The Hort Report: 19th March 2024
Glow-in-the-dark petunias, and a tour of 10 Downing St!
Here’s your weekly Hort Report - the round-up of industry news, retail insights, home gardener gossip, influencer spotlights, social media news, and so much more!
Grab a tea or coffee and catch up on the latest below…
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10 Downing Street Garden opens for one unique weekend
What’s going down in the Prime Minister’s private garden? You can find out on this exclusive open weekend with a guided tour, as part of London Open Gardens, which features over 100 normally ‘secret’ gardens. However, the open garden isn’t available to just anyone - you’ll have to try your luck via a ballot, which is open for entries until 7th May. Enter now!
HOME GARDENER NEWS
Luminescent plants?
In this reel, Smith’s Gardentown, a family-run nursery in Texas, USA, demonstrates the bioluminescence of the Firefly Petunia. This new petunia has been genetically enhanced, using the power of bioluminescent mushrooms to give them their nighttime glow. Don’t believe me? Watch the reel! They’re not yet available in the UK, but would you be the first to snap them up if they cross the pond?
INFLUENCER SPOTLIGHT
Josh Gardens
Need advice on… pretty much anything to do with growing?! Take a look at Josh’s page. He’s a gardener and fruit tree grower who owns a homestead (a farmhouse with attached land devoted to crops or animals), and he makes videos on everything from LED grow lights to planting bare root fruit trees.
SOCIAL MEDIA NEWS
Plants found to be communicating with each other on video
We know that plants communicate, but it hasn’t been caught on video… until now. Japanese scientists managed to capture incredible footage of healthy plants receiving airborne distress signals from neighbouring plants experiencing mechanical damage or insect attack. Find out more about the research here.
NEW PRODUCT NEWS
S’wheat plant-based water bottle
Made from plant-based materials, this water bottle is free from the toxins that you’d get in many plastics, like BPA. It’s easy to clean, comes in a range of colours, and features a carry handle for easy transportation! On top of all that, each purchase funds the planting of a trackable native tree, planted where it is needed most in the world.
Get yours here.
TRADE NEWS
Joe Bagley launches The Houseplant Doctor
Eye-catching houseplant displays can make a huge difference in shops and garden centres. Joe Bagley, owner of ukhouseplants, is offering this as part of a new service called The Houseplant Doctor, in assistance to garden centre managers who need a fresh pair of eyes on their stock.
Interested? Find out more on LinkedIn here.
BOOK PROMO
Hello Tiny World by Ben Newell
Whether you are an avid terrarium creator, or you’re new to the scene, Hello Tiny World is the book for you. Written by Ben Newell, the mind behind Worcester Terrariums, the book contains everything you need to know in order to build an incredible terrarium and - perhaps more importantly - maintain it to help it thrive. It features step-by-step projects that you can follow to create 13 different terrariums, in which you can even include fun figurines to bring your own personality into the equation.
Pre-order your copy here.
WHAT TO DO NOW
RHS Urban Show
The RHS’ inaugural Urban Show began this week and continues until Sunday! Taking place in Manchester’s Depot Mayfield, the show features all the great stuff you’d expect from an RHS show, but aimed towards an audience that’s primarily based in urban areas - think houseplant bingo (that was my talk, yesterday!), one-pot edible growing, indoor seed sowing and much more.
Find out more about the show here.
PLANT OF THE WEEK
Tulips
I finally got some time in the tulip fields, and picked this gorgeous bunch of peony flower types! Just look at those ruffled petals with their frosted edges… what a beaut display these would make on the coffee table!
SUBSTACK RECOMMENDATION
Home by India Knight
Your home is a very personal space, so if there were ways to put more of ‘you’ into it and get more benefit out of it, would you try them? India Knight writes about all the things that make a home homely, including recipes for when you can’t quite be bothered to cook, and why orchids from the supermarket aren’t so bad.
Read Home by India Knight here.
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