Katie Tamony

Photo courtesy of Monrovia

Greenhouse Management: How long did it take to bring Monrovia’s new houseplant line to market, from development to actually getting it out to customers?

Katie Tamony: We started thinking seriously about this last spring and really asking ourselves what our approach to houseplants was going to be. How are we going to offer something different? One of the things Monrovia is known for is the availability of larger sizes — two gallon, five gallon, certainly — even in perennials. So, we thought we could offer something new to a market that is offering larger statement plants. And we quickly decided we would offer fichus and other plants that people were looking for, just in bigger sizes. But we also wanted to introduce people to some less expected plants.

GM: Is it any more daunting or anxiety-inducing to do a product launch amid product delays and all of the other issues the industry is facing right now?

KT: The supply chain and freight have certainly been challenges for us like they’ve been for anyone else. But I think this has also been a great time for us to try new things because there’s an appetite for plants and for buying more plants and more in general right now. That made it a good time to try and add something to our collection. And when we went to Cultivate this summer and were showcasing new plants in several categories, including houseplants, they drew a lot of questions and attention. We got great feedback from garden center customers at Cultivate. We felt like this is a time when people have the appetite for this, so it’s actually been an encouraging process.

GM: Where do you feel like the houseplant market is at right now in terms of its health and possible growth?

KT: I think there’s a lot of opportunity in houseplants. There’s such an opportunity to build confidence in consumers. There’s a really big education and inspiration opportunity there that we definitely enjoy. We spend a lot of time and resources building out plant care resources on our website and in other ways. The growers that can provide that confidence boost and can make people feel like they can really succeed with houseplants are the ones that are really going to stand out in the market. And I think the other interesting trend that this is playing into is that connection people are making between indoor and outdoor living spaces. That’s not going to go away — people have really decided in the last two years that they need to get more out of their entire living space. That’s really good for houseplants.