Is horticulture cool?

When I attended the magical YoungHort day earlier this month, Mr Leigh Morris of the Institute of Horticulture introduced me to the #horticultureiscool hashtag.. So, I got to thinking, what makes horticulture cool for me…?

Well, firstly, what’s cool? I’m not sure I’ve ever been cool. Cool to me is something that’s buzzing, something that’s worth showing off, shouting about.. That’s horticulture. The most important thing is that we need to prove it’s something to be proud of!

I love how times have changed. The wider communication network means like minded people can now reach out to each other, so those with different interests no longer need to feel isolated. When I was at school, I was embarrassed by my gardening tastes, devoting most of my spare time to growing and selling plants, but never telling my friends i was doing so!

But, now, I’m proud. Plants are cool, and a wider audience is realising this too. Especially with social media, where I can shout about mind boggling plants like the TomTato! (Oh, Michael! not again!) But, heck, even teeny boppers were chatting about this plant on twitter!

Plants can be so playful too.. think of the Obedient Plant (Physostegia), with its movable flower stems, or Desmodium, which moves itself! I’ve always been fascinated by Dictamnus (Burning Bush) too, with it’s volatile seed pods, which COULD ignite in hot weather!

There’s also giants, like Gunnera, which many of us have posed for photos beneath I’m sure! Even bamboo, with it’s speed of growth, and relentless vigour. I’m fascinated my colour breaks.. so the quest for a true yellow fuchsia, the possibility of fragrant delphiniums… Everywhere you turn, there are plants that excite, interest and amaze!

I’ve spent three decades loving plants; poring over books of oddities, browsing catalogues stuffed with new plants (then, getting my dream job creating and generating these plants!), sharing unique plants on social media and then filling my garden to bursting point with those very plants!

I’ve ended up just talking about plants here, so I’m calling this “chapter one in my series on why #horticultureiscool … get with it!

Keep up to date on twitter.. where I tease new plants:
http://www.twitter.com/gardening_greek

And, join in new plant chat on Facebook:
facebook.com/planthunter.uk