Dozens of “rare” plants are seeing massive drops in value as Enliven rolls its new “collectors series” into Bunnings and Flower Power stores.
Plants in big box stores like Bunnings are typically produced via tissue culture—a process by which plants are cloned in a lab in huge numbers.
A “rare” plant, traditionally, is one that is not available from large-scale tissue culture producers and therefore needs to be propagated from cuttings.
Some of the plants in Enliven’s collector series, such as the Alocasia Azlanii, were selling for as much as $500 back in 2021. They’re now available from select Bunnings stores for just $59.95—a precipitous drop, but nevertheless still quite pricey for a big box store houseplant.
Finding the plants is still quite challenging, as few—if any—Bunnings stores are stocking a significant portion of the range.
If you’d like to see the full range of Enliven collectors plants, and be the first to know about new additions, follow Enliven’s Mark Tyler on Instagram.
Personally, I’m excited to find an Anthurium Clarinervium and a Philodendron Verrucosum.
The Clarinervium has been on my wishlist for a while, but I refuse to pay the asking price on a mature plant, or take a chance on seedling. And while I already have a Verrucosum, I’d love to be able to quickly and cheaply add some new vines to my Verrucosum moss pole.
