A highly sought-after house plant received the royal treatment at a Dunedin garden centre yesterday.
The Philodendron Pink Princess attracted a huge waiting list and was sold out before supplies hit Nichol’s Garden Centre’s shop floor.
Marketing manager Annabel Roy said it had been "nuts" since staff arrived at work on Sunday morning.
Phones were ringing non-stop after a Whangarei supplier broke the news on Facebook the night before that the centre would receive 50 of the rare black-leaf philodendrons with hot pink variegation.
There would be some unhappy plant enthusiasts, though, as the waiting quickly grew to about 60 people, Ms Roy said.
"One girl asked where Nichol’s was, she was in Taranaki, could she start driving to come and pick one up."
The trendy plant would set someone back $80, a price many were willing to pay.
No-one had bothered to ask about the price when requesting to be put on the waiting list, Ms Roy said.
It was likely the variegation and limited availability that made the plant so popular.
"It will be a fashion thing, plants go in and out of fashion."
She said the "house plant craze" had taken off since the Covid-19 lockdown.
"It is booming."
It was mainly younger people, who were apartment dwellers or renting and did not have a garden, or a garden they were allowed to change, who were eager to bring the outdoors inside.
Garden centre staff were bracing for a busy day today as they called successful recipients and tried to let the others down lightly.
"We will have some disappointed people today ... we have no idea when or if we will even get them again."
