The Rare Plants series is celebrating its 10th anniversary! This year, the "Rare Plants" series is back and more powerful than ever!
In recent years, we have been running a series of rare plants, including insects and minerals, and it has already been 10 years since the first "Rare Plants" in 2015. This commemorative (?) year, we will be bringing you a "Rare Plants" feature for the first time in six years.
Over the past six years, the world of plant cultivation has undergone major changes. Technological innovations in LED lights have made it possible to attempt to grow species that were previously considered difficult to cultivate in Japan, and to cultivate seedlings that look just like wild plants. The common problem gardeners face, "where to put plants," can now be solved with the help of LED lights, allowing plants to be grown even in places where natural light does not reach. However, this brings up a new concern: how to display them...
The first issue of this special feature begins with the usual illustrated encyclopedia project in the Rare Plants series. This time, we've gathered together bizarre and fascinating plants, focusing on indoor greenery. The jungle tuberous plant, the ant-like plant, the Panama grass with its alluring sheen, the aglaonema with its diverse camouflage patterns, and the climber plants that crawl up tree bark... The list is packed with humid plants from the tropical rainforest, different from the arid zone plants that have been featured in previous Rare Plants articles.
In addition, in a feature called "How to Enjoy LED Cultivation," experts introduced LED cultivation styles in each genre, including paludariums, which create a jungle-like atmosphere inside a glass case, tillandsia, seedling cultivation in arid regions, and highly challenging highland plants. Among them, the plants cultivated by horticulturist Shabomaniac!, who taught us about the LED style for arid region plants, were particularly striking. The plants, cultivated with strong LED light and water to the waist, have a wild appearance that is reminiscent of wild plants, making you wonder, "Are these really seedlings!?" Be sure to check them out in the magazine.
The book also features interviews with the Ito Ant Botanical Garden, a fascinating paradise for ant plants that you can grow using LEDs, and Urban Jungle, a nursery specializing in South American aroids; location shooting on Borneo, a mecca for tropical plants; travelogues of native habitats by plant researchers from around the world; and an ideal plant room that makes full use of LEDs, making it a book that thoroughly introduces ways to enjoy indoor greenery.
I myself used to grow plants exclusively in natural light, but now that I've learned about the advances in LEDs, I'm reevaluating how I care for my plants at home. As a gardener, I can't help but be excited by the limitless possibilities of indoor greenery!
