It’s strange to think of gardens having trends in the way clothes and interior design does. Plants are so much more forever than a pair of flared jeans.
But it is true that certain plants can come in and out of fashion. It’s funny, plants like Hydrangeas and Rubber plants were SO well loved, that people, well, stopped loving them.
We get it, when every second house has a bush of Hydrangeas flowers or every apartment has a Rubber Plant in the corner, they start to lose their sparkle a bit.
But what’s interesting is that we’ve seen a resurgence of these once-popular plants, so we thought we’d take the time to go over the basics again. How to take care of them, what varieties to choose and what made them so loved in the first place.
Being a Nursery means we get firsthand knowledge on what’s selling, and what’s collecting dust on the shelf. We see the way certain plants are flying out the doors, where we can just never seem to keep them stocked up.
But we also see the exact moment this changes, when the sales start to die down and people turn to something else to fill their garden with. Hello Hello Plants has been around for a while, and Chris, the owner, even more so.
Think of it like a trip down memory lane, where we explore the nature of gardening trends.
There are quite a few plants that this is happening with, as listed out earlier. We’re even going to chat about some of the plants that are starting to go out of fashion. Let’s dive right into it.
Hydrangeas are one of those plants that everybody knows about, even if you’ve never done gardening a day in your life.
Back in the 60s Hydrangeas were all the rage, almost everybody had them in their garden. But then people seemed to forget about them, and nobody brought Hydrangeas for many years.
Which takes us to today, where we are seeing a resurgence of this amazing plant. It’s no surprise, Hydrangeas are very beautiful and offer up so many different colour options.
Now we already have an incredible article that covers EVERYTHING you need to know about Hydrangeas. You can read that here.
It’s quite a lengthy article, so we thought we’d just recap some of the most important parts so that you can get to planting and growing them much quicker.
Hydrangeas ADORE water, they need plenty of water, especially if you’re growing them in the sun. But a lot of people choose to grow them in the shade where the water requirements are lower.
Most Hydrangeas are deciduous and lose their leaves in winter, with the flowering season being from December through to April.
They can be grown in pots or garden beds, so you have a lot of versatility with where you choose to put them, whether it’s on the balcony or patio, or in spot somewhere in the garden.
We recently did a video about the indoors plant for Mr or Mrs Kill ‘em Quick and in Chris’ words “they were so common that they went out of fashion.” Check out that video here.
But Rubber Plants are just too damn tough to stay unpopular for very long. If you’re the type of person that kills every indoor plant you come across, this is the plant for you.
Grow them in the sun or shade, have it indoors or out on the gazebo.
They grow so easily and are so low maintenance, you’ll plant one and practically forget about it.
It wasn’t until we accidentally stumbled upon one of these on our content shoot days that we remembered how wonderful this tree is. You can check out that video here.
We found it in a country town in front of a cottage house, and it really suits that aesthetic perfectly.
In spring it is densely packed with small pink flowers that give off that sweet currant flavour. The Flowering Currant is an ornamental plant that doesn’t produce any actual currants, but it is a cousin of the black currant. It’s a very hardy plant that works well in a number of different situations.
This is such a gorgeous plant it’s hard to imagine it becoming unpopular, but there was a time where stock of it was just not moving that well. Not anymore.
When in flower, this large shrub puts on quite a spectacle, with big clusters of flowers that start out an apple-green shade and brighten to white, eventually fading into a rosy pink. They are perfect for cut flowers.
The Viburnum Snowball Bush grows in an upright mounding manner, meaning it’s not a lot of effort to keep it looking great. It also doesn’t produce any berries so there’s no messiness produced by the bush.
Not only do you get blossoms but come autumn the maple shaped leaves turn red and orange. So this is a bush that is going to give you interest in the garden year round.
Now this was THE present plant for ages, either you were buying it as a gift for a loved one, or you were the loved one receiving it.
It’s likely because they are so great at tolerating heat, coupled with the very interesting foliage. Those upright sword shaped leaves with a mixture of deep green, cream and yellow markings make for quite a striking sight.
Now they’re not completely immune to neglect, as they don’t do well in the cold. So make sure to plant it in full or part sun, and if you are in a cool climate, grow it indoors.
Mother In-Law’s Tongue are perfect for a low water or low maintenance garden, and look fantastic in pots.
Okay so Silver Birch never declined in popularity as much as some of the other plants on this list, but there definitely was a dip where people weren’t planting Silver Birch as much.
But this is such a classic option that it’s no surprise that it’s returned to being the go-to feature tree for so many people.
What makes Silver Birch so incredible is its versatility. It suits almost any garden design, from minimalist to classic to cottage and so on. They are cheap to buy, quick to grow and don’t require a lot of effort.
We love Silver Birches so much we wrote a whole article about it, which you can check out here.
We couldn’t talk about the plants that are coming back, without mentioning the ones that are actually now going out fashion. But who knows, maybe in a couple of years we’ll be writing about how they’re once again rising in popularity.
Perhaps too perfect of an avenue tree, Ornamental Pears are starting to decline in popularity.
It seems that every person and their dog has a row of Ornamental Pears planted outside their house or business.
Both commercial and private owners have ADORED this tree for a number of different reasons.
The main reason is because the consistency in appearance. There’s nothing worse than a row of plants that look nothing alike, even though they’re the same species.
With the Ornamental Pear, in particular Cleveland Pears, their ability to leaf, autumn colour and blossom all at the same time is what makes for such a spectacle as an avenue.
Also just the fact that tree puts on such a gorgeous display year round is very attractive to commercial property owners wanting their property to look good all year. Of course this same principle applies to the homeowner.
But interestingly we’re starting to see a decline in their popularity, there are just so many of them planted everywhere, and it seems people are starting to get bored of it.
Now this is not us telling you you’re not allowed to plant Ornamental Pears anymore – they are clearly incredible trees. But we just wanted to point out how we are seeing a significant decrease in the sale of Ornamental Pears.
Or more accurately – are there any plants that will stand the test of time and always be popular.
Now we aren’t psychics (although sometimes we’re pretty sure Chris is with the way he knows everything about plants), but we reckon that trees like Flowering Cherries and Japanese Maples will never go out of fashion.
They are simply too beautiful, and particularly in the case of the Japanese Maple, the different varieties look so different you could never get sick of it.
There you have it, the resurgence of some beautiful plants. It’s funny how trends can be quite cyclical in nature – just think about the return of flared jeans.
Now you never have to buy something just because it’s popular, but there’s definitely merit in checking out plants that a lot of people are buying. They’re obviously selling out for a reason.
If you’re not already following us on our socials, which is insane because we post educational and inspirational content literally every day, then be sure to check us out on Instagram, Tik Tok, Facebook and YouTube.
Feeling inspired to create your own garden, but want some expert advice? Try our one-on-one garden design service with Chris. Together you’ll come up with a selection of plants along with a layout plan that gives you the look you want, as well as being suitable for your local soil and conditions.
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