Trends in 2021: Edible gardening and tropicals

“Edible gardening and exciting tropicals are going to be especially big in the New Year.” And what would everyone by growing?

For this year, it is clear that the bliss of being in nature, in general, would be bigger than ever, with people increasingly turning to their yards for exercise, stress-relief and a creative outlet.

Both seasoned and new gardeners are keen to surround themselves with beautiful plants and they are looking for more unusual, adventurous species, such as exotics.

But they also want to keep up the “food gardens” they started because of the pandemic and to help neighbours.
Bigger And Better Food Gardens

One top reason million of new gardeners hit the gardening scene last year was to grow their own food. As the pandemic drags on, one rightly thinks this boom in homegrown produce, not just about growing food for you and your family and the benefits that it brings to you personally, but about taking a few extra peppers, a few extra tomatoes and a few extra onions to your neighbours and to help those in your community as well.

Turning Backyards Into Outdoor Living Spaces
As we have all grown increasingly tired of staring at our own four walls while quarantining, one of the biggest trends for this year is bringing the indoors outside. Backyards are becoming the new living rooms, so it is not surprising that “open-air living” came to be last year and founds its way into this year. “Open-air living” is perfect for achieving the sense of contentment one feels in a garden.

Why wouldn’t you want to take what you have created inside and carry that out to your backyard, where you have this creative space, combined with the intangible that you really have no control over? You are taking what nature has to offer, which is pretty amazing in how you can feel out there, and then bringing in your own elements to it- your lifestyle, preferences for how you live your life- and just extending it to that environment to create and ideal living space.

If you are looking to bring the indoors outside, one recommends privacy screening with hedges or fencing, providing shade and barbeque or fire pits and even screening movies outdoors.

Focusing On Bright, Bold Tropicals
After a year of chaos and global unrest, why not bring a little magic and brightness to your garden? This year would be the year of tropical plants, as gardeners yearn to bring a little exotic flair to their landscapes.

Accordingly, we should plan to see tropical “nooks” in the landscape, filled with plants, such as bromeliads, elephant’s ear with its large lush leaves and banana plants. It is to have another experience, and I think the tropicals do that.

Using tropical indoors and out doesn’t have to be forever. Any tropical or subtropical plant can be used as an easy container yearly to provide vigorous, dramatic foliage accents to create a vacation atmosphere on your patio or deck just for the growing season.

Some fast-growing foliage favourites for big containers include Red Abyssinian banana (Ensete Ventricosum ‘Maurelli’) and Canna ‘Bengal Tiger’ or Tropicana(R) Gold.

Adventurous, Unusual Houseplants In Demand
While everyone has been at home more, we, as gardeners, have also been ramping up on houseplant collections. Indoor plants have been in demand for several years and this year would be no different.

Easy-care aroids, such as philodendrons, anthuriums and aglaonemas would be particularly popular, as well as plants in the Hoya genus.

“The houseplant trend was already booming pre-pandemic, but with everyone setting up home offices and the like, people are inevitably focusing on making their homes more livable and workable. And plants are a big part of that.

All signs indicate that this year would be a time to fill your home with plenty of houseplants and your garden with lush tropicals and nutritious edible to feed not only your family but also those in need. The future is definitely looking greener.