ lack of knowledge by selling illegal or improperly staged plants. There were also numerous predictions of a crash in demand once the pandemic was over.
Now that the world is slowly opening up, it’s becoming apparent that the plant boom may be leveling, but it isn’t going away. “Since it’s become a lifestyle, the prices have gone down (and) presentation is better,” Ganigan says.
The rise in interest in caring for plants has also spurred interest in plant development. Aside from new hybrids sure to be snapped up by collectors, there are also new ways of displaying plants, among other industry trends.
The Plant and Sustainability Festival will be a feast for the eyes: there will be new hybrids on display, as well as a field of flowers.
Everyone will have something to swoon over, from condo dwellers to homeowners with big and small gardens and from newbie to veteran collectors. “(We are featuring) an array of plants from arid to aroids, from desert to tropical,” Ganigan says. “We have exotics (and) we have local plants. We have plants from Atok, Benguet down to the hottest part of the country.”
Folks looking to start or expand their collection, or simply to set eyes on beautiful plant and flower displays, can drop by Newport Mall on the festival dates. Truly, the plantito and plantita lifestyle is here to stay.
The Plant and Sustainability Festival will run from April 18-24 at The Newport Mall.