The Horti House, which is working to bring British house plant growers together to offer a core range to garden centres, hosted around 80 retailers to Bury Lane in Royston to hear about its latest developments and see how some of its peat-free plants are grown.

Still a new idea to many retailers, the Horti House wants to emulate the Dutch model of supplying plants from different growers. It can facilitate small but regular orders of houseplants from ranges grown at Double H in Hampshire, Bury Lane in Cambridgeshire, Floralive, and now Dibley’s Nurseries in Denbighshire. 

Paul Dibley, pictured with the new begonia; Stellar Storm, says he is offering streptocarpus, begonias and impatiens with other ranges added seasonally. The agreement means Dibley’s can send out plants regularly without retailers have to take a whole trolley, which for some is too many to handle.

Ed Hill from the Horti House also announced a range of large houseplants for 2025 coming on stream in 17cm plus pots, and a 9cm range of ‘tots’ which have had a resurgence in popularity reflecting the trend for planted terrariums. New varieties of pot mums and premium pots for planted gifting lines were on show to gauge interest for future availability. 

Sales data is also helping the Horti House to offer a replenishing service to save retailers time so they can focus more on displays, houseplant care and customer service.