Yeah, I think I'll pass, thanks. :-)

I've attended a few plant auctions in my day. And have admittedly paid more for what were then considered to be rare plants than was reasonable :-) But I find that to be the case with any kind of auction.....if it is something for which there is a demand, bids/prices can skyrocket out of hand rapidly! I used to be a donor at a regular but quite posh charity auction here so received free attendance and the opportunity to bid on any other products. Even though this was a silent auction, the winning bids were often way above market!

But $800 for a house plant?? Even if considered rare, it is far more than I'd be wiling to pay.

Our local bonsai club holds plant auctions (pre-covid days). Most of them have been trained, nurtured, shaped for many years. Some real 30+ year old beauties go for more than $1000 but that is rare. But it makes sense since both buyers and sellers are very experienced with a lot of dedication to their hobby.

Hope whoever is paying that much for house plants knows what they are doing. Otherwise I bet we will see a post or two here on the same plants with some undefined problems.

Every year I sell a bunch of, usually unusual or locally unavailable, plants on craigslist including young cutting grown ones. That way I get to meet other gardeners as a bonus. Last season sold several hoyas for $5 each and in this auction they are going for $70 and counting.

This is the way of the world right now. Crazy right?

I will say that Logee's has a reputation for selling a good product. So the risk is somewhat lower than buying something similar on ebay.

You should see what some people are paying for a single-node leafless chunk of that Monstera Borsigniana. And it's because they simply can't afford the price of an actual plant. So they roll the dice on a chunk that they may or may not be able to turn into a plant.

tropicofcancer: I have sold or given away quite a few plants and/or cuttings because I also like to meet other plant enthusiasts and I like to encourage new plant people as well.

Plant trading is definitely a great way to acquire some of the special plants without paying the huge price. So I try to network a lot.

P.S. the philodendron sodiroi has been on my wishlist for a while. I recently ended up purchasing a 'sodiroi aff' from Ecuador. It's not "genuine" sodiroi, but it was $40 rather than $400. I would love to have that plant but I just can't bring myself to drop that on one plant. *sigh

All, I have a confession to make! After clicking on the Logee's auction link above, I spied a philodendron sodiroi. I put a bid on it of $280. As soon as I did, I questioned my sanity and somewhat regretted my impulse (life story hah). For the next, I just kept hoping someone would outbid me. I suspected it would happen, but a little hope was definitely happening on my part which seems to be the opposite of what one would want for an auction.

Well, thankfully overnight, I was outbid. *whew*

My cheap Ecuadorian knock off is alive, if not thriving. It's sulking a bit still, the petioles for the two leaves are not strong, hence I have them tied up to a stick. It does have a new leaf forming so I will have to wait to see what happens with that. I tugged on it a bit this morning and it feels like it has settled into the soil and taken hold so I'm pleased with that.

Popmama: Wow $280. I get a feeling I may have enabled others reading this forum. Are you sure you got outbid? It still shows $280. Monstera Borsigiana is at $1000 now.

Thanks Al for video. Out of the world bonsai. In 2018 I had my first opportunity to attend a Bonsai show in Rochester. If I remember correctly some specimens sold for upwards of $5K at the Auction. May be more. I had my eye on a Portulacaria Afra bonsai from a vendor. But I think it was like $700 and I chickened out.

Here is a the pic I have of that and it is out of focus.

Yeah, bonsai is a collectable and perhaps the one thing people might pay more for. I do Hachi no ki, or have, anyway, after the play (I also practice some Japanese arts just for fun, like Sumi-e, but that's another and very long story). It's not quite the same thing, and much looser and easier. :-)

Dad was a lumberman and for one Christmas, one of his customers gave out freeze dried bonsai. That tree has been sitting on the table for...thirty years? It still looks perfect and just needs a gentle shot of canned air occasionally. It's perfect for my mom, who can't keep a Christmas cactus alive.

The portulacaria looks like an interesting tree. Was it at a show put on by Bill Valavanis/ International Bonsai?

I used to attend all the shows put on by the Mid-Atlantic Society, but haven't been East for the last several years, maybe since '17. I always wanted to attend the Rochester Show, which attracts some of America's best talent. After the dust from the covid crap settles, if you intend to attend again, it would be fun to meet up, along with any other GW/Houzz members who might live near enough to warrant the trip?

