If you know me, you know I don’t like to be too serious all the time, which naturally means I gravitate towards April Fools Day. For me, it’s a bit of lighthearted fun, always intended with positivity and the goal to make people laugh (and feel a little gullible).
I’ve created a number of April Fools pranks over the years – revolving around plants, of course! After this year’s prank went down a treat, I wanted to reminisce about the times I’ve been able to fool a few folk on April 1st!
Here are the best April Fools pranks that I’ve put my name to:
Smell before you buy
A description isn’t always the best indicator for fragrance – sometimes you need to smell before you buy! I ‘developed’ an app called Flori Opal, which sends olfactory waves through your smartphone speaker, allowing you to smell flowers before you purchase the plants! Watch the reel here.
Solar-powered USB flower charger
Harness the power of the sun with flower power! This USB-compatible sunflower is designed to gather its power from solar energy during the day, and convert it into a power source for chargeable electronics such as tablets and phones. Think about how much you’d save on your electricity bills!
Plantable t-shirt
Here’s a way to make fashion more eco-friendly! Tired of your old t-shirt? Chuck it in some soil, and watch your new garden grow!
The fabled ‘Welsh’ Lily
I donned my labcoat to introduce to your a new lily discovered in the valley of Priol Afol in Wales! Featuring a blue bud opening out into a blue-mauve lily, this would’ve gone into production AAP – if it weren’t an April Fools joke!
A trick for slow bulbs
Want to get your bulbs to flower? This old Dutch trick uses fresh water from a genuine Dutch dyke, orange juice concentrate, leftover strong Dutch coffee, and lemon juice to stabilise the colours!
Take a look at some of my all time favourite April Fools pranks by other people here.
Michael has been involved with gardening and plants since he was just five years old. He is a self-professed Plant Geek, and was listed in the Sunday Times top 20 most influential people in the gardening world, thanks to his plant hunter role at Thompson & Morgan.
Michael was responsible for new plant introductions such as the Egg and Chips plant and the FuchsiaBerry and keeps busy travelling the world in search of new plants as well as lecturing worldwide, including stints in Japan. He is very active on social media – so why not give him a follow at @mr_plantgeek or Facebook – and writes a plant-focused Substack called Grow This, Not That.
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