My Monstera and Me, A Love Story
My Monstera and Me, A Love Story
The Horticulture industry undoubtedly changed during the pandemic. It brought on-line sales to life and made it a primary way of purchasing plants.
It started as a curiosity. The pandemic brought houseplants to life. They were everywhere but especially social media. Suddenly, there were on-line sellers galore. Amateurs, professionals, hobbyists…everyone got in on the action. I was in my own corporate world, watching it happen and marveling at Horticulture’s excellent luck. Plant lust was spiraling out of control. I was curious about the plants that had everyone frothing at the mouth. I had never been much of a houseplant person myself, even though I’m a horticulturist. I just wasn’t that interested. I was a gardener. Outdoors, rain or shine – blistering heat or cold.
My Sister Ann, has always grown plants indoors. From Orchids to Figs – she was an indoor gardener in the truest sense. She also gave me my first Aroid. It was ugly and I was confused. She helped me propagate it and it was still ugly. She didn’t give up, she sent me more and I kept trying. All the while, as they grew, I found myself fascinated by their tangle of aerial roots, their deft ability to climb, the shape-shifting leaves, their natural habitat….no wonder Ann had always loved this group of plants. I have always done what my big sisters tell me to do. So I started growing Aroids. Not well … but it was the start of something much larger.
The moons and celestial skies aligned to bring me two Monstera deliciosa ‘Albo-Variegata’ cuttings. They were hideous. But the coloration on them was an unearthly division of white and green that made me drool. They came from a conservatory and weren’t in the display but in the growing greenhouses, like a dirty secret. Her true beauty was yet to be realized.
The original two cuttings….plant-based diet
Were they easy to get roots on? Absolutely not. But I did. It took weeks and then months for her to start to grow. As she did, I noticed that she didn’t grow like the other variegated Monstera I had been seeing plastered all over social media. She refused to climb.
Her leaves just kept getting larger and larger…
Her roots would not attach and weren’t interested in climbing anything. They wanted to explore…
It took me one year to take my first cutting. Her internodes were so tight, it was nearly impossible to get in between those gnarled roots. I remember screaming when I made the first cut.
As I began to get ready to sell my first Albo’s I noticed that there was a variation people referred to - Monstera deliciosa borsigiana. My Monstera did not look like this. She wasn’t a climber. Her internode spacing was so tight, it was near impossible to take my first cuttings. She outgrew everything…including my house.
Quietly taking over my house
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is my ultimate truth when it comes to plant taxonomy. According to them, Monstera deliciosa is the only accepted species. Monstera borsigiana is a synonym for what has been described as a smaller species. There is an excellent study that was conducted on this subject - This is such a highly controversial topic amongst plant collectors, it has become a point of contention.
The original plant is now happily growing in the Seymour Wright Conservatory. She was originally a donation over twenty years ago from San Francisco. Trained to climb, she is flourishing and fruiting!