I was at a show in Cincinnati somewhere around 20 years ago where one of the headliners was Colin Lewis. In a demo, he put together a grove planting of 5 spectacular Scots pine trees on a slab ..... I mean it was something quite special ..... and valuable. One of the attendees at our table must have had unlimited funding, but a good part of his contributions to conversation centered on all the expensive trees he had lost during his at that time brief foray into bonsai territory. Raffle tickets for the planting were $10, and there were a LOT of tickets sold. Can you guess who won the planting?

A notable number of artists plied him with significant monetary incentive to part with the exquisite composition, but he held to it steadfastly. To this day, whenever I observe a demo with Pinus as the subject material, it pains me to wonder what was the fate of that composition. I went searching for an image of it to share, but came up empty.

....... hope I haven't strayed too far from the OT. Fun thread.

Al

back in the day... before tissue culture.. and synthetic hormones ... it was not all that rare.. in the hosta world.. for there to be prices like this ... half went to wealthy collectors.. and the other half went to peeps who planned on recouping the invest by propagating more themselves ... even if it took years to make back that money ...

CODB ... cost of doing business ...

ken

These kind of prices only make retailers laugh all the way to the bank! I have an acquaintance in which I had previously considered a close friend, the guy has several online outlets and makes an absolute killing on some of the more rare plants including hoyas and variegated monstera. He brings in most plants from the Philippines and pays something like $30.00 each or less for the variegated monstera and then grows on for a bit before selling them for up to $475.00 in which people snap up ... yes, he literally just laughs! I do purchase a LOT of plants, in particular perennials, though if I were to put out $800.00, I'd be receiving boxes and boxes of quality perennials for that price, rather than going totally out on one single particular plant! ... but, it's whatever floats one's boat and if money is of no real concern, then do whatever makes you happy! :)

FrozeBudd I suspect a lot of online places are catching up. I first saw this phenomenon on Etsy and seems like spreading. I also suspect many local nurseries will also step into this frenzy.

Ken: Did not know that hostas went through the same phase at one point.

It's faintly reminiscent of the tulip craze in the Dutch Republic of the seventeenth century: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

Well, until 1637, anyway, but likely to eventually crash and with about the same (insignificant) economic results. :-) I'll look forward to the futures market on Monstera.

Yes, I am sure I was outbid. The sent me an email to let me know. And it sold for $360. It's easy to get caught up in an auction. I remember getting carried away at an antique auctions years ago too.

I just need to stay away. Haha.

Yes I see that popmama. The Monstera closed at $2020. Auctions are exciting and one can get carried away in the motions. Once, in our bonsai club, I started bidding at around $20 for a nice bonsai pot. At one point I was almost going to win it at $50 when from, out of nowhere, my wife out bidded me. She was seated a few rows ahead. Since it was a members only auction we knew each other very well. Everyone had a good laugh and they let her retract and I won the pot.

I watched the Tony Tickle video. My immediate thought was what a pity it was he chose to dig up a mature, wild, wind swept hawthorn from a Welsh hillside. I wish he’d left in the natural environment where he found it and grown his tree from seed Or bought a cheap sapling. To my mind he committed an act of vandalism.

floral you are right in thinking that way and many would agree with you at first glance. But most bonsai artists who care for their reputation would not go dig out a plant from anywhere willy nilly. First a permission is needed from the landowner or from appropriate authority. In case of national authority or forest dept or equivalent there are many restrictions as to what one can and cannot take. There are unwritten rules that bonsai artists follow: get permission, do not share location publicly, evaluate situation and impact on surrounding, can it be safely relocated, etc.

In the case Tony, I read that he collected this and other plants from private owners who were going to remove them for making space for grazing land for sheep. Cannot vouch for it but that is the background. But this situation is quite common and sought after.

I have only collected a few and so far only from landscapers who dig out plants from their clients yard to be dumped.

Houzz did it again. Al, your post: https://www.houzz.com/discussions/6084326/monstera-for-800#26629860 just appeared in my notifications.

Yes the Rochester show was "chaired" by Bill Valvanis. Met him in person for the first time. I have not met many of the big names in bonsai except a few through workshops held by our local club.

When this covid situation settles I would love to start attending bonsai shows again. I miss my local monthly bonsai club meetings. Would definitely love have paths cross at may be some meeting. And hopefully there will other GW-ers too.

My wife once won raffle of a beautiful Natal Plum bonsai that was pruned, wired and shaped by Martha Meehans at a demo here. Her investment was like $5. She was gloating. We had it for 2 years that ended in negligent homicide.

Oh my. Forgive me for rolling my eyes out loud. Trees collected by accomplished bonsai artists have a far better chance of surviving far longer and far more comfortably than they could ever hope to under the care of Mother Nature. Additionally, they are able to provide a piece of work so evocative it can transport the viewer to the barren windswept setting from which the tree came, where it was almost certainly noted only by sheep who think nothing of browsing it into oblivion. And there is no question the tree has provided far more food for the soul than the gross number of trees wantonly ripped from their in situ settings to provide a home or apartment far larger than you actually need to survive.

Bonsai trees tended by practiced artists have the potential to live many times longer than their counterparts in nature, which die a slow death due to injury, followed by insect predation and disease, then mechanical failure and rot. Trees don't belong to nature, they belong to the landowner. As such, it's utterly presumptuous to pass judgement on whatever agreement the landowner and Tony had.

Al

I've purchased a lot of companion plants and young tree stock from Meehans over the years - I'm continually amazed at the variety of unusual plants they have. They used to set up for the MI All-State show in Grand Rapids every year (cancelled this May - Covid), but they haven't been there for the last several years. Other than missing the CHI show because of Covid, I see them every year there, and any other shows I go to E of the Mississippi. They sell an amazing number of plants. I can remember when their 2" pots were 3/$1.00, too. I'm getting old!

Al

Yes they have an extra ordinary collection of plants. Their website has like may be 5% of the plants they sell. At a show it may be 25%. The rest is still at their nursery. One can easily spend the better part of a day at their nursery. When visiting DC I try to make it a point to stop by at their nursery. It adds 20 extra miles to my route and 3 hrs to the time.

Bonsai plants can be so beautiful, I am not surprised at these prices. Ime, it is also easy to kill them though. And I can only guess a variegated monstera might be tough too. I do think many folks are stuck at home and have extra money. (Unlike the others who are going hungry, sorry to say.)

Anyhow, I just wanted to say, floral_uk I sort of get where you're coming from. Sometimes I feel guilty for keeping my plants in pots, when they'd really like to be in the ground. I think ... or, hope ... that I am projecting? Maybe they don't mind. They do give me a lot of pleasure. And I can move them around to better spots, so maybe they live longer. I guess it's no different than having a pet. They also induce a fair bit of guilt, bc there is always something I'm supposed to do for container plants which I haven't done yet. Long term goal is to have fewer potted plants and just really adore the ones I have. Oh, and also, I have this bad habit of giving plants as "gifts" ... without asking first! Very bad of me. That is not right. Ah, the dilemmas of plants. Well we are lucky to have them, that's for sure. A London apartment for a bonsai? Just wow. ... Then again, there are a lot of people with a lot of money. I can't be too surprised.

N2SG: Many kill their first bonsai for various reasons. There is a lot of bad marketing involved and big box stores sell poor product. Best is to buy them from a reputable place.

The word bonsai literally means a plant in a pot. So by that definition every container plant is potentially a bonsai. But practically speaking, serious bonsai takes container planting to its extreme and intimate knowledge of structured soil and specific characteristics of the plant and its needs. Many small leaved ficus varieties are good starting point to learn.

Since I looked at a few before, google is very interested in letting me know of more deals. And I admit it is entertaining at times.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/903671666/rare-monstera-adansonii-variegated - it is $15,947. Shipping is $75 from Hongkong - LOL.

Logee's is again auctioning off one of the last two philodendrons on my wishlist: sodiroi. The auction started yesterday, April 1, and the price is already bid up to $335.

Saw that. They are having these auctions every other week for a few days. Couple of days back I asked my local nursery about these plants. They confirmed sky high prices in the market and they decided not to take the risk of carrying any of them. The owner is a good friend of mine and said most variegated plant prices have gone up. We agreed that people are spending more time at home and so they want something to brighten up their homes and home offices.

My prediction is in about 1-2 month time we will have a flood of posts with all kinds of problems with these newly acquired plants. It has started in some ways but more is yet to come.

Philo, aglaonema, and such kind of plant can be very expensive before they spread and become cheap common plants. $335 will become 10x$50, 100x$6, then go on spread and drop in price. Later after years, you may get it freely from your friend.

Now people are into rare plants. i remember back in the day when I said rare plants people kept saying that is no such thing

As was said before, rare is in the eyes of the beholder. Every plant I have, I consider them to be rare as there is no another one just like mine.

I do wonder how many people, after succumbing to auction frenzy will either have killed their prize a few months after receiving it or will suffer "buyer's remorse " and will hope they can off load their purchase onto someone else for enough money to break even.